The application and development of science and technology are changing with each passing day, and innovative technologies are advancing steadily, bringing benefits to enterprises, individuals and society.
Earlier this year, we talked about five key innovations to watch in Tencent's ecosystem. This month, our team of experts present seven international technology trends that are likely to affect the world and people's lives in 2022.
1. The cloud native
Containers, service grids, microservices, declarative apis... Cloud computing jargon is always arcane! Fortunately, we don't need to understand the terminology of cloud native architecture to understand its business benefits.
With cloud computing, enterprises can build and run scalable applications in a modern and rapidly changing environment. It replaces legacy servers with distributed cloud solutions, greatly increasing efficiency and flexibility.
Cloud Yuan also provides startups with lower barriers to entry and improved efficiency to enable big data processing. Efficiency gains are crucial to driving the next generation of artificial intelligence, machine learning, autonomous vehicles, analytics and science.
2. The NISQ period of quantum computing will continue
2021 is a high-profile year for quantum computing. Start-ups in the field have raised more than $1.7bn in venture capital, while quantum computers have grown rapidly in size and speed.
Quantum bits are the basic unit of information in quantum computing. The more quantum bits you have, the more information you can process. The number of quantum bits controlled by quantum computers has exceeded three digits. Most of our everyday computers use 32-bit processors. Quantum computers are far faster than any laptop.
Quantum computing is now in the era of NISQ with noise. The industry is trying to increase the number of qubits and improve the quality of individual qubits.
Scientists are excited about the possibilities of the future and are actively seeking breakthroughs in correcting errors. Once successful, we can expect to see large-scale applications of quantum computing in finance, logistics, aviation, artificial intelligence, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and other fields.
3. Artificial intelligence in action
Ai has already shown its value in Settings as diverse as hospitals and nursing homes, and has played an important role in helping vulnerable groups such as the hearing-impaired.
However, the large-scale application of ARTIFICIAL intelligence is still faced with technical bottlenecks, for example, the AI model trained for hospital scenarios is difficult to be applied to other fields. Now scientists and engineers are working to create general-purpose AI that can be used in multiple fields.
The benefits are significant. Large models are usually trained by self-supervised learning on unlabeled large data sets. With training, fine-tuning, or a second training with a small amount of data, AI can meet the needs of new application scenarios, including industrial applications.
As countries accelerate the improvement of laws, regulations and ethical norms related to AI, AI will better serve People's Daily work and life.
4. Extended reality technology is becoming more mature
The extended Reality (XR) industry is maturing at an accelerating pace, and companies are investing more in XR-related hardware. XR technology is blurring the line between virtual and real.
XR includes virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR). VR technology is the most mature and has the largest number of users. We can expect to see leaps and bounds in ultra-short focus technology, with micro-OLED for enhanced display, smaller ring controllers and lighter headphones for added comfort.
VR is not just for games, but will increasingly be used in industries such as entertainment, travel, education and real estate. AR is playing catch-up, making advances in computing power, battery life, real-time environment recognition, and virtual and real interaction.
5. Digital twinning assists in understanding physical entities
As products become more diverse, digital twinning becomes critical. Digital twins are computer-generated models that serve as middleware for us to understand and optimize physical entities.
These models allow us to do simulations and gather useful information about physical entities, all on a computer. Digital twinning is cost-effective, secure, and helps us understand and optimize the operation of physical entities.
Thanks to innovation, digital twinning will be applied to everything from street planning to medical devices. By combining technologies such as 3D modeling, artificial intelligence, cloud rendering, AR and VR, our knowledge of the physical world will reach unprecedented heights.
6. Complex task service robots go deep into family life
Robots are already being used in mature industrial and commercial environments, such as factories and laboratories. At home, we use them to perform voice-activated commands, like playing our favorite songs through smart speakers.
Since the home environment is typical of non-standard scenarios, robots often face challenges in handling household chores. However, multimodal fusion sensing technology iteration has narrowed the distance between robots and daily life. The process incorporates all the elements needed for human-computer interaction, including speech, writing, gestures and eye signals.
Coupled with advances in tactile sensing technology, robots can sense and deal with irregular and fragile objects, and intelligent service robots that can perform complex tasks are expected to enter home life at an early date.
7. Energy Internet helps go carbon neutral
More than 130 countries have pledged to achieve zero emissions by 2060, and the Energy Internet (IoE) is key to achieving this ambitious goal. More environmentally friendly renewable energy sources such as wind and solar will replace polluting fossil fuels.
But to achieve carbon neutrality, the energy sector needs to become more efficient. The development of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, big data and other digital tools can help improve the efficiency of renewable energy sources such as wind. Every small change can help improve water use in sectors like agriculture, ultimately saving a lot of energy and water.
