5G subscribers’ count reaches 9 million in China! North America is also close behind on the scale. South Korea, the United Kingdom, Germany, the USA and China are the top countries with 5G deployment, getting government support and trying to be ahead in the race.
What is so special about 5G that makes all those tech-leading countries so interested in it, you might ask?
Well to put it in simple words: 5G will change the way we live. Innumerable technologies will benefit from the wide-scale development of the 5G network. Augmented reality and virtual reality especially are set to be transformed by the introduction of 5G. In fact, it’s rather difficult to imagine a modern industry that won’t be positively affected by the 5th generation’s arrival.
This new generation of mobile networks promises much faster data upload and download speeds and more stable connections. Thus, it will not only be able to tackle one of the most important issues that virtual and augmented reality are facing, but some are even saying that the future of immersive technologies is reliant on 5G. Why? Again, simple: VR and AR both require a cheaper, more substantial network with lower latency and more consistency to continue rising!
Immersive technologies are one of the most important uses cases that have been identified for 5G.
ABI Research recently published a white paper – Augmented and Virtual Reality: the First Wave of 5G Killer Apps – which highlights expectations for AR and VR in the wake of 5G’s rollout.
We summarize some of the benefits promised by 5G:
Low Latency
5G has lower latency levels and is expected to simplify and smoothen processes ensuring a better user experience. According to research by ABI, the introduction of 5G speeds will decrease latency by 10X as well as provide 100X better network efficiency and traffic capacity than 4G. With 3G and 4G the wait time was cut into minutes, 5G will make it come down to seconds! The impact on the user experience will also be huge because, with 5G VR, you can create virtual training environments and other things that require instant response to user actions. Therefore, if you are already enjoying VR, you can expect your experience to become even more immersive and overall pleasant.
Better Connectivity
VR/AR technologies are becoming slowly but surely more and more mainstream. A lot of businesses are taking the virtual reality road, whether it is in the training area or VR collaboration. So it goes without saying that you can expect to start seeing them everywhere, not just in your home, pretty much like what happened with mobile phones. You will be able to take them wherever you go with your mobile device: your car, favorite restaurant, wherever you want. However, this requires a high level of connectivity that only 5G networks can provide. The current networks in use still cannot unlock everything that mobile devices have to offer. 5G, on the other hand, will provide one million connections per square kilometer, which should open the door for countless 5G wireless and VR experiences. Having a VR conference on the go will be as common as having a phone call or a skype conference.
The Cloud
This is one of the most powerful add-ons that 5G brings to the table, if not the most powerful. It’s no secret that nowadays one of the most challenging aspects of using VR is the need to provide a suitable PC that usually tends to cost a lot. The experience is also limited to that specific area where the PC is located. BUT that is about to change with 5G. The arrival of 5G will push the storage, power consumption, and processing power away from the PC and into the cloud. This means VR users will only require a headset, which in turn opens VR up to be consumed any time, anywhere. Huawei Wireless X Labs released a white paper that predicts that by 2025, the market volume of cloud VR/AR will be US$292 billion. The same report suggested that “new dawn of VR-driven experiences will emerge as early as 2025.” The next generation of immersive experiences will add new sensations – users will feel vibrations of a car race or the breeze on a tropical island. 4D experiences will become the norm.
Out with the old, In with the new!
The waves of change are almost here; the age of 5G will resolve some of the problems (costs and network speed) along the path of mainstream adoption of immersive technologies. This will allow us to enjoy both AR and VR on a daily basis and help get rid of the idea that immersive technologies only exist in Sci-Fi. Immersive technologies enable companies and people both to work in a smarter and more efficient way. The moment 5G becomes available beyond smartphones, it is expected to see more widescale implementation of VR/AR solutions. A revolution in a lot of areas is about to happen and the upcoming years are going to be very promising!