A sample of 2021’s biggest, most talked about tech trends would be sure to include the return of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies mania, the rise of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) as a new blockchain-based asset class, the increasing normalisation of remote work and the mainstream arrival of EVs. And that would be to name just a few.
We could easily add cleantech thanks to global climate change commitments that came out of the COP26 summit held in Glasgow. The role new and evolving technology will play in de-carbonising energy over the next three decades was already established but the promises made by developed nations in November will have cemented investor faith.
And there are, of course, many more technology trends that started or strengthened last year, especially in the field of AI; AI-generated content, biotech advancements based on AI-powered drugs discovery, Big Tech’s increasing use of AI algorithms in their products, from Google’s search engine to Facebook’s ads platform etc.
Naming a handful of tech trends expected to be among the most significant and talked-about of 2022 will inevitably prove a hit and miss exercise. The big tech story of this year may well not even be on my radar yet, or of almost anyone but a select few.
Others may bubble along at or under the surface of mainstream consciousness; new tech being developed, improved and showing promise but not yet ready to be commercialised. They are tech trends that almost certainly will become ingrained in our lives. But 2022 won’t, in the end, prove to be the year they make any significant breakthroughs.
Nonetheless, here are a few of the big tech trends I am confident will be inspiring technophiles, investors and speculators in the year ahead:
The Metaverse
Most of us heard about the metaverse, a decentralised virtual world of interlinked ‘destinations’, where we will spend considerable chunks of our working and leisure time, our digital avatars interacting acting with each other while we wear virtual and augmented reality headsets, for the first time in 2021.
More specifically late October, when Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook, as a company, was changing its name to Meta. The reason, he told the world, was that the social media giant’s future lay in the immersive metaverse rather than today’s two-dimensional internet we peer into.
Between then and the end of the year, the metaverse became a favourite topic of both traditional and social media.
Facebook has said it will invest $10 billion (£7.4 billion) this year alone in building its metaverse ecosystem. Last November a plot of virtual land in the metaverse operated by Sandbox sold for a record $4.3million (£3.2million). It was bought by Republic Realm, an investor in virtual real estate.
Expect 2022 to be awash with stories, and buzz about investment opportunities of various levels of legitimacy, connected to the metaverse. A unified metaverse, an immersive equivalent of the World Wide Web, may be a decade or more away but the biggest investors in the world are already clamouring to get involved.
Investment analysts are confident in the success of the metaverse, even if the final shape it will take is still far from clear. They hold up the active virtual communities that already exist in the gaming industry like those of Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto and Roblox. And the fact community members spend virtual money on digital goods and services, as proof early versions of the metaverse already exist. And are being successfully monetised.
Big brands in the physical world with a strong digital presence are already seeking to be early movers. Brands like Nike, Puma and Gucci have already filed trademarks to sell virtual clothes, trainers and accessories.
Crypto and Blockchain: stable coins and DAOs
2021 was a big year for cryptocurrencies, digital assets and the blockchain economy. In November, bitcoin set a new record high of a little over $67,500 and cryptocurrency, altcoins and digital token trading boomed like never before among a new generation of app-based investors. Or speculators, depending on who you talk to.
The value of bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies have fallen back from November heights by over a third and 2022 has been a rough year so far for investors and traders with long positions. But cryptocurrencies, digital assets and the blockchain economy are sure to be big tech talking points again this year.
Among the main trends being forecast in the crypto and blockchain space are stable coins and DAOs – Decentralised Autonomous Organisations.
If 2021 was the year of the meme coin with the joke cryptocurrency Shiba Inu reaching a market capitalisation of over $17 billion, 2022 looks likely to be the year of the stable coin. Stable coins, Tether is currently the best established, are pegged to and (at least in theory) backed by reserves of fiat currencies.
The point of stable coins is to provide the technological advantages of cryptocurrencies without the volatility in value. That provides liquidity for cryptocurrency markets and a potential alternative to the ageing, creaking legacy IT systems that international finance runs on. However, they are still unregulated, opening stable coins up to the same criticism as other cryptocurrencies – that they are an invitation for exploitation by criminals.
But some central banks have already started exploring the possibility of, or even working on, their own stable coins – cryptocurrency alternatives to fiat currency. Expect the world’s central banks to either all get on board and start to develop their own stable coins this year or regulators to follow China’s lead and start issuing bans on unregulated digital currencies.
NFTs were big in 2021 with one work of art by the digital artist Beeple sold by Christie’s for $69 million to set a record. This year we can expect to hear a lot about DAOs – decentralised autonomous organisations. These are blockchain-powered organisations or companies with no board or central leader but a constitution or set of rules built into the blockchain. One DAO is reportedly in the process of trying to raise $20 million to fund a Superbowl advert.
Repairable Gadgets
With investors increasingly focused on sustainability credentials, even the biggest tech companies have had to start to consider how to wean themselves off the cycle of earning vast revenues by convincing us to constantly upgrade our gadgets. Even Apple, the master marketer when it comes to convincing consumers to buy the latest iteration of its gadget lines like iPhones and Apple Watches, surprised with a “right to repair” announcement in November.
It said it will make the repair manuals and unique tools used with its gadgets more widely available with a view to extending the working life of gadgets, reducing their carbon footprint. Dell recently revealed its new Concept Luna laptop, which will be made of modular, replaceable parts.
2022 could well be the year when new start-ups and big brands start to sell gadgets with repairability and sustainability marketed as a key selling point.
Virtual Reality
VR headsets, along with games and other experiences have been commercially available for a few years now but are yet to really take off. But sector analysts believe there has been enough progress over the past few years to be close to a mainstream breakthrough.
Facebook released its Oculus Quest 2 in 2020 as arguably the first mass-market VR headset and new iterations on the device are lighter and more powerful. Beat Saber is now known as VRs first big game and the fitness app Supernatural is proving popular.
Apple, which is also investing heavily in the metaverse, is expected to release the first version of its own VR headsets this year. 2022 could genuinely be the year VR makes its mainstream commercial breakthrough.
These are just a few of big tech trends I expect in 2022. I could also mention the expected strong continuation of the trends towards digital tools and technologies designed to better facilitate remote work and online education.
Expect the trend towards digital doctor consultations and check-ups to strengthen too. The trend towards automation will also continue apace with robotics and AI gradually integrating themselves more and more into life and changing our work and living patterns. There will be new announcements, some potentially major, on biotech drugs discovery and other scientific and medical breakthroughs powered by AI.
Whatever comes most to the fore and generates the most media coverage and public discussion and attention, one thing is for sure; 2022 will be another big year for tech.