A new report from the International Data Corporation (IDC) and Viomi Technology, a Chinese smart home group, believes six keys trends will drive the Internet of Things space in the next six years — including how we talk, look and engage with our smart tools.

Titled, "Consumer IoT Outlook 2025", the report outlines the way connected devices will change — and how we'll use them in our lives. To start, the way people will use and interact with smart devices is going to be "more user-friendly" according to the report's authors, and include multiple different methods from voice to touch and face recognition — but not limited to these.

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Already, smart devices often connect through multiple avenues — often through smartphone apps, but also across voice platforms like Siri, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. People can essentially talk to their devices, directing them as they would a virtual assistant.

Smart devices will engage with us — and each other — more naturallyiStock

The use of these smart devices will continue to grow in the consumer space, and will also start playing nicer with each other — not just with consumers. Tech companies are expected to open up their systems and platforms, allowing more gadgets to integrate and work with each other.

Local storage will grow — allowing more data to remain on consumer IoT devices. Viomi and IDC believes this will jointly "improve computing efficiency and personal privacy," they write. Data transferring between devices, through an internet connection, to external storage like the cloud, is one way data can be exposed. Keeping consumer data on a local device may also help people feel more comfortable about connected tools, particularly those worried about their information and how it's used.

Mesh networks and upcoming 5G are also expected to speed up and stabilize online connections, likely encouraging people to bring more devices into their home. And computing power will grow as well —with AI helping to develop "sensing technology, data acquisition capability and decision-making intelligence."

Viomi is set to talk more about their findings this week at the Appliances & Electronics World Expo in Shanghai on March 13, 2019.

(Check out The GearBrain, our smart home compatibility checker to see the other compatible products that work with Google Home and Home Mini as well as Amazon Alexa enabled devices.)

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