While the end of 2015 brought us ‘hoverboards,’ don’t go expecting to see flying cars or even real hoverboards this year.
Here are 3 things worth getting excited about:
- Virtual Reality
- Artificial Intelligence
- Rise of Content
Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality has finally arrived. And it is arriving fast.
Oculus is accepting pre-orders for the Rift (price yet to be announced) on Jan 6. Samsung’s Gear VR finished as one of 2015’s hottest holiday gifts. It looks as though mainstream VR adoption is coming in hot.
One of the primary hurdles to VR has always been the lack of available VR content. GoPro and many upstart camera manufacturers have made 360 video a more manageable reality for creating VR video.
Need further proof? Check out https://www.facebook.com/Facebook360/ to see how much content is already coming out even though most consumers lack ‘proper’ VR viewing equipment.
Artificial Intelligence
AI is already utilized and not exactly new, particularly in the workplace and enterprise. However, this year we will start to see AI trickle down for us regular folks.
One of my favorite examples of this:
X.Ai (http://x.ai) — aka Amy. Amy is a virtual assistant that coordinates and schedule meetings over email. I used a beta version of this last year; it is simple to use and saves countless hours emailing back and forth.
It won’t be long before Siri or a comparable service is able to book a restaurant reservation for you. After hearing you discuss grabbing dinner over a call with a friend Siri can set it up right away. The day-to-day implications for these services are endless.
Rise of Content
We have all heard the saying: “Cash is king.”
For centuries, this has been the heartbeat of business. This year, we are entering a new era: Cash is Queen.
In 2016, Content is King.
In the early days of the internet, file-sharing programs like Napster and Kazaa discredited the value of content. By sharing music, movies, etc at scale for free, content creators have been forced to get creative to earn a living. Those days are no more.
As online platforms and services have matured, content has flourished. You can watch the most obscure tv shows, read niche topic blogs, follow thought leaders for any industry on any social channel, and the list goes on.
With so much content readily available, brands have more options than ever before to get in front of their target audience. This hyper-competitive environment has led to a golden era for content to thrive.
It has never been easier for creative artists, writers and filmmakers to publish and disseminate their content. Conversely, it has never been harder to get noticed. We the consumer, will have the best entertainment and content available to us in the history of mankind this 2016.
If you are working on something exciting, I’d love to hear about it. If you know any awesome companies or individuals working in these spaces, we would love to feature them as well.
