1) Augmented Reality will become Enterprise Reality.
As technology powers forward, businesses should be experimenting with a wide range of interactive media – including augmented, virtual, and mixed reality technologies. AR offers companies exciting opportunities to engage closely with customers, and also enables them to train their staff in a virtual environment, maximising productivity and limiting risks. As an estimated 100 million people will be shopping in augmented reality settings by 2020, it’s essential that companies start to think about how the software can be used within their organisation. The data acquisition opportunities that sit within AR are significant, as are the ethical issues associated with its collection and use.
2) The Future of Innovation is Technology that Augments the Human Experience.
With the general population becoming increasingly tech-savvy, companies will have to think carefully about access and design to give them the edge over their competitors. Design thinking – an approach visualising the end experience first, and compounds people, processes and technologies to achieve that vision – will become imperative for maintaining a competitive advantage. In 2017, user experiences will undergo a shift; typing will give way to more immersive methods of digital interaction like gestures, haptics, voice, gaze etc., offering seamless engagements between users and machines.
3) From Data Acquisition to Data Intelligence.
Today’s workforce comprises a mixture of humans, intelligent systems and devices, which naturally brings its own complex set of guidelines regarding data acquisition and protection. In a recent survey, the majority of mid-level executives were grappling with ethical issues stemming from the use of smart technologies in the workplace. For example, some car insurers are using special telematics devices to monitor consumer driving habits, but whilst this may seem like a good idea for rewarding careful drivers with a premium discount, are consumers truly aware of who owns the data being produced by the car? And would they be comfortable knowing that insurers use the telematics device as a trigger to call 999 in the event of an accident? As technology advances further and further, there is a greater need for education surrounding the ethics of digital technologies – and it must fall to organisations to provide this education for their employees.