What are the main ICT future trends?

The most exciting and thrilling thing about Information and Communications Technology (ICT) career is "POSSIBILITY". We can see that in the last century, our society has advanced very much due to the novel and innovative technologies. . .

ICT Technologies in 20th Century.

TECHNOLOGY IN THE 21ST CENTURY:-

The daily life in which we do many things like interacting with others, do business, do office work or the way we take precautions when we are ill, will be changed by the technological advances in the upcoming future. Many advancements like AI (Artificial Intelligence) Holography, IoT (Internet of Things), Virtual Reality etc. fall under the category of ICT and will change our daily life and routine. Furthermore, ICT will empower many aspects of our life. Let us check out some main evolving trends in ICT:-

Haptic Technology:-

3D Haptics Technology.

It is also known as "Feedback Technology" which fundamentally uses Computer Applications. When users touch the device, this "touching" applies some force, so the device senses the users’ touch. It can also sense other forces like vibrations etc. This technology is mostly used in Game Controllers & Joysticks and it is also becoming more popular in smart phones. Haptic technology is being applied to Movies, Games and other numerous multimedia technologies. Imagine that your operation is in Islamabad and your doctor lives in Washington DC, so he will operate on you in Islamabad from his computer in Washington DC or imagine that you're interacting with a hologram or through the internet, you are 'Touching' and 'Examining' the texture/surface of the trouser to decide whether you are going to buy it or not.  This technology can yield much more advances in our daily life because it has considerable potential to do so.

Contextual Awareness:-

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The future devices will be able to learn about you e.g. Who you are? Where you live? or where you work? and even 'how’ you work? by combining your hard information such as where you are as well as what are the conditions around you with soft information such as your social network, your past preferences & your calendar. Additionally, such devices can predict your needs as they are constantly learning about your life and way of living. Let’s imagine that your Personal Computer is advising and counseling you for different tasks like to reach the meeting at a specific time, or it is telling you that how much time is left for you to have the dinner, or suggesting you to take a different route because the route which you were going to take is blocked. Let us suppose that your remote control exactly knows what your favorite channels are and whenever you hold it in hand, it automatically selects those channels for you. Cool eh? ;)

Voice & Tone Recognition:-

Imagine that you are going to enter in your room, and say "Open the door !". The door opens automatically. Or whenever you want to turn the lights off, you say "Lights off !", and the lights get turned off automatically. Any person's identity can be confirmed by using Voice & Tone Recognition features. Likewise, it can be used to detect one's emotional state as well as health state. New opportunities in security and health care with mobile applications can be opened with the help of this invention, like your mobile phone gets unlocked only when ‘you’ ask it to do so. 

Intelligent Routing to Devices:- 

Local counsels can be privileged and advantaged by this technology. While on the move, precise location and description of a street-based issue will be provided by the staff using mobile devices & smart phones with GPS (Global Positioning System) support. The devices will capture snaps and run artificial intelligence algorithms. The intelligent routing will alert the responsible staff to action. This invention can also help people when they are in journeys as it can guide them and can tell them about the most suitable routes precisely.

Gamification:- 

One can see that the use of gaming amongst kids and youngsters is very common and is increasing every day. But now this technology can be applied to the non-gaming apps in such a way so that they become more appealing. It is one of the most vital trends which have been proved by many industry experts. This technique can be applied in any field and almost anything in order to promote enjoyment and winsome experiences by adding attractive features in them. Gamification is changing the approach of doing business as well. It affects moods positively and strengthens the commitment and friendly relation between customers and employees to the levels which have never seen before !

Eye Tracking Technology:-

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Devices having this technology measure the movements and positions of the human eyeballs and analyze them by using computer apps. For example, when you are trying to look somewhere very carefully, the device senses your gaze and zoom the view so that it makes easy for you to see. Gaze monitoring is also being used in modern vehicles to watch the drivers in a way that whether they are actively looking on the front while driving or not. Eye Tracking is one of the most important technologies and it has many applications like:

• Law Enforcement: Detection of lies.
• Health Care: Using electrical wheelchairs, monitors, and laptops etc. to can help the persons who are paralyzed (mentally or physically).
• Safety: Alerting the drivers when they are not paying attention at the front while driving or when they get distracted.
• Retail: Monitoring, observing & analyzing the costumer's body language.
• Airport Security: Detection of any doubtful behaviors of travelers e.g. Timely identify and catch terrorists before the any untoward incidents.

Eye Tracking Technology in Lie Detection.

Brainwave Sensing:-

Brainwave Sensing Device

In brainwave sensing, the users are able to control multiple functions with brain waves without using their hands or any other body part. This technology can be used in toys, defense, aviation, aerospace, security, and many other applications and it is still evolving.

We can imagine the Brainwave Technology in these situations:

Fighter pilots when heading back to the airbase after a long, exhausting mission and are feeling tired. Suddenly, a warning light flashes on their screens to check whether they are paying attention to those lights or not? or can they fix this situation? It can be judged whether they are mentally present or not! Moreover, with this technique, military commandants can easily monitor and assess the mental state of commandos or pilots with the help of Helmet Sensors, which can tell them about the mental state of the users that whether they are fresh or not. With the help of this technology, military officers no longer have to guess the answers of such questions.

Virtual Worlds:-

Virtual Reality in Games

A virtual world is "Computer Based Simulated Environment" and it is widely used by nowadays. It’s a technique in which virtual 3D environment is generated which looks very much real to the users. With the help of this, a single task can be done easily by many people simultaneously. We can make a personal profile and can even change our looks as well as our identity. Besides, one can design the environment around him and can also control the way of communication as well as his present motion. In future, when people will reach home, they will be able to make their own beautiful islands with a 5-star hotel or big houses. Our friends can even come over to a party with us through a teleporter, just like in the movie "Tron" or "The Matrix". Quite fascinating huh? Well this technology can also be applied to tourism, health, e-commerce, entertainment and of course in social networking etc.

Virtual Reality shown in "The Matrix" movie.

Internet Glasses:-

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Internet glasses can display different images or videos and much more, directly in front of our eyes without blocking the vision or sight. Yes! It has been shown in many movies; like in "Iron-Man 3".This innovation has countless uses, from e-gaming to the military defense. In the next 20 to 30 years, experts believe that these glasses will replace smart phones too! Wow!

Internet Glasses Technology shown in Iron-Man. 

So imagine some of the appealing experiences as follow:

• You are going somewhere and you receive the direction of your pathway.
• You are cooking meal and you can view the virtual recipes.
• You can see the location of various buildings e.g. banks, schools, hospitals, restaurants, pizza stalls etc.
• You are walking down a street and you see an old chum of yours "2 streets and 3 buildings away" on your screen.
• You can watch movies and television programs during journey.

So, some of the main future trends and fashions have been discussed above. Being an ICT student, one must know all of these technologies because it will enable us to get timely aware of these novel facilities that are going to make our life luxurious in the coming future.
If you have any further innovative idea in mind, you can post it in the comments section below.

Thank you for reading this blog...

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Author: Danial Ahmed Khan Tareen