Voice recognition technology may eliminate the need for keyboards in the next few years, a venture capitalist told CNBC.
"What's clear to me today is that the keyboard in five years will be gone as an input device," Mark Tluszcz, co-founder and CEO of Mangrove Capital Partners, an investment firm that has supported Skype and Wix.com., said.
The future of voice recognition technology development revolves around whether it will be used as an addition to the user experience, or if it will completely overtake it, Mr. Tluszcz said. He said numerous companies built will use only voice-powered operations.
An estimated 2.5 billion digital assistants were used by consumers in 2018, a number which is expected to reach 8 billion by 2023, according to technology research company Juniper Research.
In the healthcare space, voice technology and digital assistants are starting to gain traction. However, while Amazon released HIPAA-compliant skills for its voice assistant Alexa earlier this month, CNBC reporter Christina Farr cited that Alexa is still years away from connecting patients with physicians. Amazon is currently working with app developers on an invite-only basis to use the new skills to help hospitals manage patients' protected health data and information on an Alexa-powered device.