8 major technological waves of 2016 (I)

Today, change is constant. The world is moving very fast, driven by these technological waves that we must understand due to the significant social, economic, and legal changes they will bring about.

Every day, technology plays a fundamental role in our daily lives and in business. An example of this is how smartphones become the first thing we see when we wake up and the last thing we see before going to sleep. However, the tremendous technological advancement in smartphones is just one more example of the capabilities of Moore's Law and what computers allow by becoming exponentially cheaper and faster every year. That's why we have decided to name 8 technological waves that in 2016 will be much talked about:

1. Oculus and augmented reality in the market: For several years, Oculus has been a hot topic. In 2012, Palmer Luckey (founder) and his team launched a campaign on Kickstarter where they raised 2.4 million dollars for this virtual reality device, and only 18 months later, Facebook bought the company for 2 billion dollars. Despite the huge attention this device attracted, it was only available for developers until 2016, after a partnership with Xbox, so it will be very interesting to see the effect that augmented reality will have on various industries. This is important not only for the gaming industry, as it also has the potential to impact industries such as tourism, education, entertainment, and many more. We could say that Oculus and augmented reality devices are equivalent to when personal computers and cell phones came out, having a huge impact on daily life and business, especially because augmented reality has the potential to allow us to experience countless experiences from our homes, with a high level of realism.

2. Drones as transportation for people: A team of Chinese entrepreneurs presented at CES 2016 a drone capable of carrying a person flying for 23 minutes with autonomous handling, that is, without the need for a driver's license. Technologies like this have prompted several governments to review drone laws. Surely in the coming months, we will see countries that accept and others that decide to prohibit this technology, just as it happened with Uber. At the moment, the entrepreneurs claim to have 42 million dollars in investment and sell the device for 200,000 dollars. What will happen when devices like these cost the same as a car and their battery lasts 2 hours? Would it be legal? Would you buy it?

3. Google Car and autonomous vehicles: Seven years ago, the technology that allowed a car to become autonomous cost around $350,000. Automakers said, "good research project; however, they will never be able to commercialize this technology. By 2015, that same technology had an approximate cost of $1,000, and now automakers are reacting," says Salim Ismail, global ambassador for Singularity University. Google currently has the most advanced autonomous car technology, and surely it will soon license its technology with one or several automakers. In recent days, there has been talk of a possible alliance between Ford and Google, which has not yet happened. However, it is an interesting topic to review in 2016, not only because cars are becoming more and more computers on wheels every day, but also because of the enormous social implications that autonomous cars could have on transportation, one of the industries that generates the most jobs worldwide.

4. Solar energy at prices similar to petroleum-based energy: Despite the fact that oil prices have dropped significantly in recent years, which had been affecting clean energies, according to a study by Deutsche Bank, solar energy will be equal to or cheaper than petroleum-based energy in 47 states in the US in 2016. This tells us that undoubtedly solar energy will begin to boom and will continue to attract huge investments, making it exponentially cheaper and gaining more market power year after year. For Mexico, this is especially interesting because Pemex and CFE, two of the largest companies in the country, could lose a lot of relevance in the coming years. On the other hand, however, it is a huge opportunity for our country due to desert regions in the northern territory, which become very relevant.

Undoubtedly, the 21st century will be remembered as an era where the only constant was change. The enormous technological advances are making the world move very fast, generating disruptive changes in various industries and in the way we live. It is important to keep this in mind and talk about it due to the significant social, economic, and legal changes that they will generate.