Looking for Opportunity

This post is about 4 opportunities, two that involve economic trends and two that involve regulatory changes. The first two will be about economic trends and the second two will be about regulatory changes.

1. Virtual reality (VR)
I found this here
I believe there is massive opportunity in virtual reality. At first glance you may think, "This is just for video games" but there is much more opportunity than we may be able to imagine right now. The article I included the hyperlink for explains that virtual reality could even be used for virtual tourism, immersive journalism, and even exposure therapy. I think there will be opportunity to make things that will be compatible with virtual reality, whether it be an innovative app or even attachments/accessories for the VR headsets. I believe an opportunity exist because VR has been up and coming for a while now. In an era where everything is within our grasp this is a perfect addition. This will allow us to watch videos, movies, play games, video chat, and so much more as if we are actually there. Another thing that makes me think VR will be a success is the economic trends of advancing technology. When we see sci-fi movies about the future we see VR and other types of technology that we already on our way to creating. I think to a certain extent that media can influence the future. VR is progressing to the point where it is becoming very advanced and practical for various applications. I think the younger generations would be the main customers, but VR has the potential to break through to many different markets. I think  most opportunities are hard to exploit in one way or another. Forming the idea of an opportunity for VR might be easy but actually creating the opportunity would probably be difficult. I think that I would see this opportunity and someone else wouldn't because there is so much to be created that hasn't been created yet and VR isn't big enough at this point to reveal all of the needs that VR owners will have. It is still in the beginning stages and therefore there is a lot of room for growth.

2. "Health in our own hands"
I found this here
This talks about the future of healthcare, more specifically about monitoring our own healthcare through technology. We now have affordable watches and other forms of body monitoring devices that don't cost a ridiculous amount. These devices can monitor our sleep and other aspects of our life that can be indicative of our health. The market for these types of devices and healthcare is predicted to grow by 600% in the next 3 years. This type of opportunity would be attractive to almost anyone. Millions upon millions of people have health issues and those who don't can still benefit from monitoring their health. Imagine a watch that could warn you when it knows you are about to have a heart attack and automatically calls 911 for you or prompts you to call. It would be like a cross between a fitbit and life alert. I think the development that would have to go into this idea would be hard to accomplish but that the product itself would be easy to sell. I believe many other people will see similar opportunity but where I could find a niche is thinking outside of the box and creating something ahead of its time that has multiple functions and does not just function with a single purpose, but many that can be integrated into an app or something. I can see there being opportunity here because people no longer use the doctor as traditionally used. Now people use the internet first and the doctor second instead of going to the doctor as soon as they have abnormal feelings.

3. Cyber threats
found here
Cyber threats are becoming greater and greater as more people use the internet to transmit secure information, such as banking information. This ranges from companies having private information about their customers stolen to crippling whole financial markets. This could possibly affect anyone who uses the internet to make payments or who has sensitive information or money invested in a company who is at risk of being hit by a cyber attack. I believe an opportunity exist here because for every defense there is a way to get past, so companies have to continuously be updating their technology to keep information safe from a cyber attack. I think a lot of people and companies see this is as a problem but no one has come up with a definite solution. This is probably a daunting task but if a solution could be created to 100% defend against cyber attacks, it would be very profitable and helpful.

4. Whistleblowing activity
found here
I found this article very interesting. It describes how whistleblowing protections are increasing. There may be opportunity to create an app where that would allow people to send in tips when something fishy is going on at their workplace. This app could be an extension of a company consisting of lawyers who look into the claims submitted by the users of the app. There could be a protected system where people can feel safe blowing the whistle on their employer and have easy access to do so. The audience for this app would be anyone who currently is employed. Like most things, I believe this opportunity would take a lot of effort to bring to reality. I think the reason I see this opportunity and not the next guy is because maybe I'm wrong for one, but if this is a good opportunity I'd say it hasn't been created yet because it is an idea that is futuristic. It involves new age technology that wasn't really possible 10-20 years ago and also whistleblowing is becoming more popular. Ever since Edward Snowden blew his whistle, opinions on whistleblowing have been stirred up and people may be more inclined to blow the whistle today.