Each year, new developments across the world of tech push forward our understanding of what modern entertainments are really capable of. The technologies that power these pushes are often changing and evolving, but it’s equally about the creative minds behind these pursuits.
These three developments may not all change the world, but they could seriously impact the way consumers interface with entertainments across the board. Not just far off into the future, but as soon as in 2025.
The next steps for AR and VR
Virtual reality and augmented reality have been on watch lists for the next big thing in tech going back many years now. There are many reasons why neither has managed to fully break through.
It can be argued that aspirations have simply been too great. The idea of the completely immersive VR experience is attractive, but it’s also not realistic given current technologies and the state of popular hardware.
But while that elusive VR fantasy remains unattainable, PC hardware has improved to the extent that convincing game worlds can be rendered in VR and AR settings. And the VR hardware required to access these experiences may finally be turning a curve in popularity. The Meta Quest seems to have the potential to align the market in one unified direction.
If Meta can maintain momentum, VR hardware may finally reach a sufficient level of market penetration to justify the meaningful development investment needed to really push VR and AR to the next level.
Nintendo and the long-awaited Switch 2
Speaking of gaming hardware, no one piece of hardware in the video game industry has become as desired as the elusive Nintendo Switch 2. The only problem is that Nintendo seems to be repeatedly pushing back the Nintendo Switch 2 release date, leaving the company’s legion of gaming fans in the lurch.
As frustrating as those delays may be for fans, it does seem as though we’re finally drawing closer to the console’s long-anticipated launch. If Nintendo can combine its popular first-party game franchises with a level of hardware power more on par with Sony’s PlayStation 5 and the current Xbox consoles, the Japanese company could unlock its next level of success.
This would also be big for the further proliferation of many popular third-party video games that must be restricted to the PC, PS5, and Xbox due to the Switch’s hardware limitations. Removing those limitations entirely would undoubtedly be a game-changer.
New refinements in LLM open up new opportunities
AI has become all the rage in tech investment and development, and the most public-facing aspect of that work is likely in large language models (LLMs). It’s this increasingly-popular technology that allows users to interface with AIs and speak to them as though they were talking to a real person.
But for all of the refinements already made to LLMs, there are still clear limitations around them. The more complex a conversation becomes, the more these tools tend to struggle. Even the world’s largest companies are having to spend a lot of time at the drawing board to try and figure out how to push this technology forward.
Eventually, breakthroughs should enable more natural and expansive dialogue to be possible with LLMs. This opens up a world of possibilities, from more effective virtual assistants to lively, improvisational conversations that can be rendered in various forms of media, from interactive shows to video games.
Any one of these three tech additions could be game-changers in the entertainment world. What’s most exciting is that we’ll likely soon have all three at our fingertips as the new year rolls in and companies continue to push for the next big breakthrough in popular technologies and entertainment.
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