As we turn the page on the calendar, it makes sense that we reflect on what defined the last ten years and try to prognosticate what the next ten will be like. Nearly everyone will be wrong, of course, but some won’t be, and that’s part of the fun of predicting things. As for me, I predict the 2020s will revolve around inclusion.

The 2010s have been all about making entertainment more immersive – Bluetooth speakers with flashing lights, movies in 3D, and games in VR. How many articles did we read (and write) saying that VR or 3D was going to be the next huge thing?

3D movies seemed like a good idea at the time. Credit:Dallas Kilponen

The problem was that although those fads sound cool, they don’t actually add to the experience: 3D movies are falling out of fashion because people don’t want to wear extra glasses to see a movie, VR is expensive and makes nearly everyone throw up, and people with epilepsy have placed a curse on the houses of the inventers of flashing speakers.

But through these fads we’ve started having a conversation about who these technologies don’t work for, and why.