© Shutterstock

Autonomous driving cars -

As many will know, in the next 20 years or so we are expected to see a huge increase in semi-self-driving and completely autonomous driving cars.

© Shutterstock

Tesla -

For example, Elon Musk’s company Tesla has already begun the production of a car that is self-driving. 

© Shutterstock

The mobile entertainment center -

This has many huge implications for the world as we know it, and especially for the entertainment industry. The car would become an entertainment station of sorts.

© Shutterstock

Legislation will take some time -

It will likely take many years for legislators to pass the notion that people should be allowed to be completely disengaged in the operation of the car, however, which is the eventual commercial goal. 

© Shutterstock

Podcasts -

In anticipation of this, some companies are looking to push into fields that they otherwise had no involvement with. One of these is podcasts.

© Shutterstock

Big tech -

Apple and Amazon have made a huge push into podcasts. Spotify’s value doubled in 2020 (largely based on their investment into podcasts) and these companies are looking to get in on some of the action. 

© Shutterstock

Apple -

None of these companies want to miss the next big thing. Of course, Apple didn’t miss it. They essentially helped to create and market this long-form kind of on-demand entertainment.

© Shutterstock

Podcast companies -

We will eventually be looking at a separate leading application for podcasts. Spotify is looking to charge people with their time (advertising) for this service. Spotify will also split so that podcasts are available on a different app. This way they can avoid dishing out so much to record labels.

© Shutterstock

The theater -

Although the industry of cinema is hyperventilating right now, it will likely survive. Most theaters will close and movies will still be watched at home mostly, but some will survive.

© Shutterstock

Expect more ads -

Advertising is going to get much bigger on YouTube, Facebook, and pretty much every other social media platform, too.

© Shutterstock

5G -

Our internet is getting faster and with the rollout of 5G across the Western world, it’s only going to increase our ability to access applications. 

© Shutterstock

Virtual hangouts -

Similar to what we experienced during the pandemic, many events that we could attend physically will move online. For example, the marketplace for concerts proved successful even when it was in an online space. 

© Shutterstock

Virtual reality won't become the norm -

The future of gaming may not be what you expect. It almost seems inevitable that people will be gaming using virtual reality, but it isn’t true.

© Shutterstock

Gaming -

Most experts will agree that this kind of gaming (with a headset on) is too zapping and goes against the traditional values of gaming too much to be valued highly. For example, you can’t play it for long and it’s impractical in groups.

© Shutterstock

Augmented reality -

Instead, we will see more event-like augmented reality courses (where we move around a physical space), but this is still likely only going to be an occasional affair. 

© Shutterstock

More screen time -

Then there are phones. It’s not uncommon to spend 12 hours on one a day. One of the biggest things here is how the screen will change, according to Ted Schilowitz, a futurist for Paramount Pictures.

© Shutterstock

The "screenless screen" -

"We are entering the age of what I like to call the 'screenless screen,'" continued Schilowitz. "The next wave of what a screen will be will not look anything like the screens that exist today. It will be a virtual layer on the reality that will feel transparent to you."

© Shutterstock

Visual communication -

It’s expected that visuals are going to continue playing a huge role in communication because, with so much information, it’s the only effective way we can absorb it.

© Shutterstock

Conciseness -

Perceiving news and other data will become more and more visual, and more and more concise. Infographics, summarized content with graphical representations, keywords, and concise data are the easiest to consume.

© Shutterstock

Activating all the senses -

In a sense, to cut through the noise, the entertainment industry continues to explore all avenues of the senses to connect to, not just the visual and auditory.

© Shutterstock

Blurred lines -

Entertainment experts are looking to blur lines between film and gaming, where we could make decisions for characters, and where games look like a movie (which they pretty much do already).

© Shutterstock

Millennials will pay for entertainment but not news -

Millennials are more inclined to pay for entertainment than pay for news. The Media Insight Project had some surprising predictions about how this generation will consume media.

© Shutterstock

Watching more -

Millennials’ consumption of digital movies and TV shows will increase. 

© Shutterstock

Targeted content -

We are going to get a lot more of what we know and love from film/TV streaming services. For example, Netflix can analyze our viewing data and produce and suggest shows based on this data.

© Shutterstock

Big data -

Services like this (and music streaming services) are going to analyze what we stream, our behaviors online, our social media behaviors, our mood, and much more in order to give us exactly what we want, or what they have deduced that we want. 

© Shutterstock

Communication and entertainment will continue to be one and the same -

Entertainment and communication will continue to develop to be synonymous. For example, Instagram is an entertaining platform, but also a major means of communication.

© Shutterstock

Going forward -

In a nutshell, the future of entertainment looks fun. Our entertainment will likely play with more of our senses and activate those primarily involved with entertainment (visual and auditory senses) even more efficiently.

Sources: (NCTA) (Bloomberg) (Focusing Future)

See also: The fantastical future of fashion

© Shutterstock