TEN YEARS AGO, PEOPLE were not meeting on Tinder. Online dating was more a novelty than a de facto method of finding the potential love of your life. And many shied away from meeting someone in the virtual sphere before seeing them in person.

Fast-forward a decade later and a casual look will reveal people swiping right, sending virtual gifts and e-chatting with that good-looking stranger who just walked past. With new technologies and innovations sprouting up everywhere, what can we look forward to when it comes to the future of dating?

I Want to Hold Your (Virtual) Hand

Virtual reality video games are already being mass-produced. And the dating field is not far behind. In 2015, a man used virtual reality to propose to his fiancée. By 2040, we will be able to smell, taste and touch our dates without ever meeting them in person.

We’ve Got Chemistry

A study in 2014 revealed that people might be more likely to choose partners with similar DNA profiles. With falling genetic sequencing costs, it is likely that we will not just be matched by a set of algorithms in future. The best match might boil down to actual chemistry.

Wear Your Heart On Your Sleeve

Not too sure if your secret crush feels the same way about you? Say goodbye to sleepless nights! In future, wearables might be able to match you with someone based on your behaviour. A digital tattoo that visualises a person’s health and emotions is already in the making. That means technology could soon tell you if someone fancies you as they walk past.

Awkward Silences, Be Gone!

Everyone dreads the stilted first-date conversation. What if we told you that it could soon be a thing of the past? Experts believe that advancements in data processing will lead to real-time artificial intelligence by 2040. This technology aims to analyse large amounts of data and feed us conversation starters and live dating advice on dates.

This article was first published on DUET magazine.