When we talk about an entirely digitally connected society, we start imagining thousands of possibilities that new technologies will provide. Or how we will live in smart cities. But for this vision to become a reality, we need an infrastructure to support it, and that’s where 5G is getting its significance.
What is 5G?
The hyperconnectivity in our immediate and collective future will demand better Internet of Things (IoT) applications. IoT products will serve us in maintaining intelligent cities and processing vast volumes of data in real-time. Accordingly, the evolution of applications and devices and the infrastructures that support them in parallel becomes necessary.
The speed of 4G networks is no longer enough, and that is where 5G becomes such a significant upgrade in the global technological context. 5G technology will transform smart devices into stand-alone automatic digital solutions in a connected society.
It is the ‘Fifth Generation’ of wireless communication technologies and standards, the network that mobile devices will use to connect to the Internet from anywhere in the world. The evolution of 4G will revolutionise communications as we know and take us into new terrain: hyperconnectivity.
For this to work, the millisecond latencies – or the time it takes to transfer a data packet within the network – that 5G allows are critical. 5G is an increasingly accessible reality and, thanks to the minimum latency mentioned above, it will facilitate:
- The first extensive phase of machines interconnected in real-time – from household appliances and gadgets to vehicles and all kinds of sensors not to forget its military applications
- A reduction, for example, in lag and signal drops in streaming or online games
- Lower power consumption and increased battery life, something which is in line with a more sustainable economy
We are talking about any object that can transmit and receive helpful information with the Internet: smart meters, security appliances, sensors in vehicles, and more speedy and enriched microchips. The value of this new paradigm is the emergence of new economic scenarios, business opportunities and business innovations that will drive even the most dormant of public sectors.
What Is Immersive Technology?
Immersion in itself refers to how these technologies immerse us as we experience their applications. They enrich our interactions and make us part of a new experience. The more immersive technology is, the more it envelops you while you use it. Let’s explain it in more detail now.
Immersive Training
Immersive technology is innovating our training concepts, especially in the workplace. For example, ‘Virtual Reality’ or VR helps us consolidate the knowledge of any particular professional training with its participants and remain useful for future activities. With virtual reality, we can practice complicated manoeuvres or don’t need to buy expensive equipment for only one training session.
By using this technology, trained people develop muscle memory on their tasks. This constant activity stimulates both the visual intake and the movement of the body parts, making the training more valuable and helping the staff assimilate it better.
For training, it will help us cope well when similar events occur in real life. Participants of the VR-enabled training will be prepared with situations very close to reality, from handling industrial equipment to safety precautions in work areas.
Immersive Help
Another aspect of immersive technology is that ‘Augmented Reality’ or AR can improve service processes in numerous industry oriented businesses. Equipment maintenance can be covered with AR markers, especially if the equipment is large industrial machinery that regularly processes many tasks. Their downtime can cause visible losses to the company.
AR technology can work with excellent efficiency as they offer us small scannable codes (like QR codes) that augmented reality applications detect and use as a reference to know where to project information. Thus, each team with its marker could mark the checkpoints of their hydraulic machines, their last maintenance date, the tools required for the job, and the list goes on.
How Will 5G Impact The World Of Immersive Tech?
5G is all about managing big data and getting maximum value from it. Immersive technology produces massive amounts of data as its mixes seamlessly transfer to our current socio-economic environment. With higher transfer speeds, people will look at their screens even more.
Today’s consumers are always eager to get their hands on the latest next-gen technologies, and 5G led immersive technology will increase this phenomenon to newer heights. Here are some factors on how 5G affects immersive tech in 2022:
5G Reduces Latency
As consumers, we will soon experience a significantly high 5G speed and incredibly low latency while we use the Internet. Users anticipate that 5G will manage traffic capacity and network efficiency over 4G.
A new and much better speed helps decrease latency and provide a continuous environment. More commercial opportunities come with a better user experience. The result will be globally accessible telemedicine, instant virtual business training environments, and more.
Improve Connectivity
With the arrival of millions of software and mobile applications, intelligent wearable devices are in demand that offer a higher level of utility and tech solutions to their users. 5G connectivity allows the number of connections to increase exponentially.
Our mobile devices need to increase the connection’s reliability to enjoy a perfectly immersive experience to boost AR and VR.
Bandwidth Offering Quality Displays
The more bandwidth, the better the video quality to enjoy is possible. To run any kind of newer technologies like AR and VR, we need a good connection that 4G cannot provide. Lack of connection automatically hampers quality and signals.
Most TV stations are trying to offer higher frequencies to their viewers. Increasing bandwidth must ensure high-level connections, which are unachievable without a 5G network. For higher capacity and better connectivity, you need to adopt first and go for a lower latency for VR and AR technologies.
Increase Capacity
With technological advancement, the user will change their quality of life. Internet connection is required to be much more powerful, and the traffic support system should be able to handle the new speed. 5G provides the solutions to manage traffic in a more meaningful way, which 4G cannot offer.
5G enabled growth is crucial for businesses and individuals to get the most out of VR and AR every day. A network overwhelmed by traffic would generate latency that VR and AR literally cannot cope with higher lags.
Cloud Computing
A contributing factor to a slower than expected uptake of VR in the mainstream is the absence of a proper support network. 5G will soon introduce immersive and cloud-connected services. It will mean higher and more consistent data speeds, lower latency, and lower cost.
How 5G Is Going To Transform Our AR And VR Experience
Based on the benefits of AR and VR technologies, numerous industry leaders and professionals are more inclined towards applying VR & AR tech in their workplace in the time to come.
The transmission of virtual reality content to the automobile industry is evident as we usher in electric vehicles. Autonomous and semi-autonomous cars will soon become the standard mode of transportation in the next decade.
Achieving this will include the additional bandwidth and flexibility that 5G promises to the world. Live streaming through social media using VR to make the video experience more immersive will no longer be science fiction. There is a very high user volume in a confined space that 5G can easily facilitate.
Significant Features Of Augmented And Virtual Reality
The AR tech providing companies offer immense popularity and an immersive and measurable user experience.
Real-Life Experience
Augmented reality also brings real-life experiences that have proven beneficial for most human development sectors like education and professional training. Further, AR’s applications can improve e-commerce, travel, media, and other industries. It provides incredible experiences that gradually grab the customer’s attention and offer a great opportunity with the highest sales course.
Easy Viewing
Android developers are already building the interface to support and exploit 5G, which allows the user to imagine an object with a custom background instantaneously. Augmented reality will enable merchants and customers to communicate with each other instantly.
Image Recognition
Recognising and managing items in 3D image recognition and control is one of the most valuable capabilities of any AR application. Thanks to tracking, a device can enhance vast user spaces within large buildings like shopping malls, stations, airports, etc. Applications that help identify 3D objects more sensibly will become as common as the camera app in our mobile phones.
Geolocation
Geolocation is another critical feature provided by AR technologies. GPS tracking, for example, in AR games like Pokemon Go and in applications designed to overlay information on nearby locations, is not possible without a powerful internet connection like 5G.
Benefits Of Augmented Reality
Here are some significant benefits of Augmented Reality apps for both users and developers.
- It brings a futuristic user experience
- Joins the natural world with the virtual world
- Offers location-based real-time data
- Make the features look more realistic
- Opportunity for developers to retain customers
Metaverse
To explain metaverse in simpler terms, we can say that it is a virtual environment where people interact through physical and virtual reality elements to entertain themselves, study, and even work.
Until now, the most representative examples are in the entertainment industry. Since it is always easier to learn new things by playing, several business meetings, telemedicine, and e-commerce cases exist where telecommunications operators play a fundamental role.
Apart from the social inclusion at a global scale, it is a segment that may open up new opportunities as more deployments of 5G networks become evident. It will undoubtedly find its most significant expression in a decade when the concrete path towards 6G begins eventually.
Introducing the Era of Immersive Tech with 5G
According to Statista.com’s research and findings, Saudi Arabia’s highest 4G internet speed was 28.9 MBPS, and after 5G, it’s now at 414.2 MBPS. The difference is night and day. With the arrival of ease in managing big data more efficiently and usefully, IoT and immersive tech applications can grow faster.
We strongly believe that the living standards in science fiction movies we saw in the past few decades will be practically possible as we move towards intelligent cities. In this sense, the immersive tech will be in high demand as we move towards industrial automation and the consumers look for more value in their spending.
Conclusion
Even though 5G enabling is a bit slow in some countries, it is possible to find qualifications on this path to the virtual world of reality. The emerging concept of Information and Communication Technologies beyond the melancholy of the pandemic is now very much in demand.
Even after managing this pandemic, virtualTraining meetings held worldwide were evidence enough to invest more in this technology.
Telecom companies precisely propose a new era of collaboration based on corporate virtuality. The same concept is already at play in various social media platforms.
That science fiction that made us immerse ourselves for hours in books and movies is becoming more and more accurate today. The difference between that imaginary world and this one is that it will be necessary to build increasingly robust networks if, as anticipated, the next generations will stay longer in them, performing increasingly sophisticated tasks and activities.
The path of 5G seems to be found, little by little, the business cases that justify the enormous investments that these networks will demand. The first glimpses of what 6G will be are already looming on the horizon. And when we least expect it, we will already be using it as practically as we make calls worldwide today, just with an effort of one tap on our mobile screens.
You may be interested in: How VR & AR Will Change Business