5G will mark the new era of augmented reality
With the advent of 5G, all connections are expected to be highly enhanced.
This change in the technological paradigm will positively affect multiple technology industries. One of the sectors in which the changes may be most important is augmented reality (AR). Augmented reality is already part of our daily lives. Although its most popular application is for generating photo filters (who hasn’t taken a selfie with the Snapchat filter that turns us into babies?), augmented reality is already used in multiple sectors and industries. For this reason, augmented reality companies expect that, with the arrival of 5G, the possibilities for development will grow exponentially. AR tools can be very demanding on our devices. Taking the example of Snapchat’s recent filters, the device must first recognize our face. Then, generate the mask and know how to superimpose it on our face. Finally, detect the movements so that our new adorable baby face follows our facial movements. Although it is a simple tool and many of today’s devices can support these new photo filters, it is not trivial that these have not appeared until 2019, and from the hand of Snapchat, one of the most important companies in the sector. If it has taken so long to create a photo filter that makes us look like babies, we can get an idea of what it takes to create efficient AR tools for industries such as aeronautics or engineering.
How does augmented reality benefit from 5G?
The truth is that the current 4G network limits the possibilities of augmented reality. When augmented reality agencies try to create tools, they are almost forced to work in offline environments, which load processes internally. However, 5G networks will probably be the solution to all these problems. This technology will enable mobile devices to improve connectivity and reduce latency dramatically. According to ABI Research, 5G will provide “10 times better throughput, 10 times lower latency and 100 times greater traffic capacity than 4G networks.” Therefore, for ABI Research “5G will become a necessary condition for new applications in virtual and augmented reality”. This incredible improvement in connectivity will allow devices to access AR resources through the internet and not from their internal memory. It will therefore make devices smaller, cheaper and offer higher performance.
The future of augmented reality, brighter than ever.
The 5G network is expected to open up a whole range of possibilities for augmented reality. In recent years, the big flagships of the technology sector have increasingly invested in augmented reality. Now that 5G is entering the scene, it is very likely that we will soon start to see more and more ambitious projects. For example, Apple has been boosting the development of augmented reality in its products for months. ARKit, its tool for augmented reality agencies, was a great success. In fact, Apple CEO Tim Cook himself declared that “augmented reality is the future of the iPhone. I think someday we’ll wonder how we ever lived without it. The iPhone is the best phone to enjoy augmented reality. And the number of AR experiences will grow exponentially.” For its part, Google has always been committed to augmented reality. In the past, it has already launched a Google Maps API to help augmented reality companies in the development of video games. Moreover, let’s not forget that Google tried to enter the AR sector with Google Glasses. In fact, who knows if 5G could give the final push to the project to finally prosper? Facebook has also been making moves that point in the direction of augmented reality. It recently created a team of hundreds of workers dedicated to augmented reality development. In addition, there are rumors pointing to a possible attempt by Mark Zuckerberg’s giant to bring its own augmented reality glasses to market. Although none of these rumors have been confirmed, it is still significant that three of the leading technology companies of the moment are supposedly preparing major projects in augmented reality. And given the new possibilities opened up by the arrival of 5G, it would not be surprising if some of these rumors become reality in the coming months.
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