The Future of Entertainment

Entertainment as we know it has come a long way.

Entertainment can be traced to the beginning of man's existence. In the ancient times, people engaged in different activities as a way to kick back and relax with friends and family. There were activities were wrestling, swimming, races and other exhibitions.

As time goes on, entertainment is evolving and becoming more organized. We can clearly see this in the development of sports such as races, wrestling and even in dance, music and drama.

A huge determinant of the evolution of entertainment is technology. With advances in the field of technology, there is a huge leap in the sectors of film, television, radio and print. You could purchase cassette tapes and CDs and listen to music from home instead of going to an opera, or watch your favorite drama shows on the television.

Another evolution came with the internet.

In ancient times, the only way to enjoy entertainment was to be physically present at the event. The internet brought accessibility for users all over the world. Now, you can watch (and rewatch) your favorite shows anywhere you are, anytime you want to. You can also enjoy an event happening in a totally different country or continent from your location.

Also, the internet effectively decentralized entertainment from being concentrated in a few persons to virtually anyone who is interested. It is in our modern times that we have social media influencers - people who make music, comedy skits and other shows without signing up with a huge company. They get millions of followers on social media, and get paid well for it.

Time and space are no longer a barrier to entertainment. This was especially useful during the covid-19 lockdown period. People were cooped inside their houses and had to turn to the only available source of entertainment at that time - the internet. 

A lot more people than usual depended on the internet for work, communication and entertainment as well. The International Telecommunication Union states that internet user ranks grew from 4.1 billion in 2019 to 4.9 billion in 2021. Netflix recorded a whopping 36 million new subscribers in 2020. Entertainment provided hope to the whole world during the pandemic period, serving as a reminder that things will get better.

Seeing how much entertainment has evolved, I always wonder what the future of entertainment ahead of us looks like?

Many of the entertainment of the future are already underway now. With technology, we will witness leaps in the field of virtual reality. Right now, we have interesting VR interfaces that create an immersive experience using sight and hearing, especially in games. 

But this is just the beginning of what VR holds. In the future, we can expect to see an even deeper experience when watching movies or playing video games. The Void is currently building a hyper- reality room where the users will be outfitted with a special best, headphones and a VR headset that lets them feel the movies throughout their five senses. So you can smell, touch and see what happens in the movie or game.

If you think concerts are going to be outdated in the future, then you are sadly mistaken. The MSG Sphere is a sphere shaped music and entertainment arena under construction in Nevada and is already said to be the 'world's most advanced concert venue'. 

The dome will be equipped with wraparound LED screens all around it, making it the largest and highest resolution screen in the world. It will also have 164,000 speakers, delivering sound through the floorboards so you can feel the vibrations in your chair and under your feet. You can be sure that it will be a phenomenal experience.

There will also be an increase in the 'influencer' economy. As more kinds of media and other technologies grow, it will encourage people to get creative with their usage of these platforms. TikTok has become a platform for users to grow their fanbase now. In the future, creators will have more ownership of the content they create.

I'm sure if you had asked our grandparents back in their day what the future of entertainment would be, they might give some answers but would be amazed at the amount of leaps and bounds technology has taken on entertainment now. Who knows, even our wildest imaginations may not do justice to the beauty of entertainment in the next 50 to 100 years. 

Even we who anticipate should prepare to have our minds blown by the kinds of innovations that will come in the future.

One thing is for certain; entertainment has existed since the beginning of time, it will endure to the end.

What are your expectations for entertainment in the coming years?

You can share your thoughts in the comment section.