Dating in the future will look more like PokémonGo than Tinder

If you've been checking your horoscope in the hopes that 2017 is ripe for romance, you may want to leverage that with a look at some tech reports. Dating apps are poised to seriously alter your romantic reality.

At a recent tech talk, Tinder CEO Sean Rad said that Augmented Reality will "definitely impact dating." Augmented Reality projects digi-sourced information onto the real world via an app. So imagine pointing your phone at that guy in your spin class to immediately find out if he's single (or a cat person who likes chai as much as you do). It could also tell you if he thinks you're cute too. Tech wearables like smart eyewear (think Google Glass, which we haven't heard the last of) could even automatically do it for you so you don't even have to lift your phone. Everyone you look at, virtually dissected for their romantic viability. It really just saves you the trouble of creeping on them online when you get home. Creeper.

Rad's dating forecast even called for Augmented Reality (AR) fused with Artificial Intelligence (AI).  He says inside of 5 years you might be able to just ask Siri who's single, attracted to you and nearby. Or in his words "Hey Siri, what's happening tonight?" By then she'll know you mean "find me a date". In today's world she's not much help. But dating app logarithms have been pairing us up for long-term love, and short-term sex, for years. So it's not that far a leap. There is no longer online dating, only dating. The qualifier is unnecessary. Technology is largely how we find "love". Advancements in AI and AR could have us doubling down on tech matchmaking and weave that search into the day-to-day.

So far the only AR app to really hit a homerun with users is PokémonGo. So imagine blending that with a real-time, immediate proximity dating app like happn, which lets you "find people you've crossed paths with". Or creep in real life. Rad says, "You can imagine how, with augmented reality, that experience could happen in the room, in real time. The impact is profound as these devices get closer to your senses, to your eyes, to your experiences."

Indeed, the future of dating could turn everything into an interactive love game. Apps are already predicated on gamification (swipe left, swipe right). Winning in the future would mean matching with your own special Pocket Monster. Interpret that as you see fit, but there is a Black Mirror episode in here somewhere.

A Danish filmmaker has already offered up a dramatization, err, comedytization of what a real-life Tinder experience might yield for humanity. It lands somewhere on the funny/scary scale. It's hilarifying.

And it's a bit harsh. You may welcome the chance to match up with that cutie at the coffee shop, but remember the lusty lurkers will be sizing you up in real life too. Who wants to get romantically scrutinized while they're coming back from a particularly sloppy hot-yoga class, or nursing a cold, or still drooling from a dental procedure. There's an art to a good dating profile after all. Unsurprisingly, technological consent will have a lot to do with whether or not people will offer themselves up publicly on the daily. Personal privacy is still pretty trendy.

My forecast? As the real world becomes a landscape for love seekers, daily grooming rituals may see a spike. So might just staying in.

Marc Beaulieu is a writer, producer and host of the live Q&A show guyQ LIVE @AskMen