Emerging technologies like voice UI (VUI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI) are characterized by novelty, growth rate, and impact on human life. With so many new inventions, it is imperative for design practices to quickly transform their process to adapt to these new technologies.
AR/VR devices are also having a significant impact on education and entertainment. Through the use of these devices, it’s possible to immerse users in experiences within augmented or virtual worlds. Today, you no longer need to imagine what the world of ancient Greece looked like based on pictures or videos you’ve seen. Instead, you can simply put on a VR headset that will transport you back in time virtually so you can see and experience it with your own eyes.
What New Technologies Are Emerging?
Technology is evolving faster than ever, and understanding trends in emerging tech can help organizations prepare for opportunities and seize them when they come. Emerging technology is ever-evolving, but some of the most buzzed-about trends are IoT, 5G data networks, autonomous driving, blockchain, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality.
What New Technologies Are Emerging in Education?
VR technology can engage students in subjects like geography, history, literature, and beyond by offering immersive senses of place and time. With VR, students are no longer limited to words in a textbook. Now, they can visit anywhere in the world, at nearly any time in history. Not only does this help students who are visual learners, but it encourages creativity and inspires emotional reactions.
Emerging tech in education also lends itself to virtual field trips and even high-tech training. VR education can help highly technical training fields like the medical and military industries through immersive, virtual learning.
AR/VR devices are also very helpful for designers; they can be used to explore and experience products as they would look and behave in real-world settings in a simulated environment. We can expect more significant changes in industrial design and architecture due to this technology as well.
What Are the Impacts of Emerging Technologies?
Emerging tech is calling on designers to think “beyond the screen” and take a deep dive into a new world of possibilities to create rich immersive experiences powered by voice, AR/VR, and AI.
The significant evolution of smart assistants, such as Apple’s Siri, makes it clear that AI will power the next generation of digital devices. In a not so distant future, artificial intelligence will be able to predict and solve key problems for us, even before they’re evident for users.
Other voice-first devices, such as the Amazon Echo, help people find information and complete tasks such as checking the weather using voice inputs alone. Voice-based interactions are also extremely valuable in certain situations, like when driving a car, because they are much less distracting compared to interactions with traditional graphical user interfaces.
Even the most advanced technologies are nothing without great design. Experience design plays a vital role in the successful creation and adoption of emerging tech; at the same time, emerging technologies are the next great frontier for user experience. Many common design language decisions and heuristics related to emerging technology are yet to be clearly defined.
Now is an excellent opportunity for designers to use the knowledge they have about prototyping to build engaging and innovative user experiences with new tech.
Read on for more details on the many new forms of emerging technology, as we regularly post about the latest discoveries and developments in UX design knowledge.
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