TORONTO – Over the past year consumers and experts have witnessed the rise of 3D printing and wearable technology that makes the user the most important part of the gadget.
While 2013 has been an important year for tech, some experts believe that 2014 will bring even more developments in user-driven applications – especially in areas such as healthcare and retail – as well wearable tech and digital currency, a hot topic toward the end of this year.
Global News spoke with Kenneth Wong, consumer behavior and technology expert at Queen’s University, and Adrian Bulzacki, future tech trends expert at Ryerson University’s Digital Media Zone, to discuss what consumers can expect from the tech world in 2014.
Wearable technology
While 2013 brought devices like Google Glass and a variety of smartwatches, Kenneth Wong believes that wearable technology is going to take on a bit of a different form in 2014.
He says consumers will see more smart clothing loaded with sensors that enable the product to learn more about the user. He noted that the current trend of fitness trackers is paving the way for these next-gen devices.
“You will probably also see more equipment that can learn – really smart equipment – not just smart in the sense that it can interact, but in the sense that it learns about your habits and preferences and makes it easier to interact with your device,” Wong told Global News.
Sony’s reported “Smart Wig” patent filing may point towards this trend.
Wong added that he does not see smartwatches making as big of an appearance in the marketplace in 2014, as consumers seem to be hesitant to adopt smartphone companion devices.
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“Part of the problem with wearable technology is that we like to change what we wear so it’s hard to come up with something that is going to be both functional – from a technological perspective – and fashionable,” said Wong.
“I don’t know that people will make the trade off – I think people will want both.”
Wong suggests that tech makers may try to make up for that by coming up with things like clothing lines that including wiring for charging devices, or built in audio jacks so the user can plug in headphones more easily.
Healthcare and Education
Wong anticipates that educators and healthcare workers are going to embrace tech in 2014 more than ever before.
“You are also going to see a lot more applications in health for both monitoring health conditions and data acquisition for doctors,” said Wong.
He also noted that wearable’s are going to play into healthcare technology by using smart clothes and other devices to monitor things like blood pressure and heart rate without the patient being in office.
“You might even see, in remote areas, the expansion of virtual house calls for patients,” Wong added.
Wong also predicts that more school boards across the country will begin to incorporate the use of tech gadgets in the classroom to bring learning into the 21st century.
READ MORE: Classroom laptops mimic workplace technology for Alberta students
Many school boards across the country are already using tablets or computers in the classroom as a learning tool, including the Edmonton Public School Board who started using Google’s Chromebook’s in classrooms across their 200 schools this year.
3D Printing
One big trend in 2013 was 3D printing – from people using the technology to build replacement limbs for animals and body parts for humans, to many experimenting with building 3D-printed plastic guns.
Bulzacki believes that we are going to see even more 3D-printed creations in 2014 thanks to the falling price of the consumer-level models of the devices.
Bulzacki told Global News that 3D printing “is at the point where hobbyists are able to buy them affordably, but it’s expected to be priced even lower next year.”
“There are a lot of products coming into the market at the $500 range that would allow users to create baseball-sized items, for example.”
Microsoft will be a fierce competitor
Next year is shaping up to be a big one for Microsoft. Aside from coming off of the successful launch of it’s Xbox One gaming console, the company is set to announce a new CEO to replace outgoing leader Steve Ballmer in the early part of the year.
Both Bulzacki and Wong agree that new leadership will pave the way for new developments from the tech giant – both noting that former Nokia CEO (and Canadian) Stephen Elop may be a good choice for the job, though recent reports suggest Elop is “less likely” to get the position.
But Elop has a fan in Bulzacki. “I think this is going to be really good for them. There is a good chance that the CEO of Nokia is going to become the CEO of Microsoft – I am personally rooting for him because Nokia was able to crawl out of mobile hell – if you will,” he said.
Wong echoed that concentration on hardware could be important for Microsoft in the New Year.
“I think Microsoft has finally started to realize that you don’t have to do everything with software – you can do it with hardware. I think the Microsoft acquisition of Nokia shows that isn’t their current line of thinking,” Wong said.
READ MORE: Microsoft expects high demands for Xbox One
But in terms of the technology itself, Bulzacki predicts that the tech maker could pull way ahead of its competitors in 2014 if it is able to release a unified operating system.
“Microsoft is in the lead for creating a unified operating system for the first time – no one has come close to that. What that means is that they are very close to having one operating system for their entire platform lineup – from servers, to desktop computers, to tablets, the Xbox and smartphones,” he said.
“No one else is really close to that – in terms of Android or Linux, Mac OS – they are all separate operating systems.”
Digital Currency
Bitcoin stole the spotlight in 2013, moving to the mainstream as more businesses embraced it – Vancouver, B.C. even played host to the world’s first Bitcoin ATM.
But despite online currencies taking investors on a rollercoaster ride at the end of 2013 – where the value of an individual coin dropped to below $600 from an all-time high of more than $1,110 – Bulzacki says digital currencies aren’t going anywhere.
However, he does think that Bitcoin’s 15 minutes of fame will soon come to an end.
“There is a very good chance Bitcoin wont be around for very long,” Bulzacki said.
“The risk is very high – if you are not tech savvy you will end up losing your money. I know a lot of people who took their Bitcoins and switched them for Litecoins,” he said.
READ MORE: Bitcoin wobbles as China clamps down
Litecoin – created by a former Google engineer in 2011 – is the second biggest digital currency, next to Bitcoin. It operates similar to Bitcoin but is “mined” using a different kind of algorithm that allows miners to produce it more quickly and with less effort.
Litecoin’s value also attracted some attention this year after it saw a 100 per cent jump in value in just 24 hours.
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