Happy new year to all our customers, design partners and suppliers - we hope you had a fantastic festive period.

Last year, was a big one for Cubik and our industry. We saw huge growth in the development of wearable technology and the explosion of the IoT (The Internet of Things) – but what’s next? Here are 6 trends we think you’ll be seeing more of in 2016:

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3D printers move from the makers to the mainstream

‍In 2015, 3D printers reduced in price dramatically with many desktop FDM printers becoming fast, functional, reliable, and accessible. We’ve already seen from our own experience, more and more inventors and small companies using 3D printing to develop fast turn around prototypes, and this will only continue to build.

Following 3D system’s announcement to discontinue their entry level consumer 3D printer, The Cube, alongside the closure of Cubify.com and its popular retail product lines, the consumer pull for 3D printers in every home study and maker’s workshop, seems to have slowed. It is evident that the main players in 3D printing are certainly pledging their allegiance to the industrial market.

For the last few years 3D printing has rocketed in popularity and gained real footing as a functional manufacturing process. In 2016 and beyond, it will find its true calling to go hand in hand with design, prototyping and innovation within high tech engineering and business and will become less of a novelty and more of an industry standard.

In the higher end of additive manufacturing, boundaries are already being pushed regarding materials and composites which will only be furthered this year.

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Taking healthcare into your own hands‍

With the introduction of smart watch applications, like FitBit, in recent years, this trend has the mileage to become something huge over the next 12months and a part of our lives for years to come. Devices which encourage healthy lifestyles and behaviours, promote effective medical management, provide relevant and accurate information at the time of treatment, and deliver cost effective, post treatment recovery planning are the future of personal healthcare, with a growing number of products already on the market.

With an ever-growing consciousness towards health, an NHS in financial trauma and an ageing population, the demand for this technology is increasing. As technological barriers are broken down, and IoT is improved, this industry will boom.

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IoT still homeless

‍As the standards which will inevitably force competing entities to connect and work together move further apart, our connected home of the future could be along way off. Google (and friends) introduced their ‘thread’ the networking protocol once anticipated to lead the IoT evolution. But with the sheer volume and diversity of standards available it’s still a market that is difficult to navigate for both developers and consumers alike.

Despite this IoT is showing no signs of slowing. You don’t need to be in the industry to know home automation is massive and undoubtedly the future of domestic living. Over the past year we have seen the number of new enquiries coming directly from this industry grow exponentially.

One of our larger customers, Switchee, a start-up based at London’s Makerversity, are developing a smart thermostat exclusively designed to help affordable housing providers fight fuel poverty and boasts a range of additional features geared towards clever automation. The unit detects high humidity levels to safeguard against dangerous mould, alerts users when the temperature drops below a safe level and includes a messaging feature for contacting dependant tenants quickly and easily. Switchee is already on trial with several leading Housing Associations. Check back for our full case study in the coming months with details on how our Software and Production teams have helped make this happen.

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Smart metering, finally

‍In 2013, an £11bn Government scheme was launched with plans to install an estimated 53 million new smart meters to around 30 million homes and small businesses. It gained a lot of attention in the press with multi million pound fines imposed on partnered utility companies for repeatedly missing supply targets.

With the rescheduled rollout due to begin in October 2016 and a planned conclusion in 2020, utility companies will need to up their game to meet installation deadlines. The government has also reported a £90 million investment is needed from the development team behind the infrastructure to improve the vital communications system that has rendered many of the country’s existing smart meters ‘dumb’.

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A nod to the future

‍Whilst touchscreen is still very much at the forefront, we predict a new revolution in user interface to be gesture recognition. This trend is already gaining momentum as semiconductor manufacturers add gesture recognition functions and applications to existing sensor product lines; and the rise of electromyographic wearable sensors gains momentum.

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USB C as standard

‍The USB C is small enough to work with the smallest of peripheral devices. It allows for reverse plug orientation and carries significantly more current than previous generations. We have seen a gradual turn to this type of connection amongst our customers which is sure to continue this year and progressively become an industry standard.

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One more prediction

‍So there we have it, 2016 predictions made. We predict 2016 at Cubik HQ to be much like 2015 – but better! We hope to me a new cohort of exciting and innovative inventors, SMEs, and organisations with promising ideas, plans and concepts for electronic products and systems.

If you’d like to begin the new year by kicking off a new project, get in touch with our team to discuss our bespoke electronic product design, concept to production process.