From AI to VR, 2017 was an exciting year for technology. On the heels of such an innovative year, business leaders may be asking what innovations to bet big on in 2018. We spoke to analysts, executives and experts throughout the year to ask for their predictions about what will take center stage in 2018.
Eric McCarty, vice president of B2B mobile product marketing at Samsung Electronics America, predicted that enterprise tech in 2018 will continue to focus on emerging trends like VR, augmented reality and wearables.
“In 2018, we’re finally going to start to see machine learning turn into machine doing,” said Ojas Rege, chief marketing and strategy officer at MobileIron. “But in the end, it only matters to a company if you’ve got developers who are building new services that your employees will actually use.”
Business owners like Mona Patel, founder and CEO of Motivate Design, are interested to see how technologies like voice assistants can play the role in business, while creating the feeling customers and employees are engaging with real people.
These technologies are projected to span across multiple industries.
Visual search, eye scanning and eye tracking recognition will help retailers understand where customers look and how to associate specific content with certain products, predicts See Digital Founder, Keith Curtin. Meanwhile, in public safety, Samsung SDS’ Gabriel Murphy sees virtual reality helping law enforcement train officers in a protected, enclosed environment.
As exciting as these technologies are, it’s important to consider the potential ethical implications too.
“The future of mobile is going to require humans to think more effectively about creating boundaries for ourselves,” noted Rita King, Science House co-director and futurist. “Just because we can work anywhere doesn’t mean we want to work all the time.”
What do you think businesses should consider as they explore new technologies in 2018? Let us know by tweeting us at @SamsungBizUSA or visiting us at CES booth #15006.
