In a bid to address people’s basic human needs and wants in novel ways, new technology trends emerge year in year out. Each of these trends, in it own unique way satisfies a world that hungers for constant, relentless, perpetual change.
Here are 4 2018 tech trends predicted and presented by TrendWatching at adtech London 2017.
A-Commerce
It’s the age of automated commerce. Customers want it faster, retailers want to improve efficiency and A-Commerce is the perfect solution. According to Trend Watching, in 2018, shoppers will embrace the outsourcing of certain retail experiences to algorithms and smart devices. That means the automation of hunting, negotiating, purchasing, delivery arrangements and more.
For many brands, it’s epic efficiency gains. Chinese etailer JD.com is using AI to plot routes and deliver 92% of orders within one day. Or it’s fewer jobs: 44% of retail jobs are at risk of elimination due to automation by 2030 (PWC, March 2017).
Brands already making A-Commerce a reality include Amazon, with their cashierless store. For Chinese retail giant Taobao, they debuted the Tao Café in July, which enables users scan their phone at the door, grab what they need and go – they get the bill via their phone. November saw US-based dining chain Wow Bao announce plans to adopt automated restaurant technology from Eatsa, allowing diners to place their orders via iPads and collect their food from automated, LED-lit cubbyholes.
2018 would see automated commerce witness further growth around the world.
Facial Recognition
2018 will be a breakthrough year for facial recognition and facial tracking. Individuals will embrace new forms of immediately personal self-expression, meanwhile, brands will harness new tools to read and react to their customer’s emotions.
Most innovation in this space will center on security, instant identification, payments and other practical matters. But there’s still room for playfulness. Dubai International Airport found a middle ground. The airport is set to replace border controls with a walk down a virtual aquarium tunnel. Due to launch in summer 2018, passengers can pre-register, and then the system uses over 80 cameras and facial recognition to scan people as they walk through the virtual aquarium. By encouraging people to look at the ‘fish’, the system can better capture people’s faces and improve accuracy rates – it’s also faster than the traditional method.
November 2017 saw the opening of ‘The Hipster Bar’ in Manchester – a bar exclusively for hipsters that uses facial recognition technology to analyze if a person’s face and clothes are ‘cool enough’. The individual’s appearance is benchmarked against a catalog of over 20,000 pictures, and visitors who register as over 90% hipster gain entry.
With facial recognition, it’ll become possible to know the needs of customers/clients by simply scanning, processes for checking would become a lot faster than traditional methods.
Virtual Companions
Powerful new trends emerge when change unlocks new ways to serve basic human needs. One of the most fundamental needs of all? Human connection.
But in 2018, a profound shift is set to emerge. This is the year when millions of consumers will start to feel it is possible to have a meaningful conversation – a relationship even – with a virtual entity. That shift may sound more sci-fi than reality, but it’s grounded in deep forces reshaping the technology landscape and consumer expectations.
It is predicted that by 2020, the average person will have more conversations with bots than their spouse (maybe you already do). So in 2018, the stage is set for digital services that deliver assistance, compassion, companionship and self-insight. Are you ready?
Blockchain
At its heart, blockchain is about instant peer-to-peer trust. For consumers now immersed in P2P lives, it’s a logical next step. By creating a decentralized record of transactions, blockchain allows trust between strangers. It offer vast opportunities to serve those without access to traditional financial services. Tanjalo is doing just that for the unbanked of Nigeria
In 2018, consumers will look for brands to harness this tech to hand them control, transparency, and low prices.
