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In general, technology trends are difficult to predict accurately because predicting the future itself is extremely difficult. However, we can still infer some future development trends of the technology industry from some significant data indicators in 2017.

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Many people's understanding of the concept of the technology industry is too specific and narrow, and they only regard technology industries such as smartphones and drones as technology industries, while the technology trends listed in this article also contain many more complex concepts. such as robotics, laser transmission Internet, distributed medical recording system, and so on, these are different from the platitudes of technology. Even if only half of the listed technological trends make more progress than they are now, the coming year is bound to be an exciting year.

The main results are as follows: (1) Block chain will be more widely used.

Blockchain is an electronic ledger that everyone can share and access, and both parties can track transactions through blockchain. The term blockchain attracted a lot of attention throughout 2017 because the cryptocurrency Bitcoin uses a decentralized blockchain to track all its transactions. however, the application of blockchain technology is far beyond Bitcoin. It has a wider range of applications.

Some people hope that the blockchain technology can be applied to medical records, and patients' medical records can be imported into an encrypted database through different databases and software. The benefit of this is that patients' personal medical histories can be stored in a secure, decentralized place, and doctors can access the database in unavailable office and medical center software, so that there is no problem of getting different software or offices to collaborate to upgrade the database.

(2) the narrow sense artificial intelligence is further expanded.

Recently, there have been many different theories about artificial intelligence, but what really benefits many companies in 2018 lies in the use of algorithms and computer intelligence that are good at solving a very specific task. This is often called narrow artificial intelligence.

There is a difference between narrow artificial intelligence and general artificial intelligence (imagine an automatic robot trying to take over the world). In a narrow sense, artificial intelligence only allows computers to do some very specific tasks, such as driving cars. Narrow AI can be used everywhere, from language translation software to content algorithms in FacebookNewsfeed. In 2018, it is likely that we will see more companies using narrow AI to make their business more efficient and further increase their productivity.

(3) Underground transportation will gain more traction.

At the end of 2016, Tesla CEOElonMusk announced that he would set up a new company dedicated to solving Los Angeles's well-known traffic problems. Just last year, Musk's new company, BoringCompany, dug a 150m-long tunnel to test a new underground high-speed rail system, which aims to provide passengers with more convenient and high-speed travel services.

BoringCompany may offer two types of transportation, the first is a rail system that can transport more than a dozen passengers from one city to another at 241km / h at a time, and the other is Musk's concept of Hyperloop super high-speed rail, which consists of compartments flying at 700mph in near-vacuum tubes.

BoringCompany is currently building a 6.50-mile tunnel in Los Angeles for a proof-of-concept, and if the project is finally approved by the city, it could eventually become Los Angeles's underground tunnel system. Boring is also digging an underground transit track in Maryland for testing, which will eventually become an underground transportation system between Washington, D. C. and New York City. These test tunnels will not be completed in 2018, but we will certainly know more about them in 2018.

(4) 5G wireless bandwidth will be introduced.

AT&T and Verizon have been testing 5G wireless networks since 2017. The two companies said they would commercialize the service to a limited extent in 2018. Unlike 4G and LTE, 5G networks will initially be mainly used in home networks, allowing telecom operators to provide multi-gigabit speeds to homes over wireless connections. For comparison, the speed of 1G is 15 times that of the current average home bandwidth in the United States.

Compared with traditional wired network connections, 5G networks are not only faster, but also greatly reduce home network congestion (imagine how slow it is when you and your neighbors watch movies online at the same time). Latency will also be lower (messages can be sent quickly). Verizon will launch a 5G network in Sacramento, California, and four other unannounced markets in 2018.

(5) Bitcoin will get more attention and coverage.

The rapid rise in bitcoin prices attracted the attention of many investors and the general public at the end of 2017, and we will see a similar trend in 2018. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that allows its owners to buy securely and anonymously.

Some retailers, such as HomeDepot and Overstock.com, are already accepting Bitcoin, and more retailers are expected to accept Bitcoin payments in 2018, especially as the price of Bitcoin continues to rise. But Bitcoin is still highly volatile, and its online trading venue (where you buy and sell bitcoin) is often targeted. This means that the price of Bitcoin is likely to rise or fall further in 2018. Either way, we will see more reports of cryptocurrencies in 2018.

(6) augmented reality will become mainstream on mobile devices.

In 2017, Apple made augmented reality available to hundreds of millions of iPhone and iPad users by releasing the iOS11 with built-in enhanced display, which was a huge step forward. Apple allows developers to develop their own AR apps, such as Ikea's Place app, which allows users to scan the home room and add virtual furniture to the room to see what the home actually looks like.

Facebook also took some steps in 2017 to allow users to use more augmented reality applications on Facebook's platform in 2018. Facebook's new ARStudio allows developers to develop filters and lens effects plug-ins for Facebook and Messenger apps, such as adding augmented reality masks for selfies. In addition, Apple has extended the use of AR filters to Instragram applications. According to Deloitte, Apple and Facebook's emphasis on mobile AR is one of the reasons why an estimated 1 billion smartphone users will generate AR content on their phones in 2018.

(7) We will see the emergence of the world's first real self-driving car service.

Many automakers and big technology companies have been testing driverless car technology for a long time, but Alphabet's driverless car company Waymo will make an even bigger breakthrough in 2018.

For the past few months, Waymo has been working on self-driving tools in Phoenix, Arizona. Waymo recently said that Waymo will launch a self-driving car service in Phoenix within a few months. This means that in Phoenix, Waymo cars will pick up people on demand and will be able to take passengers to their destination in Phoenix without a driver in the driver's seat. This is not only a big step forward for Waymo, but also a big step forward for the entire driverless car technology, which means that Waymo will be several years ahead of its competitors. Most automakers and technology companies say they will launch their own driverless car services in 2021.

(8) the development of new solar energy technology.

In 2017, a group of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology began working on a new solar panel technology called solar thermal photovoltaic cells (HotSolarCells). Compared with traditional too-energy photovoltaic panels, solar thermal photovoltaic cells are more efficient at converting solar energy into electricity, twice as much as traditional too-energy photovoltaic panels because they use more advanced materials and more advanced light capture processes.

Solar thermal photovoltaic cells essentially introduce light into carbon nanotubes and then heat them to about 1000 degrees Celsius before transferring the heat to light that focuses on the solar cells. Compared with traditional solar panels, this process converts solar energy into energy more efficiently and absorbs and stores some heat energy for future use. The research of solar thermal photovoltaic cells is still in a very early stage, but it can take solar panel technology beyond traditional solar panels in the next few years.

(9) Home digital virtual assistants will become more and more popular.

Smart speakers like Amazon's Echo (with Alexa virtual assistant) have been available since 2014, but they didn't get more attention and popularity until the end of 2017, and it is believed that this trend will continue into 2018. These smart speakers can answer services such as weather advice, online ordering products and web search, and can even help users call Uber or order Pizza online. Smart speakers can also be used in conjunction with other smart home products, such as thermostats, so that users can use voice to control all devices in the home.

According to data released by the research structure JuniperResearch, the number of Americans using such smart speaker devices increased by nearly 130% from 2016 to 2017, and more than half of American households are expected to own at least one smart home speaker by 2020. All this data means that in 2018, we will see more and more users using digital virtual assistants.

(10) Quantum computing will become more and more common.

Quantum computing is a difficult concept to understand. The simplest explanation for quantum computing is: with the help of the law of quantum mechanics, the computer can process the information into 1 and 0 at the same time, while the traditional computer can only process the information as 1 or 0. In this way, the computer can calculate multiple results at once without having to process the answers sequentially.

Because quantum computers can process information in this way, quantum computers are far more powerful than traditional computers. At the end of 2017, Google made great progress in the field of quantum computing, and now Google has provided free, open source quantum computing software to chemists and materials scientists.

Although quantum computers are still in a very early stage, many technology giants believe that quantum computers can soon be used to solve climate change problems and contribute to the emergence of new medical discoveries. Companies such as Google, IBM and Microsoft have invested more in quantum computing, and Google's latest software is compatible with quantum computers from companies such as IBM, paving the way for the widespread adoption of quantum computing technology in 2018.

(11) Surgical robots will enter more and more operating rooms.

IntuitiveSurgical has dominated the surgical robot market for years. The company's Leonardo da Vinci surgical robot has been in use since 2000, but because the company's patent is about to expire, this opens the door for other technology companies and large medical companies to enter the surgical robot market.

Surgical robots cannot operate on their own and need to be controlled by surgeons. In some cases, doctors are able to perform operations more accurately with the help of surgical robots. Nowadays, these surgical robots have become more and more intelligent. According to a recent article by the Economist, Google has begun working with Johnson&Johnson to set up a joint venture called VerbSurgical, which has launched networked surgical robots. The surgical robot can share big data and video information with other surgical robots, and then use machine learning to improve the effect of surgery. As more and more companies enter this market, and Google further expands the way these robots assist in surgery, we are bound to see more breakthroughs in this field in 2018.

(12) Flying taxis will appear.

Today, many companies have boasted about their ability to launch unmanned aerial vehicles (AAV) in large cities, but a Chinese company called Yihang will be the first to make that a reality in 2018. The company already has a prototype of a single flying taxi, and the company says it will begin mass production of two-passenger flying taxis in 2018.

Yihang's e-184 looks like a large drone with a cockpit that can hold one person at a speed of up to 62 kilometers per hour to a predetermined destination. The battery can support a 25-minute flight time. Ehang has so far signed a contract under which it will bring flying taxis to Dubai in 2018. At present, Yihang is still in talks with some European cities on the introduction of flying taxi products. It is hard to predict how popular flying taxis will become in the future. But 2018 will be the year when flying taxis become a reality.

(13) Alphabet will use lasers to provide Internet services to India.

Alphabet's X research division will sell some high-tech laser beam technology to the Indian government in 2018, so it can provide high-speed Internet service to tens of millions of Indian users. The device uses "space optical technology", which consists of boxes used to send and receive laser signals to each other to transmit Internet signals, rather than using commonly used copper wire or optical fiber materials. The final Internet signal will be sent to the user via Wifi or cellular signal. Because it uses light to send signals, it is the ultimate wireless signal.

According to a recent article published by Reuters, Alphabet will provide 2000 space light boxes, which are about 20 kilometers away from each other, mostly on roofs and telephone poles. These devices can send network signals at the speed of 20G/ seconds. Space optical technology usually encounters weather-related obstacles (it doesn't like rainy and foggy weather very much), but Alphabet says the company's technology has solved some of these problems.

14. The Internet of things continues to advance by leaps and bounds.

The Internet of things (IoT) refers to those devices that have sensors to collect data and can connect to the Internet, and the information they produce can be used for analysis or automation. These devices can be anything from smartwatches such as the AppleWatch to industrial machinery that can signal to a computer that a mechanical part is about to fail.

In 2016, there are 6.4 billion Internet of things devices in use; by 2018, the number of Internet of things devices will reach 11.2 billion. As the number of Internet of things devices increases, and as Internet of things devices take over more and more industrial and enterprise systems, they need to become more secure and easier to update. Because of this, we are likely to see the emergence of more Internet of things platform software in the coming year, and its security will continue to improve. Many IoT devices are very small and cheap, which means that cloud-based software and web-based security may be the key to the growing IoT market. Starting from 2018, we will see the emergence of more Internet of things devices with larger market space and lower cost, which will be used in all areas of life, from interconnected security systems to smart LED lights, according to market research company Gartner.

(15) the return of AR headsets.

In 2012, Google launched an augmented reality glasses called GoogleGlass, but the device failed in the end because it could not bring practical use to users. But after that, Google released an enterprise-class AR glasses. MagicLeap, the AR company that Google invested in, will also release "mixed reality" glasses in 2018.

MagicLeap's hybrid reality glasses are called "Lightwear" and can be used to browse the Internet, make conference calls or play games. The quotation for this equipment has not yet been announced. But Lightwear is expected to sell to software developers so they can develop more content and apps for the glasses. So far, MagicLeap has raised about $1.9 billion. The much-anticipated release of Lightwear glasses is likely to be the first of many AR glasses we will see in 2018.

Of course, it is impossible to know which of the above technology trends will really take off in 2018. However, these technological trends are based on existing technological innovations, which means that they are no longer just short-lived ideas. If I were to choose a few technology trends that I hope to achieve in 2018, I hope that driverless cars, augmented reality, the Internet of things and home virtual assistants will achieve greater breakthroughs in 2018.

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