By Luca Rossi, president of Intelligent Devices Group, Lenovo

As we optimistically look ahead to 2022, all of us reflect on all that we have learned over the last year in the pandemic and forecast how those insights will impact the technology trends of tomorrow.

We see a bright future ahead — one with more solutions for hybrid work models and a focus on technology as a force for good.

1 . Work-from-home becomes work-from-anywhere 

Last year we predicted the work-from-home phenomenon would accelerate. All of us have been focused on mobility, user plus customer experience during the last few years, as we expected the momentum around distributed workforces to continue to build. But in the future, we will become smarter and more flexible about it. We all see remote work becoming hybrid and work-from-home getting work-from-anywhere as people plus companies carry on to think beyond the office. Lenovo’s research shows that 83% associated with IT leaders expect at least half of work in the particular future to happen outside a traditional office. As the next reality continues in order to take shape, technology will certainly play the pivotal role in creating efficiencies and opportunities that will transform our work plus our lives, including:

•   We will see more products, solutions, and services designed for the employee encounter, considering the particular office because a destination for collaboration while protecting the sense of personal space people have experienced working from home. New office designs and audio/video technology may pave the way for flexible meeting setups plus new ways to build social connections.
• Artificial intelligence (AI) will continue to benefit us, although we all predict that its ability to remove background noises like barking dogs, ambulance sirens, and the particular neighbor’s lawnmower during video calls may be among its lesser-known contributions to the future associated with collaboration.
• Augmented reality (AR) will create immersive workplaces for employees no matter where they are, with innovations such since ThinkReality A3 Smart Glasses that create interactive training experiences, multi-screen environments, and enhanced productivity.
• Other emerging technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), natural language processing, spatial audio, sensors, world-facing cameras, and Lenovo’s smart cooperation suite of tools, can continue to change exactly how employees interact with technologies and one another. This will transform the concept of “workplace” and “workforce” in ways that allow employees in order to integrate seamlessly and succeed as one.
• More companies will shift spending to improve IT infrastructure. They will lean on outsourced and managed services increasingly secured through Device-as-a-Service (DaaS) THIS acquisition versions to support their teams as they try to keep up with digital transformation and increased demands. This will give rise to consumption-driven pay-as-you-go options for solutions that will allow customers to focus on business outcomes while shifting the system-level assistance to a vendor or cloud service provider. Last year, we expected that DaaS would grow based on cost savings, but this year, we see reducing complexity as the top driver with regard to as-a-service plus managed support model adoption.  

2. Go ahead, forget your passwords 

We have moved from everyone using their favorite passwords to every app forcing frequent password updates — which no one remembers. Soon, however , a world without inherently vulnerable security passwords will somewhat paradoxically keep us safer and our own data more secure. After all, for passwords to be effective, they must be kept secret, yet for them to be used, they must be shared. If there are simply no alphanumeric strings to produce, remember, hold tight, and recreate regularly, then they cannot be stolen through phishing or in transit on the internet. They can’t be bought and sold, and giant repositories associated with them can’t be hacked. Further risk due to password sharing, reuse, plus human error will disappear, as well.

Instead, seamless authentication will certainly be driven by AI and improved sensor technology. Near-term, public key infrastructure (PKI)-based device security, such as those used today to access our mobile banking applications, and multifactor authentication (MFA), will always shrink reliance on security passwords for application and gadget access. Fingerprint, face, iris, and voice authentication biometrics will do the security work instead. Taking a pass on conventional passwords may become one of the safest things we can do.

3. Tech for good 

As customers urge businesses regarding more sustainable products and practices, all of us see technologies providing a smarter way forward, helping companies build a better future intended for their stakeholders — and that includes the biggest stakeholder of all: our planet.

Recyclable materials — including plastics, fibers, and metals; those that can self-decompose like bioplastics; and those through more renewable sources such as bamboo — will become more readily available for product development. This can enable companies to move closer to closing the particular loop on the product lifecycle. Recycling and supply chain optimization will become more commonplace. The increase in lasting materials will also minimize the need for chemicals within the manufacturing process and help bring manufacturers closer in order to carbon neutral. The part of the IT provider can carry on and change once we build in solutions and options that assist our clients offset the environmental effect of their technology plus support all of them in reaching their own sustainability goals.

All of us also observe new systems, like AR/VR glasses, helping to reduce carbon footprints over time. With new capabilities that will permit remote workers to be immersed into another site or even location — reducing travel and giving carbon savings — we all also expect near-eye displays and head-worn sensors to help the particular differently-abled. Using a combination associated with adjustable optics and magnification can help nearsighted people socialize with their own PCs and smartphones a lot more comfortably. These displays will even react in order to voice plus motion detectors that will allow interaction without the need to get any motor skills. Separately, with the rise of flexible function, we anticipate to notice technology enabling major shifts in just how and where people live, work and engage along with their communities. Knowledge employees once tethered to large cities will be able to work from anywhere. Companies also have the opportunity to rethink and expand their corporate citizenship efforts by providing resources plus time to workers inclined to work and give back within remote locations.

4. Monitors are (finally) having a moment 

Monitors are finally getting the particular attention they deserve. In fact, the monitor will certainly soon have all the features necessary in order to be the next central hub for the office and home (not to mention the home office).

Through cutting-edge hardware and intuitive software solutions embedded into a display, users will become able in order to seamlessly multitask through single and multi-display window controls. At the same time, monitors will offer easy remote asset management pertaining to IT managers and customer service representatives.

And, with 5G or Wi-Fi 6, the future of monitors — with higher resolution, brand new aspect ratios, and built-in tech to reduce eye strain — will be faster, wireless, reducing desktop mess and offering new possibilities for a thinner, more compact design. This is especially important as people increase the particular number of screens they use. Monitors may also complement additional form factors beyond PCs plus extend functionality to support devices, like smartphones and gaming consoles.  

5. Fold them and keep them 

As we begin to rely on monitors even more as part of the work-from-anywhere setups, portable and foldable options will turn out to be more ubiquitous, allowing all of us to set up shop almost anyplace we want. The promise associated with OLED technology makes it easy to fold, bend, or roll a screen so that it’s portable plus convenient.

While we now have seen some promising applications of the technologies over the last 12 months, as we noted in 2021, all of us would, we now expect the market to  explode , with some  analysts predicting 500% growth in the flexible display market over the next five years.

Mobile devices will still fuel the trend, but we will see flexible shows come in order to other products as demand lowers the particular price point. Expect more flexible screen options across smartphones, tablets, PCs, and laptops, as well as new programs on digital signage, general public transport, plus smart home appliances.

6. Inputs get more intuitive

When computers were developed, everything was new and revolutionary: operating systems, monitors, mice, etc. Each opened up new opportunities and possibilities that most had not considered before. Except one thing wasn’t brand new and, within fact, hasn’t evolved that much at almost all: The keyboard remains the primary input method.  

Alternative methods of insight, however, are usually finally catching up. We will soon discover more than an evolution, but the transformation in computing inputs not only within their type but in their function, with more touch-intuitive interfaces; pens complete with haptic feedback meant for more tactile experiences; plus voice-to-text functions becoming defining characteristics from the new “keyboard. ”

Even more revolutionary, in some cases, keyboards, as we know them, may disappear entirely. And within many cases, keyboards won’t be necessary anymore because advanced on-screen keyboards (OSK) with haptic capabilities and predictive artificial intelligence plus machine learning (ML) become more mainstream. Soon we can see AI learning the user and crafting text and communications with just a few keywords as advices. These redefining characteristics will unleash new ways to communicate, collaborate, and create throughout disciplines, from business in order to education plus beyond. This particular will enable our mind, and the speed at which it works, to end up being the conduit through the particular way we all express our ideas — not just our own fingers and the words-per-minute they may type.

7. Health is wealth 

For the past two years, we have already been predicting the accelerated use of telehealth. We got that right. If anything, the implementation of telehealth options has moved ahead at warp speed due to the pandemic. What was missing then and what’s new now is the growing acceptance by both consumers and healthcare professionals of these options. Patients and health care professionals are no longer as hesitant in using telehealth — they may be embracing it. That is why all of us expect to see the healthcare landscape continuing to move toward a digital model, especially since wearables, tone of voice assistants, plus increased connectivity become the norm. Health insurance will certainly get more affordable, predictive models will allow for preventive medicine, and proactive recommendations from wearable devices may lead in order to better health outcomes.

Because patients adopt these technology, health care professionals, assisted simply by AI, also will be able to provide personalized, virtual assistance to patients — and provide it along with more accuracy and better outcomes. We’ll begin to see digital care penetrating remote inpatient hospital rounding care plus remote home-based care. This will enhance patient access and make it easier in order to monitor their particular vitals, improve their compliance, and educate them upon health and lifestyle issues. Healthcare workers will benefit, as nicely, with increased efficient clinical workflows, evaluation tools, and workstation solutions.  

Finally, progress in AI technology advancement will drive a more customized healthcare experience by advancing precision medicine and targeted drugs. Within pharmaceuticals, designed for example, researchers can much better target drug therapies by applying AI analytics to genomic sequencing, medical sensors, electronic health records (EHR), and other data through individuals with the same diagnosis. This will permit healthcare experts to identify subsets of patients with similar genetic defects and, in turn, enhance outcomes by developing drugs specific to these patients’ needs.

8. Ambient computing surrounds us all 

The IoT will continue to keep mature as device producers refine user inputs. Natural language processing (NLP) plus multi-lens enrichment will change the consumer encounter as you may know this. Multiple gadgets will respond, in concert, with 1 voice query. And, because sensors improve, experiences can become richer with a lot more opportunities to communicate with the device and accomplish old tasks in brand new ways — like scrolling, selecting, or providing feedback to the particular device.

Since the user interface changes, the device interactions will automatically become both more natural and more secure. Plus, as ownership grows, we all will start to see a lot more “connected” endpoints from the connected car towards the connected city and beyond.

Last year we predicted that 5G might continue to transform personal computing. We are doubling down on that prediction as connection like 5G and Wi fi technologies allow even faster connection speeds, so we can load the particular system without slowing it down. And nanotechnologies will allow device manufacturers to pack incredibly nimble antennas into new items to deliver linked products along with better performance in smaller form factors.

9. Bigger plus better entertainment experiences 

As real-time rendering begins to hit the benchmark for photorealism (which is already happening), all of us expect new forms associated with interactive movies to appear exactly where the consumer can choose to become component of the story and experience this from a first-person perspective. Currently, this is found in high-budget PC games, where the particular experience will be cinematic, plus the user makes choices that influence the narrative. Expect more in the passive-to-interactive amusement arena soon.

As immersive content moves to the small screen, we will also view the rise of affordable wearable displays to extend the PC and mobile phone experience. Not only will the particular displays deliver a larger screen experience as compared to a mobile phone, but customers will enjoy private viewing in public. This particular will be the first step towards advancing the metaverse.

We all also expect rollable or even flexible displays to change where and how we all enjoy consumer entertainment. In the far future, we’ll likely see the emergence associated with rollable “pop-up” monitors that offer unparalleled seeing for any space — from train to work and beyond. Users will pull the display out when needed plus roll the unit back in to storage whenever it’s not in make use of. The monitors of the future will host productivity and remote control collaboration, yet also further serve since a center of enjoyment, gaming, and connecting with loved ones along with the highest quality audio plus video.

Yet wait, there’s more. We can look forwards to becoming a less passive part of entertainment encounters, as TV talk shows to the latest dramedy might unfold — or seem to, anyway — in our own homes. Mixed-reality experiences like this will bloom.

ten. Immersive gaming 

Final but not really least, much like general entertainment, we anticipate the video gaming experience to become even a lot more immersive. A lot more portable displays and operating systems are hitting their stride with improved overall performance and affordability.

Recent advancements in online connectivity will enable high-fidelity, low-latency graphics for more realistic gameplay that may mirror physical movements when played through a headset. This is usually the most recent sector to cut the cord, but it will not be the particular last. As AR gets more mature, players will certainly begin in order to experience gaming content within their conditions. Imagine playing tennis on a real court but from your living room. Since the metaverse experience continues to increase, we foresee a big boom within gaming, socialization, and shopping through this particular platform along with more sophisticated software libraries that bring all three conveniently together in a single place just for more enjoyable gaming encounters.

Be patient, though. Whilst we make progress toward these capabilities on the coming 12 months, this will still be a few years until we can confidently predict that any kind of them are finally on the horizon.    

Learn more about how technology may shape the next hybrid fact.

This post was created simply by Lenovo with Insider Studios .