Jon Kirchner, CEO, Xperi.
Here’s a trend that will never go out of style: people crave extraordinary entertainment experiences. The opportunity for entertainment technology companies is to continue to meet this demand as the focus of possibilities shifts toward ever more immersive and expansive experiences.
Many factors, from advances in engineering to changing consumer behaviors, are driving the march toward more meaningful entertainment. For example, the decreasing price and even physical size of essential elements such as batteries, processing chips, and bandwidth have enabled the creation of devices that deliver previously unfathomable experiences. At a time when life has become more expensive, these advances also help meet consumers’ demands for affordability.
Despite this, the high cost of living has pushed many consumers to tighten their entertainment budgets. When it comes to purchasing content products and services, they want to get more bang for their buck; content streaming services and advertisers are adjusting their models accordingly.
At the same time, consumers want entertainment experiences to be high quality and personalizedmeaning they cater to individual preferences. In a world of distractions, people are looking for content that resonates. Entertainment Technology—powered by ever-expanding AI capabilities– is increasingly able to respond to these desires in meaningful ways.
With these overarching factors guiding the industry into the new year, here are some exciting entertainment trends expected to accelerate in 2025.
1. Audio is moving toward hyper-personalization and accessibility.
Most consumers find sound essential to the entertainment experience. And yet, creating a universally great sound has remained elusive. For what? Hearing is an intrinsically individualized sense.
But now, captivating sound becomes more accessible. For one, advanced systems are launching products that combine high-quality original sound with specialized speakers and playback systems to bring the sound of sound artists into our homes. In fact expected – something we could previously only experience in theaters.
Audio also becomes hyper-personalized. Research shows that consumers are finding it increasingly difficult to understand dialogue in shows. While some content providers offer in-app solutions, on-device AI solutions are finally generating a universal solution. Consumers will be able to separate dialogue from other audio elements of a show, allowing them to independently control dialogue volume across all content.
Game audio is also becoming increasingly personalized, with headphones that use a personalization algorithm to ensure that individual players can distinguish subtle noises, allowing for total immersion.
2. The car as an entertainment center moves at full speed.
The car is accelerating its transformation from a simple passenger transport vehicle into a third space-a place of relaxation. In the coming year, we can expect to see more automakers responding to the demands of consumers who want to use their car as an entertainment center.
We’ll see more high-definition screens appear in the rear and on the dashboard. Audio systems receive major improvements. And 5G connectivity combined with easy-to-use interfaces, advanced radio and streaming services will enable more personalized entertainment experiences.
Another factor behind this trend? Adoption of electric vehicles. As the situation worsens, more consumers will enjoy in-car entertainment while charging their vehicle. And later, self-driving cars will undoubtedly make enjoying videos and gaming in a moving vehicle the new normal.
3. Effective content search and discovery remains the holy grail.
Here is a trend that continues from year to year: content overload. Consumers are struggling to find the content they want to watch among a multitude of shows.
But this year we’ll continue to see amplified TV research and discovery drivers emerge to help create an individually curated experience. The most effective of these will take a content-first approach rather than an app-first approach: consumers can access all their content through subscriptions through a single, intelligent, personalized interface.
These systems also analyze available data to generate relevant content recommendations based on consumer preferences. And thanks to sophisticated new voice search, all people will have to do to locate content is as simple as a famous phrase from a movie or show. Think: “May the Force be with you”.
4. History repeats itself: Ads and bundles are on the rise (again).
Economic pressures, coupled with a desire for simplification, are forcing many people to reduce their entertainment costs, reducing dollar amounts and number of subscriptions.
In response? Streaming services are scrambling to remain financially viable. Ironically, in 2025 we can expect to see them continue to move towards aggregating ad-supported content and services in the form of bundled subscriptions – the historic TV model we abandoned for streamers by subscription – in order to attract consumers again.
In some ways, this return to old ways could benefit consumers by freeing up money and simplifying subscription management. Combined with content-driven operating systems, it can also deliver highly relevant advertising that can enhance the entertainment experience: good news for advertisers, who will also be able to reap the benefits of more targeted advertising.
5. Virtual/mixed reality technology is finally becoming real (but there’s still a way to go).
We can expect virtual worlds and mixed reality to become even more immersive and realistic in the coming year. Recent advances in this technology have occurred at a surprisingly rapid speed. For example, comparing virtual reality visuals from five years ago to those of today is like comparing movie frames captured on a VHS tape from the 1980s to today’s high-resolution digital images .
But there are still some obstacles to overcome to make these alternative worlds truly realistic. For starters, batteries and chips need to fit into smaller, more comfortable devices.
Towards extraordinary entertainment for all
It’s always exciting to think about how new technologies might influence our lives in the future. But we sometimes overestimate how quickly these advances will become accessible to as many people as possible.
Typically, the latest technologies first appear in high-end products, such as luxury cars, televisions and audio systems. However, over time, costs come down, allowing them to become more widely available across devices.
Given this trajectory, perhaps the most exciting trend ahead is that extraordinary, highly personalized entertainment experiences—from personalized audio to optimized search and discovery—are now increasingly within reach of the general public.
Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Am I eligible?