‘Hybrid reality’ and robots in the streets promise to be the most talked trends for this year

2017 was not a wonderful year for technology. Monumental failures, millionaire errors, and a series of somewhat unnecessary gadgets led the technological scenario during the previous period. That is why 2018 promises to be a year of lessons learned and new quantum leaps that could once again change our forms of human interaction.
 
Below, it is listed five technology trends that, according to experts, will dominate the current year:
 
Artificial intelligence

For decades, scientists and specialists have talked about Artificial Intelligence. Thus, in recent years, what was once considered a science fiction idea has begun to manifest itself through the incorporation of machines capable of learning algorithms and maintaining communication with humans.

Although the incorporation of this technology seems to be ineffective, mainly in underdeveloped regions of the world, it is expected that by 2018 this trend will gain greater global relevance and will be added to almost all new platforms, devices and applications.
 
Hybrid reality
 
Despite failure of Google Glass and the ephemeral success of augmented reality video games, a new trend that emerges promises to be one of the technological milestones for this year.

It is the so-called ‘Mixed Reality’ or ‘Hybrid Reality’, which according to expert explanations, combines the interactivity of virtual reality with the visual power of augmented reality. The mixture allows people to perceive a virtual object or situation within the real world.
 
The project led by technological company Magic Leap, consists on creating glasses with which users can surf the Internet, watch movies, and connect to virtual scenarios. All of these without isolating themselves from the real world. Some critics come to compare it with the Google Glass, but the creators maintain that this new product will be much more “immersive” and applicable than its predecessors.
 
Robots
 
This is another trend that we have listened to for decades. Where it is glimpsed from the technological revolution, to the extinction of human race in the hands of super intelligent machines. However, as the years pass, it is increasingly common to find robots in the everyday environment.

In 2018 these machines created with complex circuits and algorithms will have a great presence in hotels, hospitals, streets and schools, mainly in the most developed cities of the world.
 
Using a combination of GPS, sensors, and cameras to navigate the world, robots will begin to play an increasingly important role in society, performing rescue, security, military, medical, operational and even customer service.
 
Voice assistants
 
Siri, Cortana, Alexa, and the Google Assistant have been available to the public for a couple of years now. Despite the occasional errors, the lack of accuracy at asking a request and the communicative limits between man and device, have been responsible for the little cultural and social impact that voice assistants have had on the global community.

Nevertheless, technology companies aim to continue to improve the user experience and create an ecosystem of voice as ingrained to human needs as it is now with smartphones.
 
5G networks
 
The fifth generation wireless technology or 5G is still diffused in the technological radar and misunderstood while being related only to an increase in speed in the download digital process. However, experts say it is wrong to reduce the advantages of 5G technology only to a higher speed feature, since it will mark the innovations of the next decade.
 
According to Intel, the future with the 5G will allow everything to be connected and, due to the speed, accuracy and precision that this technology will have, medical firms already see in 5G a new possibility for remote surgery.

LatinAmerican Post | Krishna Jaramillo

Copy edited by Marcela Peñaloza