100 keywords predicted for 2024 | Technological innovation (11-20): new identity, empathy technology, odor digitization, human-machine symbiosis

What will be the key words for development in 2024? Let’s take a look at the author’s predictions on technological innovation.

In 2024, the Dragon's Journey begins! Every Spring Festival, Wunderman's "2024 Future Trends 100" is released. The report is based on 10 sections, 100 forward-looking keywords, and nearly a thousand innovative cases, making it the world's most valuable trend forecast report every year.

The entire report consists of 10 sections: "Culture", "Technology and Innovation", "Tourism and Vacation", "Brand and Marketing", "Food and Beverages", "Beauty", "Retail and Business", "New Luxury Life", "Health", and "Work", with 100 keywords and 100,000 words.

"Chapter 1: Culture (01-10): Softness, Connection and Community" We saw the top 10 keywords: 01 "Emotional Value", 02 "Collective Warmth", 03 "Life in a New Climate", 04 "New Etiquette", 05 "Prosocial Activities", 06 "Slowing Trends", 07 "The Beauty of Short-lived Flowers", 08 "Ludd Model", 09 "Natural Human Rights", and 10 "Co-living Community".

Today, let’s learn about the second article, “Technology and Innovation”.

Part 2: “Technology and Innovation”

The 10 keywords in the “Technology and Innovation” section are: 11 “New Identity Economy” 12 “Digital Space” 13 “Empathetic Technology” 14 “Gesture Language” 15 “Elderly Intelligence” 16 “Digitalization of Smell” 17 “Full Language Technology” 18 “Super Charging Destination” 19 “Human-Machine Symbiosis” 20 “Artificial Intelligence Workforce”.

1. New identity economy - a new economy formed around digital characters

In November 2023, the Hollywood actors' strike ended after 118 days. The SAG-AFTRA union celebrated new measures to protect performing talents, including guidance on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the film industry. One important provision is that studios must obtain the consent of actors and compensate them for the use of their digital reproductions or any characteristics.

Some actors, including Anil Kapoor, Scarlett Johansson and Tom Hanks, have taken legal action to prevent the unauthorized use of their AI-powered likenesses. While the legal framework is not yet fully established, this puts us on the path to a new economy around human identity. One of the emerging services is the personal image creation service, which allows anyone to create a digital double of themselves.

For content creators and influencers, digital avatars can offer unprecedented reach and scale. Chinese influencers are leading the way, commissioning lifelike AI clones to maximize their livestreaming output, creating and earning content 24/7. A range of Chinese startups, such as Silicon Intelligence and Xiaoice, can now create deepfake avatars for as little as $1,000, using just one minute of live original video to generate a digital clone.

Metaphysic, a British AI startup that shot to fame for its highly realistic deepfakes of actor Tom Cruise, is helping celebrities take control of their virtual avatars. Their Metaphysic Pro solution allows users to build a range of biometric data that can be used to create faces, voices, and performances, which can then be licensed and used commercially.

San Francisco startup Mimio.ai is building a "personality engine" that will allow users to create their own AI avatars that adopt their voices, intonations, and conversational styles. The company foresees applications not just for celebrities and influencers, but for anyone who might need help handling email exchanges, or even for elders who want to leave behind a digital self for posterity. The company promises that users will have full control over their avatars and can monetize them as they wish.

It seems inevitable that digital clones will become part of our daily lives. For now at least, flesh-and-blood humans retain the upper hand when it comes to artistry.

While ethical and legal guidelines are still being defined, the identity economy is already thriving. Digital characters offer brands a cost-effective and flexible way to attract talent, but it’s worth noting that people still hold a high status in the minds of audiences. Less than one in ten (8%) respondents said they expect virtual people to become part of their daily lives.

2. Digital space - blur and fusion!

As spatial computing power advances, the physical and digital worlds will continue to become more integrated.

• Apple will launch its Vision Pro mixed reality headset in February 2024. For $3,499, users can use what Apple calls "the first spatial computer." The device promises to "seamlessly blend digital content with the physical world" and is an important mass-market attempt to separate digital interfaces from screens. The company announced a "guest mode" in January this year, allowing friends and family to test the device.
• During the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Sony announced a collaboration with Siemens to develop a spatial content creation system. The system, which includes an extended reality headset and controller, will be launched later this year.
• In October 2023, Chinese augmented reality company Xreal launched the Air 2 and Air 2 Pro next-generation lightweight AR glasses, promising "one screen to replace all screens."

At CES 2024, Tom Emrich, Niantic’s director of product for AR platforms, predicted that the contextual advantages of smartglasses and headsets will make the smartphone the “assistant” and “hub of all wearables.”

Emrich believes that "the spatial technology category is only just forming. This means that it presents a huge opportunity for app developers, web developers, brands and retailers, in particular, to get a foothold". He adds: "I agree with Tim Cook - the era of spatial computing is here, and we are just getting started".

As immersive technology continues to advance and the physical and digital worlds become more closely connected, spatial computing will see significant growth, with the market expected to grow from $97.9 billion in 2023 to $280.5 billion in 2028, according to MarketsandMarkets.

3. Empathy technology - comprehensive multi-sensory mobilization and experience!

Creators are using technology to explore the relationship between our senses.

The fascinating synergy and interplay between our various senses is the theme of a new wave of technology-driven empathetic experiences.

• Bang & Olufsen’s “See yourself in sound” brand campaign transforms musical tastes into colorful portraits presented as interactive avatars. The digital experience invites customers to visit a specially designed website, where they answer a short questionnaire or link their Spotify account to receive a unique custom avatar to share on social media.
• Another experience that makes sound visible, Aura is a signature commission for the 2023 London Design Festival. Designed by Spanish artist Pablo Valbuena in collaboration with arts organisation Artichoke, Aura visualises the sounds of worship at St Paul’s Cathedral. A slender 20-metre-long aluminium column studded with custom-made LED lights hangs from the cathedral’s dome. The sounds of speech, music and singing are captured and algorithmically transformed into beams of light that react to pitch, volume and intensity.
• Mexican-Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer makes language visible with his work Atmospheric Memory. On view at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum until November 2023, the exhibition offers a sensory environment inspired by Charles Babbage’s idea that the air around us is a library containing every word, sound and movement. Visitors can walk through a cloud of words in mid-air or see their own voices ripple through a water tank.

In addition to their art, UK artist collective Universal Everything is putting their synaesthesia skills and experience to work by developing a prototype device that patients can use to visualise pain.

In Japan, NTT Docomo and partner organizations are developing the world’s first sensory sharing technology that allows users to digitally send movements or touch. Docomo has plans to build on its Feel Tech technology to enable sharing of other senses such as taste, hearing, and even emotions.

The demand for sensory experiences is huge. According to a survey conducted by VML Intelligence for our “The Age of Reinvention” report, 63% of consumers want brands to provide them with multi-sensory experiences, and 72% of consumers said they want to engage as many of their senses as possible when experiencing new things.

"Empathy technology" adds a new layer of charm to physical and digital sensory experiences!

4. Sign language - no contact and no gestures!

New touchless gestures allow consumers to connect devices more seamlessly.

• During the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Finnish startup Doublepoint launched the WowMouse app, which allows Android watch wearers to use air gesture detection. "We are not just changing the rules of the game, we are rewriting the rules of human-computer interaction with touch-based gesture tracking. This is a leap forward, enabling a natural and powerful user experience for smartwatches and beyond."
• Similarly, Apple introduced a new double-tap gesture for the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in October 2023. Wearers can perform actions such as answering a call by simply tapping the index finger and thumb together on the hand wearing the watch. Apple notes that this gesture can help users when their other hand is occupied, such as "walking the dog, cooking, or holding a cup of coffee." This gesture will also be applied to the company's mixed reality headset Vision Pro released in 2024.
• Neural Lab’s AirTouch converts hand gestures and body movements into commands for any computing device using only a simple webcam, giving people the option to include air gestures on different devices.
• Google revealed Project Gameface in May 2023, "a new open-source, hands-free gaming mouse that lets users control a computer cursor with head movements and facial gestures". Project Gameface is powered by Google's MediaPipe open-source AI solution. The company said its technology means "people can raise their eyebrows to click and drag, or open their mouth to move a cursor, making the pursuit of gaming possible for anyone". The company co-developed the technology with Lance Carr, a quadriplegic video game streamer with muscular dystrophy. Google noted that while the tool is still in development, the company is "excited about its potential to change people's lives because it is relatively cheap to make and maintain".

As tech devices become more integrated into consumers' lives, companies are pushing the boundaries to make them more intuitive and instinctive to use. At the same time, these hands-free gestures are crucial for people with limited mobility, which makes tech companies' products and services more inclusive, as just over 12% of adults in the U.S. have limited mobility, according to the CDC.

5. Intelligence for the Elderly – Intelligent technology meets the lifestyle and health needs of the elderly.

For a growing number of older adults, smart technology may be the key to independent living.

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2024, we saw many new devices and technologies that can provide greater comfort, safety, and emotional support for elderly people living at home.

• Belgian gerontology company Nobi is tackling the leading cause of injuries among seniors: falls. Its smart ceiling light can detect if a person has fallen and alert caregivers to call for help if needed. Initially available in nursing homes, the AI-powered tool will be rolled out to consumers for home use later this year.
• The Lotus wearable ring launched by US startup Lotus Labs focuses on greater comfort and provides barrier-free convenience for people with limited mobility. The device, which has been pre-ordered and will be shipped in the fall of 2024, uses infrared technology to control items in the home just by pointing, like a TV remote control.
• Likewise, age-related hearing loss can make it difficult for some older people to follow conversations on TV. The Mirai speaker from Japanese startup SoundFun uses a patented curved speaker design to make sounds clearer and easier to distinguish, meaning everyone can listen at a comfortable volume.

The rise of big-speaker models has brought about a new wave of devices that offer not only functionality but also conversation and companionship.

• At CES 2024, Intuition Robotics' ElliQ robot made its debut again, providing support and enrichment for the elderly and promoting their social connection. This desktop robot can accompany users, provide chat and daily participation and assistance.
• As Intuition Robotics Chief Product Officer Ronen Soffer explained to VML Intelligence, the upgraded hardware and AI enhancements in ElliQ 3.0 enable natural, free-flowing conversations, much of which are now handled locally for increased privacy. Over time, the robot remembers and thinks about the conversations it has had with its users, building a connection with them.

Another focus is facilitating connections to the wider world, whether that’s access to an extended community of ElliQ users or help with local information and transportation. ElliQ’s goal, Soffer says, is to “understand, enrich, and strengthen relationships — and relationships make your life better. Whatever we can do to help you in the real world, we want to do more.”

According to the World Health Organization, by 2030, one in six people worldwide will be over 60 years old. As the global population ages, there is a lot of room for technology to meet the emotional and support needs of this growing group. (For more on this, see keyword “92 The Future of Centenarians” (p. 227).

6. Digital Smell – The future of smell is digital!

Vision and hearing have been successfully digitized, but what about smell?

Osmo is a company working to answer that question. The digital olfaction startup wants to “give computers the sense of smell.” A spinout from Google Research, Osmo’s goal is to create digital representations of smell, changing the way we capture, transmit, and remember scents.

• Osmo co-founder Josh Wolfe sees the company as a digital chemistry design company. “People need a very specific smell, and we design the chemistry, just like you design a drug in a biotech or pharmaceutical company, and then you can license it.”
• There are parallels in biotech and pharmaceuticals. “We see the use of AI in drug discovery as setting a precedent for how AI can revolutionize olfaction,” said Alex Wiltschko, CEO of Osmo. “Similar to how the advent of AI is changing the way drug hunters search for new candidates that are more likely to succeed in the clinic, we see AI augmenting the role of synthetic chemists and master perfumers.”
• In addition to inspiring new fragrances, Osmo researchers say the technology could also be applied to help combat mosquito-borne diseases. Wiltschko points to agriculture, food storage, pandemic tracking and disease prevention as areas that would benefit from the digitization of smell.

In addition to Osmo, Japan's Revorn also uses artificial intelligence and IoT technology to reproduce smells and imitate olfaction. At the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the company exhibited a smell sensing and reproduction device.

Luxury perfumers are also exploring digital scents. In March 2023, Bulgari launched “Scentsorial” in Dubai, an immersive multi-sensory experience that combines technology with smell. Participants wear wearable devices that measure their brain waves and heart rate to detect their reactions to the scent, thoughts, and emotions, which are then translated into downloadable generative collectibles in real time.

Advances in technology are changing the way we experience and understand smells, driving the development of digital sensory toolkits and bringing us one step closer to true multi-sensory digital experiences, like the Sensory Technology Desktop (see later).

7. All-language technology - instant translation tools create a global village.

Artificial intelligence software unlocks language power in nearly any language.

In the fall of 2023, a demonstration video circulated on social media, featuring celebrities such as Emma Chamberlain, Elon Musk and Marques Brownlee speaking various languages ​​with cloned versions of their own voices, with their mouth movements translated and synchronized in real time.

• Los Angeles-based HeyGen is an AI video creation startup that offers a one-click translation service. By uploading a clip, users can instantly translate the source video into one of 14 languages, with new languages ​​added monthly. HeyGen has also added a business video translation feature to its suite of services that handles multiple speakers and supports script editing, long-form content, and brand-specific vocabulary and tone.
• At its I/O developer conference in 2023, Google also showed off a universal translator. Like HeyGen's technology, it can dub and lip-sync videos into different languages, but it's just a concept at the moment. Google is cautious about how to roll out this experimental technology due to concerns about bad actors and the potential to facilitate deepfakes.
• Delaware-based Rask AI provides multilingual voice cloning technology that, at the time of writing, supports 65 languages, preserving voice characteristics regardless of the language used.

Such translation technology unlocks for the first time the potential for accelerated revenue growth for brands, content creators, and educators—organizations and individuals with global audiences.

YouTube star Mr. Beast is known for his multilingual strategy. He hires native speakers to dub his videos and translate them into multiple languages. In 2023, he tested YouTube's internal translation tool on 11 of his popular videos and told YouTube's Creator Insider that it "made the videos perform much better."

Now, these influencers no longer need to run multiple language channels, they only need to translate the content of one channel. Another online creator, Adam Waheed, told Fortune magazine that he hopes to use AI translation to triple his audience.

Spotify is also now piloting AI translations for podcasts, providing a more realistic multilingual experience than voiceovers. These translations are available for select podcasts from people like Steven Bartlett and Lex Fridman, and will be expanded over time.

For companies and brands, AI translation will usher in a new era of global engagement, enabling them to speak to any audience without the cumbersome translation process. As this software accelerates toward instant and real-time work, it will bring opportunities in areas such as customer service, education, training, and more.

8. Supercharging Destinations – Next-generation EV charging stations can turn chores into recreational opportunities

Electric vehicle (EV) adoption is on the rise. By 2030, EV sales in the U.S. will reach 40-50% of total passenger vehicle sales, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report citing research from S&P Global Mobility.

The increase in electric vehicle use means an increased demand for electric vehicle charging stations, and since charging takes at least 30 minutes, companies are looking for ways to turn waiting time into an opportunity for leisure and entertainment.

• Tesla is currently developing a 24-hour Supercharger station in West Hollywood that will feature 32 charging bays and a "1950s-style restaurant and drive-in movie theater." Elon Musk previewed the project in a tweet, describing it as "Grease meets the Jets Supercharger."
• From an entertainment perspective, Disney has filed a patent for an in-car entertainment system that Blog Mickey describes as an “immersive entertainment pod” where people can drive their electric cars into the pod and “be completely surrounded by entertainment while they wait for their cars to charge.” To illustrate the experience, Disney’s patent describes being surrounded by safari scenes, rather than just watching them on a screen.
• In September 2023, Shell announced the opening of its largest electric vehicle charging station in Shenzhen, China, which has 258 fast charging points. The station is equipped with "Shell Select Convenience Retail Store, Shell Café, vending machines and driver lounge". At the same time, Shell also opened the Panlong Integrated Energy Station in Wuhan. In addition to providing electric vehicle charging services, the gas station also provides gasoline, diesel and hydrogen refueling services, as well as leisure services such as convenience stores, restaurants and driver lounges.

With the projected growth in EV adoption, the requirements of these vehicles are creating a new driving rhythm where longer charging times replace quick refueling at gas stations. EV manufacturers, entertainment brands and energy companies are all imagining how to expand this experience, and charging concepts that combine entertainment and leisure are one area to watch.

9. Human-machine symbiosis—personalization and humanization.

Our relationship with technology is more human than ever.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google, once said, “I have always believed that technology should adapt to people, not the other way around.” As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly powerful, this is becoming a reality. Instead of complex programs and commands, we can now use simple gestures and natural conversations. Technology is talking to us.

• Pi is a friendly personal chatbot and companion from Inflection AI. Available on nine different platforms, including old-school mobile phones, Pi is an active conversationalist that engages in back-and-forth chats and asks questions to build deep understanding. According to its founders, within 100 days of Pi’s launch on May 2, 2023, the digital companion exchanged more than 1 billion messages.
• Personalization is also a defining feature of Grok, a new chatbot from Elon Musk’s startup xAI, which is currently available to certified users of X. “Grok is designed to answer questions with a bit of wit and a rebellious streak (venomous tongue)”.
• Thanks to a new large language model, Amazon Alexa can now also have more fluid back-and-forth conversations with a new command: “Alexa, let’s talk.” In addition to following the conversation thread, Alexa can also use computer vision to identify and track the interlocutor to gather context.
• ChatGPT Plus also has powerful voice capabilities, with its latest upgrade offering five voice options. It also has computer vision capabilities that can “see” photos or charts uploaded by users and provide context or analysis.

Could artificial intelligence one day know what we’re thinking? Although an early experiment at the University of Texas at Austin successfully decoded data from fMRI scans of the brain by matching blood flow patterns with a large language model, the research was laborious and only worked at the individual level. For now, our thoughts are safe.

AI can now see, hear, and talk to us naturally. The more data our digital companions accumulate, the more symbiotic and human our relationships with them will become as they adapt to our needs.

10. AI Workforce – The AI ​​Workforce of the Future Is Already Here

In 2023, discussions about the risks and potential of AI dominated, with the impact on the global workforce a key focus.

In November 2023, at the first Global AI Summit held at Bletchley Park in the UK, Musk called AI "the most disruptive force in history" and controversially added: "By then, there won't be a need for any jobs - if you want a job for personal needs, you can have a job, but AI will do everything."

Musk's speculation was not shared by everyone, with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asserting: "AI will not just automate and take people's jobs. A better way to think about it is as a co-pilot."

• It’s clear that this technology is already having a significant impact on the global workforce. According to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Future of Jobs 2023 report, AI will create 69 million new jobs worldwide over the next five years, and these jobs are already starting to be filled.
• In October 2023, there were more than 3,750 job postings on Indeed for prompt engineers, who specialize in writing the necessary prompts to elicit the best responses from AIs.
• The ethical issues facing AI deployment have also created a need for AI ethicists, who ensure that AI integrations are designed to benefit humans, while AI auditors and content moderators are now tasked with preventing the spread of bias and misinformation.

While there will also be plenty of skilled jobs available for people proficient in AI, existing jobs are being streamlined or even enhanced by what Sunak calls AI-enabled collaborative work.

Communications technology company Twilio used GPT-4 to create a tool that automates the process of filling out request for proposal (RFP) forms. RFP Genie can do in minutes what would take two salespeople weeks to complete, freeing up human intelligence for more skilled, creative, or emotionally nuanced tasks.

Proprietary research for this report found that the vast majority (69%) said they were not concerned that technology would eliminate their jobs, while 53% said they were already using AI-generated tools for research at work.

With the World Economic Forum predicting that the proportion of work tasks completed by machines will rise from 34% in 2022 to 43% in 2027, measures to protect the human workforce are emerging. The agreement that ended the WGA writers’ strike included amendments to ensure workers remain responsible for AI, while Capgemini creative agency The Works has created a “trust mark” to distinguish work completed by human creatives.

As AI continues to advance and integrate across industries, work is undergoing a revolution that requires new skills and reshapes careers. Brands and workers should prepare for an AI-driven future that allows the workforce to work seamlessly with smart machines. (For more information, see below)

Author: Brand Yuan, WeChat public account: Brand Yuan (ID: brand-yuan)