I don’t have a crystal ball, so I don’t really know what the “next big thing” will be … but I do like to keep on top of the cool new tech.
In summer 2017, I thought Google Home was “it”: a device that can answer simple verbal questions, play music, and control certain devices around the home. It was originally priced at $209, reduced to $179, then to $149, and it still wasn’t flying off the shelves. A few months later, a Google Home Mini was released in Canada for $79. Acceptance is probably the issue here: Are you ready to ask Google questions verbally instead of typing on a keyboard or touchpad?
Another potential “next big thing” is Mixed Reality (MR): a technology that ranges from “Virtual Reality” (VR) to “Augmented Reality” (AR). Virtual Reality is a 360-degree world that blocks out the real world when you don the goggles, while Augmented Reality projects 2D and 3D images onto things in the real world. For some, the challenge may be wearing something on your head that covers your eyes and ears … and holding a motion controller in each hand … all-the-while looking pretty nerdy.
As you might expect, gamers have been the first to accept this technology. I believe the second group will be the developers: those designing programs, buildings, or other complex products, alone or in a team. Aspects of their design can be constructed in different virtual rooms of a virtual building, giving them access to as many 300-inch screens, or 3D models, as their design needs. Discussing aspects of their designs as a team in the same virtual environment as the design will save countless hours of travel and teleconferencing.
For the rest of us, our interest will grow over time. Want to escape to your virtual mountain chalet to sit by the fireplace and read? Want to meet people (via their avatars) from around the world in a virtual tropical paradise? Or would you like to take in a dome-theatre movie without having to drive to the nearest Omnimax theatre? Slip on your HMD (head-mounted display) and escape!
This will all be part of Windows 10 with Microsoft’s Fall Creators Update. For more info, google “Microsoft VR announcement” and look for any mention of their 03Oct2017 announcement date or 17Oct2017 release date, particularly the related videos