Have you ever dived into that imaginative soul of yours wondering how dating will be like in the years to come? I bet you did. The way people meet, converse and form connections with each other is forever changing. With the rise of technology, digital courtship among individuals has massively changed. If you compare the present digitalised generation with its previous, you will realise that technology has played a massive role in shaping the path of online dating.
Presently, studies have shown that most 18 to 30-year olds are the ones that use online dating services and apps. Currently, one in eight people admits that they met their partner online. Apps like Tinder, Ok Cupid, Truly Madly, and Bumble along with social media sites have opened the gates to a large pool of potential dates. But certain issues still linger in the air. The rapid intensification in digitisation has lead people to question if VR dates will be possible in 2030?
It has been proved that by 2030, our behaviour along with electrical and chemical signal will be taken into consideration while understanding our dating preferences. Your online history and reaction will be analysed by computer algorithms into finding a compatible mate for you. No longer will you have to go through those awkward first dates. Reports predict that in the years to come dating would be shared at such a rapid speed, that all the five human senses would be digitally simulated to create a full-sensory virtual reality.
Whatever the future might hold for the generation to come, it is well understood that online dating is not going anywhere. If anything it’s going to be a more integrated part of people’s lives in the following ways:
Machine Learning Love
The Co-founder and co-Ceo of Coffee Meets Bagel say that online daters are exhausted now more than ever, trying to find the right date. Here machine learning or AI might be able to help. Machine learning can tailor your matches to your actions and evaluate the compatibility rate. On the other hand, a smarter AI takes into account multiple factors like how much time you spend in looking at a person’s profile, how fast you respond to messages, whether you initiate chats or not etc. Apart from this, AI with updated photo-detection may be able to find your partner based on facial recognition.
Gene Matchmaking
MIT study has shown that people have already sent their spit to decipher their family history. But, what if this could be done to find you a date? Pheramor, Instant chemistry and DNA romance all uses the Users DNA to find them a suitable match. It has been proposed that certain genes in your body are directly connected to your immune system (MHC) which presides over who you are attracted to. The phrase ‘opposites attract’ is actually true as dissimilar MHC are likely to be attracted to each other.
Real Videos
Videos are going to play a more important part in your lives than they do at the moment. Last year, Tinder introduced two-second videos instead of profile pictures. Alongside Tinder, another app called, Badoo added a live video feature to their chats so that individuals can talk with their dates.
But, while a lot of people enjoyed it, most people, don’t like creating their own. Kang of Coffee Meets Bagel said, that’ it’s scary talking to unknown people over the video and this fear tends to be stronger amongst women’. But with the dating apps slowly integrating videos, this fear might fade away with time.
The Possibilities of VR and AR
VR, also known as Virtual Reality is going to be taking the frontlines in the years to come. You can easily hold someone’s hand and even smell their perfume within the comforts of your home, before meeting them in the real world. With this, people can redefine the concept of long-distance relationships.
This is more like a full sensory virtual date with the touch of a real one.
However, Meyer from Once, feel that VR is too complicated for people. Instead, he considers that in the next 20 years, individuals will be wearing AR glasses, which will help them to see the singles and their compatibility with them.
Flirty Chat Bots
Currently, Chat Bots are used for tracking packages and ordering pizzas. But, it has been considered that in the time to come, they will be used in getting to know other individuals holding the possibilities of being your life partner. Bernie.ai is a Chatbot integrated with deep learning and facial recognition feature. It was able to swipe through tinder and along with sending texts to people. The Bot was able to learn any individual’s preference and talk exactly like them. And, before it was banned by Tinder, it made approximately 100,000 matches.
Hosseini, the creator of Bernie.ai might take this as an achievement, but, the future of online dating would be a scary place as human communication seems to be receding every day.
