Stay Ahead of the Game: The Only 2023 Technology Trends You Need to Know

Another new year is upon us with another round of predictions of all the ways technology will empower, overtake, or overwhelm us in the coming 12 months. In the world of technology, those predictions can frequently be pretty geeky and not that easy to understand. We're here to break down what really matters for the average human who uses technology in 2023.

Tech in Your Daily Life

Lots of the tech talk out there involves artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), and extended reality (XR). It’s a lot to think about when most of us are just trying to hang onto our jobs and keep food on the table. 

Most of these concepts, while fascinating when you can really do a deep dive into the details, are still pretty far off for those of us in the real world. However, there are a few areas of enhanced reality that are actually impacting our lives right now and will continue to expand this year.

Virtual reality is the most commonly talked about, with Oculus headsets showing up on everyone from children to grandparents who wildly swing into the air battling virtual villains. (If you haven't played Beat Saber yet, the chances are good that someone you know not only plays it but is obsessed with it.)

That isn't the only VR headset making news in 2023, however. PSVR 2, the Oculus competitor, is coming in late February and promises to offer a 'true next-gen experience' for VR gamers. Start saving up for those holiday wish lists; both VR headsets will be on them if you have a gamer in your life.

But in the background, there’s artificial intelligence (AI). If you watch for nothing else in technology, that’s the one to pay attention to this year. It has been popping up in our daily lives frequently, of course, without most of us even realizing it’s there.

Sort of like Alexa, which just sits quietly in the room waiting for the magic wake word, AI is just out there doing its thing and waiting for more opportunities to infiltrate human life.

You've probably heard of its more altruistic uses in the past decade. For example, it’s used more and more frequently in the medical world to identify diseases earlier, project outcomes of certain treatments, handle research, and lots more.

The automotive industry uses AI for things like autonomous driving. Businesses in many industries are starting to use it to develop new business models in order to resolve inefficiencies. Some, like Amazon, use autonomous robot transportation in warehouses to reduce costs and improve distribution.

Many more examples exist but most of the uses for AI don’t touch the average human's life on any given day. For most of us, these types of business uses are fairly boring and we skip right over that news.

We really shouldn't skip it anymore. AI is rapidly changing our daily lives and most of us don't even know it. That's not necessarily bad, mind you. Lots of good happens with artificial intelligence.

Where AI will present itself more obviously for the average person in 2023 is in the retail sector. AI has been growing behind the scenes for the past few years; retailers are already using it to research and price products, as well as more effectively manage inventory, demand forecasting, and selling opportunities.

As a customer, though, you'll see more of it reflected in online retail situations. Stitch Fix, for example, uses AI-enabled algorithms to recommend clothing based on a customer's size and preferences. Eyeglass buyers, too, can see AI at work with applications powered by AI technology that uses a smartphone's camera to let users 'try on' glasses in pretty amazing 3D formats. 

These types of use cases will continue to expand as retailers learn how to use AI to their advantage, so we should all get used to trying them out when we see them even if they aren't perfected yet. 

Shaky economic conditions in 2023 could also see a variety of companies turning more and more to conversational AI in an effort to contain costs.

If you own products that use voice assistants such as Amazon's Alexa or Apple's Siri, you're already quite familiar with the concept. Sure, maybe these are currently weak applications of it, but if you've been listening to them closely, you've noticed that both are attempting to use more self-learning opportunities by asking you questions to help refine their actions without human intervention.

That’s the gist of conversational AI, which we think you’ll see surfacing even more this year. If you’ve ever used a chatbot on a website or social media channel to ask a question about a product or service, you’ve used this kind of artificial intelligence.

It combines machine learning with natural language processing to recognize words and phrases; that combination allows it to pretend like a computer is a human being actually answering those questions you’re posing. 

It's worth keeping your eye on technology news in 2023 to follow AI's path into more areas of our lives.

Tech At Home

The U.S. housing market has been in the news a lot lately and we expect that to continue into 2023, but not for the reasons you've been hearing about. Instead, a quiet revolution is building in the form of 3D housing.

Once pooh-poohed by the masses as a simple toy, 3D printers have been expanded and improved upon to the point that they are now used to make prosthetic arms and hands, automotive and aviation parts, and even foods like chocolates and cookies.

Given the recent supply chain issues and increased cost of goods in home construction combined with population growth, it makes sense that home builders, then, are increasingly looking at 3D-printed homes as serious options for new housing.

Companies like Alquist are using 3D concrete printing technology to create and print homes faster and cheaper on-site, so they are more affordable for the buyer.

The 3D home printing process typically involves thinly stacked layers of concrete or proprietary composite stone materials, costs between 5 to 30 percent less than a regular build depending on the specific process and materials used, and can theoretically produce a completed home in 6 to 8 weeks (although many can take 4 to 5 months).

Others, like Mighty Buildings, print homes out of composite stone material coated with epoxy-based primer and acrylic paint in a factory and move them to a site. The company delivered one of the nation's first 3D-printed net-zero homes in September 2022 as part of its 20-home California community, which includes an additional dwelling unit for each home for a total of 40 3D homes.

Some of the methods involve recycled components and produce less Co2 than concrete, and can offer a number of sustainable features.

To date, these homes have all been single stories but a new 3D home in Houston is being billed as the first multi-story 3D printed home in the U.S.

In 2023, 3D-printed homes will still make up just a tiny portion of the new home market. However, as consumers begin to realize that the 3D building process cuts waste by 60% or more and tends to cost much less than traditional home building methods, demand could very well push 3D homes to the forefront of the building industry over the next decade.

Will your next home be made by a 3D printer?

Tech on the Job

Whether you commute to work, remote into the office from somewhere else, or manage your workweek through a hybrid of on-site and remote work, the technology most of us use is still a reliable computer and monitor of some sort with a webcam attached. We all need the internet and Wi-Fi along with that trusty cup of morning coffee. 

This year expect more of the same regardless of what you do for a living. The tech that goes with your computer, however, is getting fancier.

The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was filled with a variety of impressive devices, as usual. What caught our attention most? The focus is on using technology to improve tried-and-true products rather than the introduction of completely new technologies.

For example, monitors and keyboards aren’t new concepts at all. But both suited up for the big show, with fresh, thoughtful approaches. 

Bigger is better for your monitor, but only if it’s got an enhanced screen (think: OLED), at least 4K resolution, and a refresh rate high enough to let you get your game on when the boss isn’t looking. (cough, cough, “I’m on a break!”) 

Pricing is the only thing that might keep you from a killer work monitor this year. The average price for a modern monitor that has all the top features starts at around $1,000. Whether or not you need all those features is highly debatable: Nearly all of these high-end monitors target PC gamers, so the emphasis is on speed, size, and vibrant colors.

Those screens, however, can make it a bit difficult to read text clearly. If you're in the market for a new monitor for work purposes, take a look at the ones Asus introduced in its ZenScreen line. That company has focused on OLED screens that use RBG stripe panels over RGBW and zeroed in on trying to ensure its desktop monitors better match laptop and smartphone refresh rates, are lightweight for mobility purposes and can be easily moved (the ZenScreen MV 249C has a kickstand that doubles as a handle).

As for keyboards, well, most people just want one that works and still has all the letters showing. If you’re someone who wants a killer keyboard to power through the day, however, you’re in luck this year with a surprisingly simple concept that JLab has turned into reality: a quiet keyboard that’s fast and responsive. 

The team at JLab is making life a bit easier for those of us who want quiet but fast, easy-to-use keyboards with the introduction of the Epic Mechanical Keyboard at CES 2023. It combines the ease of a mechanical keyboard with a dampening system that automatically keeps the noisy mechanics as low as possible without the need for a switch. That means it's a faster, snazzier, easier-to-use keyboard that's reminiscent of an old-style typewriter but it doesn't make the requisite noise.

It’s affordable, too, (expected to launch at $129.99 in late summer) so watch for it on your co-worker’s desk the next time they replace their keyboard after a coffee spill. Or maybe it's your coffee-drenched keyboard that needs a replacement?

Tech at School

While it used to be just books in that backpack, today it’s a laptop. A smartphone. A portable speaker. A calculator (that speaks in a weird math lingo I still can’t understand). Headphones. A portable game console for breaks. The list goes on and on, doesn’t it? 

This year, that won’t change. Kids will still need all these things to track assignments, turn in work, and just chill out. Parents will still need to ensure that their child’s health is okay, how much sleep they’re getting, and generally just stay in touch. 

But let’s face it: Technology is a way of life these days and the coming generations aren’t going to just pack it up and put it away. In that case, we might as well use tech as effectively as possible to help kids live a healthy, balanced life, right? Right.

If you’re in the market for tech for a middle- or high-schooler this year, keep an eye out for advancements in smartwatches and wearable technology to help balance out all the other tech that weighs a child down. 

There are a couple of newly trending wearables to watch for: Oxa, a breathing wearable that comes with guided workouts; Oura, a smart ring that tracks sleep and other body metrics; and Evie, a smart ring designed to help women track their health. 

Some other interesting things are happening in kid's tech to watch for.

While most smartwatches have the basics down (fitness tracking, ability to make and receive phone calls or texts, etc.) a few are taking things a bit further. A European tech company, Xplora, was an honoree in the CES 2023 Best of Innovation Awards for the introduction of its new X6Play smartwatch designed for kids.

What makes it so different? It encourages a balance between physical activity and screen time.

“Features like our proprietary, award-winning Goplay platform and our partnerships with organizations like the United Nations also teach kids how to think beyond themselves and provide them with a way to give back to those in need,” says Sten Kirkbak, CEO of Xplora. 

We like that approach a lot because that's what we'll be watching for in tech this year: Not just 'how is it helping people?' but 'how is it helping us be better humans?' Anyone can create great tech but not everyone cares about how it actually impacts the world.

This year, keep an eye on smart and connected technology news to follow and understand how wearables are continually changing the way we live, work, and play. 

Tech Trends Not to Worry About in 2023

There's a lot of noise being made about immersive tech trends like the metaverse and Web3, plus future connectivity improvements like Wi-Fi 7. While these are definitely interesting (check out the movie Don't Worry Darling for a glimpse into how life theoretically could be lived in the metaverse), all of these are nowhere near being adopted by the masses in 2023.

The groundwork is indeed being laid for all three, but each needs a lot more work before it ever really impacts anyone's daily life. For any of it to happen, however, major advances must be made in technology. By 2040, these experts say, that type of infrastructure could be in place.

In the meantime, current limitations won't stop companies from trying to take advantage of these fledgling technologies. Chobani, for example, teamed up with Roblox game creators in mid-2022 to develop the metaverse race-around-space concept to raise oat milk awareness and reach charity donation goals.

Don't take that to mean we don't believe these cool technologies won't ever arrive; lots of people pooh-poohed the hand-held computer concept in the early 2000s and now look at the millions of smartphones in use on the planet. They'll be impacting our lives in some form eventually, just not this year.

In the meantime, keep these trends in the back of your mind. They'll be gaining traction in 2024 (watch for Wi-Fi 7) and beyond.