The search is constantly on for the next big thing in technology. Speculation about, and participation in, what the future holds across numerous sectors is a big consideration for many forward-thinking professionals in the tech industry. Here are some areas that are not only poised to be the next major disruptor as we move into 2018, but will also be of interest to followers of the cryptocurrency community:Image recognition software could easily become a major disruptor. With the integration of blockchain technology developed during the digital currency revolution, we could see such high-end image recognition apps capable of scanning individuals and immediately pulling up their social media profiles on your mobile phone. Likewise, you would be able to scan an image of a celebrity and see vendor links to allow you to purchase every item of their outfit.Virtual reality is still in its infancy but investment and research in this area is significant and will likely result in a major breakthrough in the tech sooner rather than later. Once we achieve this, the sky really is the limit, revolutionising entertainment and corporate industries alike.Speaking of corporate space, it is just one area in which blockchain technology is already acting as a disruptor. The security and anonymity of blockchain, combined with improvements in artificial intelligence, will see more professional service sectors downsizing or dissolving as computers shoulder the roles traditionally undertaken by humans.What discussion of disruptors would be complete without mentioning blockchain as its own entity? Being a more efficient and transparent method for transferring data, blockchain technology is set to revolutionise a host of industries, from more secure encryption protocols across the internet, to the effective transfer of big data, blockchain developments could conceivably result in a large scale P2P sharing network that no longer relies on intermediary services.