Medical device specialists often monitor the work of surgeons to provide case support during procedures in the operating room.

When it comes to online returns, the stats aren't pretty. Consumers return 30% of ecommerce purchases and a study from Shopify reveals that 40% of consumers buy variations of a product online intending to send back most of the order. In many cases, returned items cannot be put back on shelves due to product obsolescence (this is especially true with fast fashion and technology items) or slight wear and tear. This ever-increasing number of online returns is causing profits to take a massive hit. While 2019 saw a rise in retailers cracking down on serial returners and implementing a more efficient and sustainable approach to the handling of returned and excess stock, the issue isn't being solved at a fast-enough rate.

The telecommunications industry will thrive, based on the capability of its service providers to innovate as they move ahead with implementing advancing technologies. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are 2 digital forces already impacting how work is performed, whether it's your favorite beverage being prepared by a robot barista, or virtual assistants handling increasingly larger volumes of requests flooding customer interaction centers. To date, the role of AI within the telecom industry has been limited to chatbots which automate the routine customer enquiry, extracting the intent to ensure a customer is routed quickly to the proper channel. Telecom providers, however, are increasingly moving towards using AI to not only lower operating costs and improve network efficiency, but to also improve the customer-engagement experience. For example, by using exploratory data analysis that looks for specific patterns, AI can also detect anomalies in the network or even predict the possibility of a dire event happening.

There's more evidence that artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) are the future of mobile - and that businesses and developers ignore that at their peril. Computerworld reports that "Global spending on mobile hardware, software and services will rise this year by 3.2% to more than $1.6 trillion, pushed by developments such as augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (A.I.) and 5G, according to a new report from IDC." Phil Hochmuth, IDG's program director of Enterprise Mobility, explained to the magazine, "Overall, businesses will invest more in new devices and apps that enable A.I. and AR use cases for the business. On AR, businesses will spend on new mobile devices [and] hardware to help support enterprise use cases, such as medical AR, real-time data/schematic integration in industrial scenarios, etc." The article notes that AR headsets and smart glasses will also spur mobile spending, as will Apple's inclusion of native augmented reality into iOS 11 last year, via its ARKit SDK. It adds, "Allowing businesses to leverage AR with devices they have already bought and deployed - namely iPhones and iPads - will only add to AR's growth in the enterprise." Also spurring AR use is Microsoft's Windows HoloLens ecosystem.

Imagine a world where you can sit next to your customers and have a one on one conversation about their expectations from your brand with every interaction, and deliver on their expectations Every. Seems like a utopian dream? As we move forward in the digital era, this might be the reality for the brands, where businesses get the opportunity to win their customers' heart with every single interaction. The evolving technologies are opening up such opportunities for brands, and these opportunities will only increase as these technologies evolve. Smartphone is the magic wand which will make this dream a reality for brands and new-age technologies will power this magic wand.

In the past 5 years, technology has revolutionized how marketers interact with their customers. Now, you've got access to advanced software and customer data for more relevant, targeted and engaging marketing. No wonder that 50 to 65% of executives expect to spend more on marketing technology in the coming year. But, what if I told you that we're only at the beginning? In the next 5 years, marketing is going to make a huge pivot- probably almost unrecognizable from its current form. You probably won't perform search engine optimization.

We've just had a big tech season. Between Facebook's F8 conference, Google's I/O Conference and Apple's most recent Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) we've seen the big plans that these tech companies plan on focusing on over this next year. As a huge Apple supporter, I have to say, companies like Google in particular are giving Apple a run for their money. Companies like Google have been focusing on their plans for continued growth and improvement around artificial intelligence and augmented reality. This is setting the bar even higher for Apple whose own intelligent assistant Siri still has a lot of issues when used. Siri does not have the greatest speech recognition and is not connected enough to go in and execute commands.

Forget autopilot, the VW Sedric is a self-driving pod car with absolutely no pedals, a steering wheel, or even a cockpit for that matter. It's designed for the fifth level of autonomous driving, which requires no human input at all. At the push of a button, the vehicle transports its passengers to their desired location using the most efficient route(s). "Sedric is a purely electric car, with a battery pack located flat between its axles and the compact electric motor at the wheels. The AI system is located in the compact overhangs at both the front and rear of the pod, and the rider can communicate with the vehicle via a push-button remote to indicate the time at which Sedric should arrive. The button changes color and vibrates when the vehicle gets there, and once the pod recognizes its rider, the wide door opens to allow them to hop in. The user then speaks with a voice assistant to discuss the travel time, directions, and current traffic situation," reports Design Boom.

With the launch of its new Native and Emerging Technologies (NET) group, Hearst Corporation has made a big push to keep up with emerging technologies such as augmented reality, artificial intelligence (AI) and voice-controlled search. But the century-old company isn't just playing around with cutting-edge tools--rather, Hearst is using them to develop a New Age marketing and analytics workflow that delivers real business value. That's according to Phil Wiser, CTO at Hearst, who spoke with eMarketer's Maria Minsker about how the company is making the old work with the new. Phil Wiser: The group originated because we noticed a shift to voice-based interfaces, especially for search. We know that a meaningful percentage of online searches shifted to voice over the past year.

In the past 5 years, technology has revolutionized how marketers interact with their customers. Now, you've got access to advanced software and customer data for more relevant, targeted and engaging marketing. No wonder that 50 to 65% of executives expect to spend more on marketing technology in the coming year. But, what if I told you that we're only at the beginning? In the next 5 years, marketing is going to make a huge pivot- probably almost unrecognizable from its current form. You probably won't perform search engine optimization. Instead, you'll create an exotic virtual experience for your customers. A great example is artificial intelligence-powered voice assistants on your smartphones, for performing simple tasks. Sure, they lack context and aren't functional for complex tasks. But, we'll get there soon. To give you an overview, here are the 5 emerging technologies that Forrester expects to change the world, in the next 5 years. We already have some info on how these technologies are going to affect the customer-business relationship.