The last few years have delivered exponential advances in the technology that affects our everyday lives. The vast amount of technology and the impact it’s has on our lives is irrefutable, and we have a feeling that developments in 2018 are going to be no different. We’re expecting things to get faster, and more intelligent. But what should you watch out for on the tech scene in 2018?

IoT technology (Internet of Things) has skyrocketed and our gadgets are becoming smarter every day. Phone companies compete to bring out the most advanced smart phones and energy companies are increasingly offering smart meters with clever functions. The more efficient our gadgets get, the less energy we use and 2018 will see the IoT continue to create opportunities for us to make better decisions. In 2015, there were about 15.4 billion connected devices. According to IHS, this number will grow to 30.7 billion in 2020, and 75.4 billion by 2025. 2018 will play it’s part in developing more smart devices.

As our devices have become interconnected, people require fast and better connections. The amount of information we share with each other is growing every day, and we’re using huge quantities of data, especially to stream videos and music.

Mobile providers are having to move quickly to keep up with the demand. 2018 is expected to be the year 5G data makes its debut, potentially giving us ultra-fast and reliable connections. The timing of 5G is important, as to cope with the Internet of Things, our network needs to be as advanced as possible.

Another tech trend to watch in 2018 is the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), which is steadily growing into all aspects of our lives. As it enters the mainstream, people of all ages are benefitting. AI has the power to turn industries upside down, and 2018 will see a rise in its usage in business and in people’s homes.

Advances in AI have led to the growing popularity of Chatbots such as Amazon’s Alexa. Chatbots are predicted to dominate 2018 even more than they have in 2017, where they’ll become more intelligent, have wider functionality become a huge part of people’s homes.

Not only is AI making its way into our homes, we’re seeing a growing trend in the use of augmented reality (AR) exciting us in our everyday lives. Our views of the real world are manipulated. Elements augmented by computer-generated sensory input are interwoven with our view of the real world. This give us an incredible experience in a space between virtual reality and the real world.

The big players, Apple and Google, are already battling it out to get ahead in the AR game and we’ve already seen apps such as Pokemon GO use AR to entertain people around the world. Next year, we expect AR to overtake VR in its popularity and the 3D visualisation to gradually become more present in our everyday lives.

So get ready, because 2018 is expected to be a year in which technological advances will continue to enhance our lives and our homes.