Top Technology Trends in 2022

In the last two years, we’ve all learned that adapting is essential to surviving any novel circumstance. 2020 was all about COVID, its impacts, and how businesses battled to maintain continuous operations. To remain relevant and competitive, brands had to speed up their digital initiatives in 2021.

Organizations today recognize the value of digital, and their growing technological investments are expected to reflect this. The major themes that will influence the technological landscape in 2022 and beyond are outlined below.

Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and the Metaverse

Augmented Reality (AR)

AR technology allows software-developed data or imagery to overlay real-life objects in the physical world. For instance, using a smartphone camera, users can augment paint on the wall, check furniture fitting in space, and figure out whether or not the car they’re planning to buy will fit their garage. AR works in coordination with sensors, displays, and embedded electronic components.

Virtual Reality (VR)

VR lets you enter a fully immersive virtual world where you can interact with objects as replicas of the real world. VR technology works on the principle of sensors, gesture recognition, and embedded electronic components. Use of virtual reality includes games, educational training, virtual try-on, product showrooms, business meetings, and more.

Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), education (such as medical or military training), and business (such as virtual meetings).

 An example of a VR Experience could be a virtual event, which allows users to experience an immersive journey of visualization.

The AR/VR technology is already benefiting various industries, including gaming, e-commerce, auto, medicine, and education. According to Markets and Markets, The VR/AR industry is projected to grow from USD 6 billion in 2020 to USD 20 billion by 2025; it is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 27% from 2020 to 2025.

The Metaverse Experience

The simplest definition of the Metaverse is a virtual reality environment where users can communicate with other users as avatars in a computer-generated landscape. It opens up an entirely new virtual market for commerce and events by allowing users to play, socialize, attend events, shop, and interact with products in the most immersive way possible.

Businesses incorporating Metaverse experiences have a high average customer retention rate of 89%. The platform is capable of reaching Billion devices, boosting customer engagement tenfold than usual. As per a report published by McKinsey, Metaverse is too enormous for businesses to ignore, with the potential to generate $5 trillion in value by 2030.

Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence

The worldwide AI market is anticipated to experience unparalleled levels of growth between 2022 and 2029, with a predicted CAGR of 20.1%.

For instance, the demand for AI has spread into the healthcare sector to address the global pandemic, with models and tools capable of enhancing and supporting conventional analytics and decision-making systems.

Internet of Things (IoT)

IoT is a crucial technology for building a network of interconnected devices that can continually and instantly share data and information. The global IoT market was worth more than $260 billion in the previous financial year.

In the upcoming years, we’ll see a sharp rise in the volume of data generated by IoT networks, with the total amount of IoT data expected to exceed 79 zettabytes by 2025. The widespread adoption of the technology opens up many professional prospects, including those in the automotive, smart home, communications, and wearable wellness industries.

Blockchain

Blockchain technology has conquered the globe, from Bitcoin to NFTs. Blockchain is a decentralized set of related records and verified documents, sometimes called an electronic “ledger.”

By 2024, global spending on blockchain solutions is expected to reach $19 billion. Due to the potential of the technology and the significant financial interest in the potential applications it may bring, even at this early stage in its development, blockchain has grown into a substantial market in its own right.

Cybersecurity

In contrast to the other technologies discussed in this article, cybersecurity already has a strong foundation in the tech industry. AI-enabled phishing and network intrusion are two of the most frequent cyberattacks that businesses deal with, and they can have severe repercussions like data theft or revenue loss.

Until 2021, more than 4 million professionals were working in cybersecurity worldwide. And cybersecurity will continue to become a more immediate matter as the present digital age develops and more and more gadgets become connected.

Quantum Computing (QC)

For problem-solving, quantum computing uses superposition and other quantum mechanics laws. You can count on QC to provide answers to questions like how to determine the best paths for a few hundred tankers in a worldwide shipping network.  As of 2020, the global QC industry had revenues estimated at $412 million. By 2027, the global QC market will surpass the $8 billion threshold because of its current expansion and usage rate.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Like AI, robotic process automation, or RPA, can be seen as a challenge to employment because it is based on automation utilizing sophisticated software. Organizations from various industries are using RPA to automate multiple business operations. However, by 2023, the RPA market is anticipated to generate more than $10 billion in global revenues.

Edge Computing

A distributed computing architecture called edge computing brings IoT devices and business applications closer together. This technology is emerging as a technique for obtaining considerable commercial benefits and insights due to increasing data accessibility. Additionally, as the number of IoT devices increases, so will the utilization of edge computing.

Wrapping up!

The COVID-19 epidemic has significantly altered how businesses function. New services, products, technologies, and business models are changing dramatically. In many ways, global CXOs, Customer Experience Heads, and IT teams have excelled this year, raising the bar of already exceeding expectations with the upcoming technology.

As markets and economies adjust to a new normal, the uncertainty of 2021 will linger for a time. Agility, transformation, and continuous change will be the cornerstones of that new normal.