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18 19 E xciting technology advances continue to emerge, seemingly nonstop, enabled both by those at the cutting edge of high-tech, and by those who are adapting those develop- ments to make them useful in our everyday world. The list below, compiled by Sri Peruvemba, Chair of Marketing for the Society for Information Display (SID), reflects 10 overall tech trends, including the role of displays in making them viable and accessi- ble for consumers. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/ MACHINE LEARNING With the advent of home-control gizmos such as Google Nest, the public is becoming increasingly reliant on their artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. This has triggered development efforts for a slew of competitive products – companies in the hunt for a share of this lucrative market include Apple, Lenovo, Alibaba, Amazon, Google, LG and Samsung. This will be an ongoing battle, particularly as the interac- tion and connectedness with various home security, entertainment and control systems continues to tighten and become more intuitive. Displays are now entering the equation– as evidenced by Amazon’s newest Echo incarnation, the Echo Show. Just as phones evolved into full communication hubs, the Show now enables Echo to be a digital photo frame, a small TV, a video-calling hub, and more. People want to connect and interact visually, and this is something we’re going to see more of in the display development arena. ROBOTICS This trend will explode within the next few years. Currently, two types of robots are in use: those that look like machines, and those that more resemble a person. The latter type includes displays that facili- tate interface with humans –often, as with Robotelf Technologies’ Robelf, they show facial expressions. While all robots include some means of interface, OPENING LINES 2018 TOP 10 TECH TRENDS FOR ELECTRONIC DISPLAYS AND MORE