what is this 2016 trend

In 2016, the phrase “2016 trend” usually referred to a cluster of highly visible tech and internet shifts like VR/AR going mainstream, AI becoming everyday, and everything getting connected through the Internet of Things and early 5G.

Core 2016 tech vibes

• Virtual reality (VR) headsets (like early consumer devices) moved from niche demos into gaming and media, with 2016 often described as a breakthrough year for VR as a consumer product.

• Augmented reality (AR) hit phones in a big way, mixing digital overlays with the real world and showing up in popular mobile games and experimental apps.

• Artificial intelligence and machine learning stepped into everyday life through recommendation systems, smarter assistants, and landmark projects that beat human experts in complex games.

Infrastructure and “background” trends

• Internet of Things (IoT) expanded rapidly, with billions of connected devices projected in the following years and major companies pushing platforms to make disparate devices talk to each other.

• Early 5G and faster networks were highlighted as a critical enabler for real‑time apps, autonomous vehicles, and massive IoT, even if full consumer rollout was still ahead.

• Blockchain and new hardware like nonvolatile memories, nanosensors, and advanced batteries were framed as emerging foundations for future services and devices rather than flashy consumer products.

How people talked about “the 2016 trend”

• Articles and forum discussions from that time often lumped these together as “top tech trends of 2016,” emphasizing VR/AR, AI, IoT, 5G, and blockchain as the big wave.

• Many posts described 2016 as a turning point: not the birth of these ideas, but the year they started feeling present in normal products rather than just in labs or sci‑fi.

If your question was about a very specific meme or niche “2016 trend” you saw on a forum or screenshot, sharing a bit more context (image, phrase, platform) would help narrow this down.

Bottom note: Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.