After five years…
IBM has released its science and technology forecast for the next five years.
Our computers learn a lot and become smarter as they interact intensively with data, people, and other machines. Cognitive systems that are increasingly attuned to our habits and the impulses of the environment will soon further expand our abilities, help us in our decisions, and will pay attention to and take care of us.
Online shoppers return to the stores
Last year, online purchases peaked at $ XNUMX billion worldwide, and their volume continues to grow faster than in-store sales. Experts say the trend will continue, just a little differently.
Online stores undoubtedly have the advantage of being able to learn from shoppers ’previous choices, while real stores have relatively little information about consumer habits and find it difficult to compete with online stores in terms of price.
In five years, personal shopping will become popular again thanks to a couple of new innovations. Truly trained merchants will be more and more adept at taking advantage of the proximity of their store, with the goods immediately available to the customer on the spot. The digital experience offered to the consumer is complemented by the experience of personal shopping: more and more retailers will direct the customer from the Internet to where they can see and experience the product in reality.
Augmented reality and the Watson platform, recently opened to app developers, will help you shop with more efficient, faster in-store browsing and technology solutions that enhance the consumer experience. Before entering the store, the buyer can enter their shopping preferences and then use their mobile phone inside to discover the right item and then for further interactions. The stores will be real showrooms with huge touch screens and products that appeal to the customer.
The stores, due to their proximity and easy accessibility, will be used by shoppers as an instant pick-up point, rather than waiting for a two-day delivery deadline for online webshops. Because cloud-enabled mobile devices allow us to share with us anytime, anywhere what we think of certain brands, where we are, and who we stay in regular contact with, knowing this information will also allow merchants to accurately predict what their customers want. The store thus slowly becomes a shopping destination offering a personalized experience.
A digital bodyguard protects our identity
In 2012, there were more than 12 million victims of online identity theft in the United States. Traditional security solutions - password, antivirus, firewall - no longer provide protection against all types of attacks.
In five years, however, we will be protected by our own digital personal bodyguard, who will undergo thorough and special training against fraudsters lurking on our identities. The digital bodyguard learns everything about the user and is also able to draw accurate conclusions. You will know our habits, be aware of exactly how we are acting, what steps we are taking in a banking transaction or an online purchase, and act accordingly. If we leave our mobile phone, the built-in virtual agent will detect if someone touches the phone in a different way than usual and locks the device immediately. It will not always be necessary to enter passwords everywhere, only where our identity cannot be established otherwise.
By monitoring the data about us, the tools and applications we use, security technologies will be perfectly aware of what we are doing and will interpret the context to decide what intervention is needed.
