The technology that will invade our lives in 2022

Every year, I look forward to the latest in consumer technology to guide you through what you might buy and what is sure to be a fad.

Many of lThe same “trends” appear over and over because, to put it simply, technology takes a long time to mature before most of us want to buy it.. That’s true this year too. Some 2022 trends that tech companies are driving are things you’ve already heard about.

Next, four technological trends that will invade our lives this year.

1. Welcome to the metaverse

For more than a decade, technologists have dreamed of an era in which our virtual lives play as important a role as our physical reality. In theory, we would spend a lot of time interacting with our friends and colleagues in virtual space. And as a result, we would spend money there to have outfits and items for our digital avatars.

“We’re in a world where people broadcast an image multiple times a day to see themselves reflected,” said Matthew Ball, a venture capitalist who has written extensively on the metaverse. “The next phase takes that visual representation and gives it a dimension. You enter an environment and you express yourself through an avatar ”.

This year there will be even more. Apple plans to present its version of virtual reality device, which will resemble ski goggles and, for computational power, they will depend on a separate computing device that will be worn elsewhere on the body. Apple declined to comment.

Google has also developed virtual reality products for years and Microsoft has offered a virtual reality headset for businesses and government agencies.

What is the metaverse, the new digital universe that will transform our online experiences

The metaverse could still turn out to be a fad, depending on what products come out and who buys them. Carolina Milanesi, a consumer technology analyst at consultancy Creative Strategies, said she was concerned it could become a reflection of the privileged few who can afford to indulge themselves digitally.

“The boating market is dominated by upper-middle-class white men,” he explained. “Are we going to translate all of that into the metaverse?”

2. The smart home

Over the past few years, smart home products such as internet-connected thermostats, locks, and robotic vacuums have made great progress. The devices became inexpensive and worked reliably with digital assistants like Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple’s Siri.

However, the smart home, for the most part, has remained chaotic. Many smart home products did not work well with other technologies. For example, some locks only worked with Apple cell phones and not with Android; some thermostats were controlled by speaking to the Google Assistant and not Siri.

The lack of compatibility has created long-term problems. An Apple compatible lock is not useful for the family member or future tenant who prefers Android. It would also be more convenient one day if our household devices could communicate, such as for a washing machine to tell the dryer that that heavy load of clothes is now ready to dry.

This year, the tech industry’s biggest rivals – Apple, Samsung, Google and Amazon – are doing well to make the smart home more practical. They plan to launch and update their home technology to work with Matter, a new standard that allows smart home devices to communicate, no matter what virtual assistant or brand of cell phone they have. More than 100 smart home products are expected to adhere to that standard.

3. Connected health

Fitness devices like Apple Watch and Fitbit, which help us track our movements and heart rate, continue to become more popular. That’s why tech companies are experimenting this year with smaller wearable devices that gather more intimate data about our health.

Oura, a health technology company, recently introduced a new model of its Oura Ring, a ring that is integrated with sensors that track metrics like body temperature to accurately predict menstrual cycles. This week at CES, a tech trade show in Las Vegas, Movano, another health startup, unveiled a similar ring that gathers data on heart rate, temperature and other measurements to inform the user of potential chronic diseases.

CES 2022: Technology focused on health and wellness

Medical experts have long warned about the potential consequences of health-focused technology. Without the proper context, the data could possibly be used to misdiagnose diseases and cause people to become hypochondriacal. However, if the widely sold COVID rapid test kits tell us anything, it is that more of us seem ready to take proactive action in monitoring our health.

4. Electric cars

Last year, US President Joe Biden announced an ambitious goal: Half of the vehicles sold in the United States would be electric rather than gasoline by 2030.

In response, big car companies are hyping their electric cars, as happened at CES this week. On Tuesday, Ford announced plans to increase production of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck. This week, General Motors plans to unveil a battery version of its Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. Other manufacturers, such as Mercedes-Benz, have outlined their plans for electric vehicles that will be launched in the next few years.

Advantages and disadvantages of plug-in hybrid vehicles

While there is a lot of hype surrounding electric cars, those of us looking for battery-powered vehicles this year may go for Tesla, Milanesi said. That’s because we have yet to see the widespread deployment of solar power and charging stations for electric cars, especially in more rural areas. Tesla has one foot ahead because it has been installing charging stations for years, Milanesi added.

“In terms of infrastructure, many things still need to be achieved,” he said. “For now a lot is said, but I don’t know how much reality there is in those words.” (I)