Here's our comprehensive list of the top 7 consumer technology trends that can be expected across the coming year of 2022.
We have a new Matrix movie coming out in a few months, yay! Did you perchance forget? Well, a lot of us don't, since we expect the film to drive a lot of interest in two important trends that will potentially be traced across 2022: VR, and the Metaverse. The Metaverse, currently under development by the company formerly named Facebook (which also refers to itself as Meta, that’s how much faith it has in this project), is a VR-based social media landscape. Think of it as an open-world MMORPG, allowing users to interact with each other as well as their own surroundings via a slew of mini-games and other exploratory tasks. There’s a lot of buzz about the Metaverse, since VR social media is a pretty novel concept, and details have been surprisingly reticent on the matter. However, we know that the likes of Microsoft and NVIDIA are also planning on unveiling their plans regarding the matter soon enough. We just have to keep our eyes peeled for future developments.
In general, VR and AR seem to be the way forward. With social media platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok, and even Facebook actively investing in AR, there will be a lot more consumer interest in the limitations and applications of the technology as a whole. 2021 in general saw a lot of strides in commercially utilized AR, which we can only expect to see being further commoditized in coming times. Video games are also actively playing around with more immersive VR and AR titles, with the introduction of feel and smell also receiving some amount of attention. While their wide-scale application is hardly to be expected as soon as next month, 2022 might in general turn out to be a transformative year for the technology as a whole.
Domestic robots are yet another avenue of technology that has seen a lot of progress in 2021, and can therefore expect commoditization across 2022. We’ve come a bit far from adorable Roombas and Siri. With the likes of Alexa devices being considered common household devices at this point, Amazon’s actively looking into releasing a version of the AI on wheels named Astro. In what feels like a character out of The Jetsons, Astro can actively and accurately map out one’s room in order to keep tabs on pets or children, as well as help in carrying equipment around. Very interesting, and just a bit creepy. It’s the sort of technology that I see getting integrated very early on in the next year, with other companies already attempting to follow suit with their own versions. However, at some point cybersecurity vulnerabilities should start to be considered, right?
Well, we talked about the super smart robot, now let’s talk about the super smart machinery. 2022 is a year that’s only going to see AI more frequently and thoroughly installed across our necessary home devices. A big example comes in the form of TVs, and how AI can now change their settings in order to create the perfect lighting conditions for the relevant surroundings. Self-driving cars were already seeing a lot of attention in 2021, and we can only expect such attention to heighten across the year 2022. In general, automated technology is something that humans have always strived towards, since we made the wheel in order to help carry our stuff for us.
With all this talk of machines and smart TVs, another major trend to be expected across 2022 is the introduction of smart-homes. Smartphones and the like connect to almost everything in a house nowadays, down to the refrigerators as well as the thermostat. Everything being controlled with one master remote: that’s what homes may start looking like next year.
5G towers have started being implemented across the world in 2021, with mixed reception. Of course, since towers are sparse, even in highly developed areas, 5G ends up feeling like an expensive crutch rather than a useful tool. Of course, with more towers being planned for installation, Tech experts expects 2022 to be the year that 5G will see a much more satisfying implementation, for the benefit of users everywhere. With companies already applying for 6G tower approvals, I expect that they’re raring to fully integrate 5G technology as soon as possible.
NFTs are, to my ever-increasing surprise, becoming increasingly popular by the day. With these essentially serving as even more exclusive versions of cryptocurrency, however, it’s no surprise that they’re doing so well. NFTs can easily be expected as a viable and accepted form of currency across 2022, as well as the objects of affection for many collectors across the internet.
Read next: How Gen X have quickly adapted to the evolving world of technology
We have a new Matrix movie coming out in a few months, yay! Did you perchance forget? Well, a lot of us don't, since we expect the film to drive a lot of interest in two important trends that will potentially be traced across 2022: VR, and the Metaverse. The Metaverse, currently under development by the company formerly named Facebook (which also refers to itself as Meta, that’s how much faith it has in this project), is a VR-based social media landscape. Think of it as an open-world MMORPG, allowing users to interact with each other as well as their own surroundings via a slew of mini-games and other exploratory tasks. There’s a lot of buzz about the Metaverse, since VR social media is a pretty novel concept, and details have been surprisingly reticent on the matter. However, we know that the likes of Microsoft and NVIDIA are also planning on unveiling their plans regarding the matter soon enough. We just have to keep our eyes peeled for future developments.
In general, VR and AR seem to be the way forward. With social media platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok, and even Facebook actively investing in AR, there will be a lot more consumer interest in the limitations and applications of the technology as a whole. 2021 in general saw a lot of strides in commercially utilized AR, which we can only expect to see being further commoditized in coming times. Video games are also actively playing around with more immersive VR and AR titles, with the introduction of feel and smell also receiving some amount of attention. While their wide-scale application is hardly to be expected as soon as next month, 2022 might in general turn out to be a transformative year for the technology as a whole.
Domestic robots are yet another avenue of technology that has seen a lot of progress in 2021, and can therefore expect commoditization across 2022. We’ve come a bit far from adorable Roombas and Siri. With the likes of Alexa devices being considered common household devices at this point, Amazon’s actively looking into releasing a version of the AI on wheels named Astro. In what feels like a character out of The Jetsons, Astro can actively and accurately map out one’s room in order to keep tabs on pets or children, as well as help in carrying equipment around. Very interesting, and just a bit creepy. It’s the sort of technology that I see getting integrated very early on in the next year, with other companies already attempting to follow suit with their own versions. However, at some point cybersecurity vulnerabilities should start to be considered, right?
Well, we talked about the super smart robot, now let’s talk about the super smart machinery. 2022 is a year that’s only going to see AI more frequently and thoroughly installed across our necessary home devices. A big example comes in the form of TVs, and how AI can now change their settings in order to create the perfect lighting conditions for the relevant surroundings. Self-driving cars were already seeing a lot of attention in 2021, and we can only expect such attention to heighten across the year 2022. In general, automated technology is something that humans have always strived towards, since we made the wheel in order to help carry our stuff for us.
With all this talk of machines and smart TVs, another major trend to be expected across 2022 is the introduction of smart-homes. Smartphones and the like connect to almost everything in a house nowadays, down to the refrigerators as well as the thermostat. Everything being controlled with one master remote: that’s what homes may start looking like next year.
5G towers have started being implemented across the world in 2021, with mixed reception. Of course, since towers are sparse, even in highly developed areas, 5G ends up feeling like an expensive crutch rather than a useful tool. Of course, with more towers being planned for installation, Tech experts expects 2022 to be the year that 5G will see a much more satisfying implementation, for the benefit of users everywhere. With companies already applying for 6G tower approvals, I expect that they’re raring to fully integrate 5G technology as soon as possible.
NFTs are, to my ever-increasing surprise, becoming increasingly popular by the day. With these essentially serving as even more exclusive versions of cryptocurrency, however, it’s no surprise that they’re doing so well. NFTs can easily be expected as a viable and accepted form of currency across 2022, as well as the objects of affection for many collectors across the internet.
Read next: How Gen X have quickly adapted to the evolving world of technology