5 Tech Trends to Get Excited About This 2016

Expect a more "connected" year ahead.

Time and time again, each new technological innovation has reinvented the way we live. This 2016's tech trends will do that yet again - enhancing the way we learn, play, and most importantly, connect with each other.

"All of these companies now, from Microsoft to Google to Apple, are pushing to increase connectivity. I think interconnectivity is one of the big themes (of 2016)," according to CNET Senior Editor Scott Stein.

Gone were the days of tech for geek stuff because 2016's tech trends are for the consumer, which pretty much consists of every human on this planet.

Below are the Top 5 tech trends that will change the year ahead.

1. Virtual Reality

Mobile devices have mostly dominated the tech marketplace for the past few years, but according to CNET Senior Editor Scott Stein via CBS News, 2016's biggest consumer tech trend will be virtual reality.

Year 2016 will bring the Oculus Rift, which will not only offer a rich VR interface, but will allow the user to become part of the story itself. The entire experience on the device will be immersive, where characters react to a user's "physical presence."

While relatively prohibitively expensive throughout 2016, Stein said that products like Oculus Rift and HTV Vive will likely become part and parcel of everyday life as years pass. This means that companies will eventually sell more affordable VR headsets, hopefully in the near future.

If you can afford to buy one right now, make sure to keep it since it could become "vintage" in the future.

2. Bio-Security

Year 2015 saw a few, with some rather sub-standard stabs at biometric security. These include Apple's and Android's fingerprint recognition, as well as the Myris, gesture-based security and facial recognition software from Windows 10.

According to Mashable, while Windows Hello needs Intel's Real3Dcamera to function, the tech is "flawless" once used.

Since 2015 brought us the aforementioned bio-security technologies, expect more upgraded versions in 2016. It's an exciting time when password-based systems will be substituted for biometric security systems for a more private and safer experience with computers.

3. Drones

More drone advancements are reportedly expected in 2016 despite slow consumer sales.

The video below is an exciting addition to the drone lineup, which seems like a real, non-combustible hoverboard from the looks of it.

With drones huge enough to support actual people, they could pave the way for drone deliveries. According to Mashable, such deliveries could even be a trend before the year ends.

4. Robotics/Artificial Intelligence

Year 2016 could finally make robots like R2D2, C3PO and BB-8 possible. The future is here - well, almost.

Artificial intelligence was a thing believed by sci-fi fanatics and movie makers, but since 2011, with Apple's Siri voice assistant, that notion is slowly becoming a thing of the past.

This year, there will be robots like Jibo and Pepper for the home and family. Products such as Apple's Siri, Google Now, Amazon's Alexa and Microsoft's Cortana will continue becoming part of our lives and attending to our commands. Soon, computers may be able to understand even our emotions.

In 2016, IBM's Watson supercomputer, which was introduced in 2011, has grown into "a sophisticated utility player" analyzing people's social media responses to synthesize how humans deal with situations. Watson is currently able to understand different languages such as English, Japanese, Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese and Spanish. It can also "cover other aspects of the human condition, such as areas called 'emotional intelligence'", according to IBM Watson's CTO Rob High.

"This is the ability to understand what kinds of emotion people are experiencing or what they are expressing in their text or voice or visual representation or expression," High added.

These so-called "social robots" will "have a near-anthropomorphic form", meaning a balance between human-like, but not too human-like form. They could possibly be used in the field of customer service in the future.

All this sounds like a mixture of animated series "The Jetsons," the movie "Her" and TV series "Black Mirror" all put together.

5. Social media

The Pew Research Center says that only 7 percent of American adults used social networking sites 10 years ago, but now, about 65 percent already does, and a full 90 percent of young adults between the ages of 18 to 29 use some form of social media.

At this rate, social media could only expand, and is expected to dissolve traditional communication devices, says Vincent Pineiro, who is one of Business Insider's "30 most creative people in social media" in 2013.