2015 trends that will transform how we live, work and shop
Samsung has unveiled five trends that have the potential to transform our lives in 2015 and beyond. New technology, evolving consumer behaviour and changing attitudes amongst businesses and governments will make a huge difference to day-to-day living, next year and into the future.
Ran Merkazy from Samsung’s European Product Innovation Centre said: “Technology is the linchpin behind our society, impacting our work, our social lives, our health and our down time. It has advanced in leaps and bounds over recent years, and 2015 will be no exception. These trends we’ve identified are set to transform our everyday routines, from how we live and work, to what we wear and why we wear it.’’
Samsung’s predictions are:
1. Wearable technology will create a new era of power dressing for business leaders
Business people will increasingly rely on wearable technology to be better organised, better informed and more efficient.
Beginning with smart watches, business leaders will use wearable technology to stay ‘always-on’ without being completely reliant on a smartphone. New Samsung research into wearables and business finds that:
47% of wearable technology users felt more intelligent
61% felt more informed
37% state that wearable technology helped with career development
61% claimed that their personal efficiency improved
Samsung predicts wearable technology will become the norm in offices across the world from 2015.
Roger Enright, Product Director, IT & Mobile Samsung Electronics UK & Ireland said: “2014 has been the year that the wearables market has really exploded and broken into the mainstream consciousness. Our own research, commissioned this September with the Centre for Retail Research, estimates that the value of the market in the UK alone will hit £313.6 million by the end of 2014, with total Christmas sales expected to rise by 182% (£67.64 million) to £104.7 million compared to 2013 totalling 1,028,800 million units.”
2. People will restructure their working lives around personal “Power Hours’’ – as technology reveals peak performance times
A new wave of apps, coupled with a rise in wearable technology, will enable people to understand when they work most productively, how much sleep they need and when they need to recharge. Increasingly people will have a data-driven understanding of when they are most productive. This will help people to structure their working time around the most productive hours of the day.
Head of Innovation at Samsung Europe, Lysa Clavenna, said: “People are generally more conscious of their health and wellness, and coupled with a rise in devices to monitor health, are increasingly taking a more ‘hands-on’ informed approach when it comes to keeping fit and staying healthy. This trend is only set to continue, driving the market for wellness apps and devices. Monitoring personal productivity, and having a clear understanding of when their body works best and when they need to rest, will soon become the norm for many people.”
This technology is also likely to transform work schedules, helping to liberate 9-5 working hours. Our own research this year found that three quarters of the European respondents are work-life blending by doing personal tasks in work time (75%) and work tasks in their personal time (77%). This demise of the 9-5 can be largely attributed to the proliferation of mobile devices in the workplace, giving employees ultimate flexibility about when and where they want to work. Almost one third (32%) believe it helps them manage their personal tasks better and the same proportion say it makes them less stressed.
Lysa Clavenna said: “In 2015 we predict that people’s work and personal lives will continue to blend, with technology continuing to drive the ‘always on’ culture. Technology should be used to make life easier for employees and employers while boosting productivity, and we expect to see forward thinking companies embracing the advancements the year will bring to re-evaluate their business processes and take their workplace into the future.”
3. Virtual reality technology and the innovative use of displays will lead to a new generation of digital shops, allowing retailers to overcome space constraints and high rent
There is no denying the face of the traditional high street has been heavily impacted by multi-channel shopping, according to professional services group PwC in the UK 16 shops closed every day in the first half of 2014.
Prime retail areas carry expensive rents and are often low on space, so brands are having to be innovative with how they showcase their products – extending walls with interactive displays and tablets.
The pop-up store is also showing no signs of disappearing and is set to be modernised by becoming ‘virtual’ too, tapping into the rise of ‘click and collect’ and allowing shoppers to purchase at new times and in unexpected places.
Virtual reality is also set to cross into retail, giving shoppers the chance to take virtual tours of larger items they may want to buy – such as cars or holidays. Plus the technology will also give retailers another way of training their staff.
4. Automated home systems will move from ‘geek’ to ‘chic’ driven by a dramatically improved user experience
Two in five people already have some type of home automation. Heating and air conditioning (22%) and entertainment (16%) are the most popular.
Samsung predicts that increasing numbers of people will automate their homes as it becomes easier to do so. Improvements to the user experience will begin to make home automation an easy and efficient means of controlling household appliances and settings.
Cross platform functionality will become more sophisticated and easier to use – driven by services that provide an open platform for home automation, such as Samsung-owned SmartThings.
SmartThings makes it easy for consumers to turn their home into a smart home using an app on their phone to connect and control various devices and appliances.
5. Every child born in the next 12 months will learn coding as a core subject alongside numeracy and literacy
The European Commission estimates that there will be 900,000 ICT vacancies by 2020. Around 90% of all jobs in 2015 will involve at least some computer skills.
Increasingly governments are recognising that computer literacy is a fundamental, basic skill and now incorporate coding into their curriculums. The UK has launched a new ‘Computing’ curriculum during this academic year, in which children as young as five will be taught programming skills. Estonia has been teaching children to code for some years.
Samsung predicts that in 2015 and beyond these education innovations will gradually become the norm, with businesses, educators and governments working together to raise skills across Europe.
Longer term this will trend will help to drive the importance of internships as businesses recognise that they can benefit from welcoming young, computer-literate people into their organisations. The need for employees to be computer literate will also see a wave of intensive schools for coding spring up – helping longtime employees to learn coding quickly. Already schools such as 42 in Paris are beginning this trend – offering intensive one month courses in coding.