One of the most talked-about technologies shown at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is virtual reality (VR). Headset devices such as HTC’s VIVE, Oculus’s Rift, Samsung’s Gear VR 2 and Sony’s PlayStation VR drew huge crowds that wanted to try them out.
Revolutionary advances in information and communication technology (ICT) have led to the explosive growth of mobile devices and brought about the age of the Internet of Things (IoT). These developments also led to a massive overhaul of the manufacturing sector that is based the principles of “Industry 4.0”. As of now, countries have showcased their respective Industry 4.0/digital manufacturing initiatives – the U.S., Germany, Japan and others – are still in the exploration stage in terms of solutions and products offered by their industries. Mass commercialization has yet to take place.
The latest analysis from global research firm TrendForce reveals that the global demand growth for industrial robots continues to accelerate on account of workforce shortages and loss of demographic dividends. Harrison Po, senior manager of TrendForce’s photonics and innovative technologies research, said that China in recent years has been energetically pushing forward with the transformation of its economy, and sales of industrial robots in the country has been growing rapidly in response to the rising demand for automation. Based on TrendForce’s projection, the industrial robot demand in China is expected to reach 95,000 units in 2016.
Consumers’ relentless pursuit for richer audiovisual experience has propelled the popularity of virtual reality (VR) devices and drawn in more companies to invest in this market. Furthermore, the competition among the increasing number of players will bring about diversification and growth of VR applications.
Developments in the Internet and the Internet of Things (IoT) will propel strong growth in industries related to smart healthcare in 2016. According to global market research firm TrendForce, worldwide spending on smart healthcare services (e.g. telemonitoring, diagnostic equipment, assisted living and bio-data tracking) will reach US$30 billion in 2018, growing at a CAGR of 60% from 2016 to 2018.