Gartner 2018 Technology Maturity Curve Highlights Biohacking as a New Hot Trend

Gartner recently released the 2018 Technology Maturity Curve, marking the first time that biohacking (Biohacking) appears as a hot technology trend, reigniting market interest.

The technology maturity curve—also known as the hype cycle—is a tool that helps enterprises and CIOs assess the maturity and evolution of emerging technologies and formulate strategic plans.

As Gartner research vice‑president Mike J. Walker notes, business and technology leaders will continue to face accelerating innovation, which will profoundly affect how they interact with employees, collaborate with partners, and create products and services for customers. CIOs should constantly scan the market, evaluate and pilot emerging technologies to identify those with strategic significance for their companies.

1. Biohacking Becomes a 2018 Hotspot

From more than 2,000 technologies, Gartner selected 35 representative ones for the 2018 curve. Among the five major emerging trends, biohacking—a technology that blurs the line between humans and machines and often appears in sci‑fi—stands out as a new hotspot.

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to play a crucial role, enabling pervasive, always‑available enterprise digital transformation.

2. The Five Emerging Technology Trends Identified in the 2018 Curve

1) AI Democratization – Gartner predicts that over the next decade AI will become ubiquitous and accessible to the masses. Cloud computing, maker communities, and open‑source initiatives will drive AI platforms‑as‑a‑service, strong AI, autonomous driving (levels 4‑5), mobile robots, conversational AI platforms, deep neural networks, autonomous aerial vehicles, intelligent robots, and virtual assistants into mainstream adoption within two to five years.

2) Digital Ecosystem – Emerging technologies must radically transform the massive data, advanced compute, and ubiquitous ecosystem infrastructure needed today. The shift from siloed infrastructure to platform‑based ecosystems is enabled by blockchain, data‑secure blockchain, digital twins, IoT platforms, and knowledge graphs. Gartner notes that blockchain and IoT platforms have already passed the peak, with digital twins and knowledge graphs following closely.

3) Biohacking – Over the next ten years humans may enter a “super‑human” era where bodies are enhanced with chips for lifestyle, health, or interest reasons. Biohacking is divided into four categories: technological augmentation, nutritional genomics, experimental biology, and grinder‑style body modification. Ethical and moral concerns remain. Enabling technologies include bio‑chips, biotechnology (cultured or artificial tissues), brain‑computer interfaces, augmented reality, mixed reality, and smart fabrics. Bio‑chips have just reached the peak and are expected to enter a high‑growth phase within five to ten years.

4) Transparent Immersive Experience – Technologies will become increasingly human‑centric, creating seamless, transparent interactions among people, enterprises, and objects. This trend is driven by 4D printing, connected homes, edge AI, self‑repairing systems, silicon‑anode batteries, smart dust, smart workspaces, and stereoscopic displays. Most of these technologies are moving toward or have just passed the peak, with smart workspaces poised to reach the peak soon.

5) Ubiquitous Infrastructure – Infrastructure will no longer hinder organizational goals. The widespread adoption of cloud computing and its variants has created an always‑online, always‑available, limitless compute environment. Key enabling technologies include 5G, carbon nanotubes, deep‑neural‑network ASICs, neuromorphic hardware, and quantum computing. 5G and deep‑neural‑network ASICs are expected to hit their peak within the next two to five years.

3. Review of 2017 Hotspots and Comparison

In 2017 Gartner highlighted three trends: ubiquitous AI, transparent immersive experiences, and digital platforms. Four technology domains were recommended for decision‑makers: blockchain‑based business ecosystem expansion, fusion technologies such as brain‑computer interfaces, commercial automation like delivery drones, and security technologies such as software‑defined security.

Blockchain and IoT have already passed the peak; digital twins are entering the hype peak.

Biohacking emerges as a new hotspot, with bio‑chips and brain‑computer interfaces nearing the hype peak.

Transparent immersive experiences focus on smart workspaces and smart homes, driven by silicon‑anode batteries, 4D printing, and edge AI.

Ubiquitous infrastructure, reminiscent of IBM’s early vision of pervasive computing, is driven by 5G, carbon nanotubes, deep‑neural‑network ASICs, neuromorphic hardware, and quantum computing, though it still has distance to travel before reaching the hype peak.

Conclusion – Compared with Gartner’s 2017 predictions (AI, immersive experiences, digital platforms), the 2018 curve shows a notable shift: information‑security technologies recede, while biohacking rises to prominence.

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