HOW 5G APPLICATIONS COULD CHANGE THE WORLD

The next generation of mobile technology, 5G, has been hailed as one of the most important developments in human history. For smartphones, 5G’s improved speeds and latency could prove transformative, but its most exciting and outlandish applications lie elsewhere.

DRONE TAXIS

In the future, 5G-enabled smart cities could have the mainframe technology to not just solve gridlocks, traffic jams and accidents on the ground, but also in the air. AT&T and Uber last month confirmed they are teaming up to test 5G to commercialize flying cars.

REMOTE SURGERY

Imagine a doctor in the U.S. performing surgery on someone in India. Thanks to 5G, that prospect is no longer absurd. The Da Vinci robot, made by U.S. firm Intuitive Surgical and used widely in the NHS, allows surgeons to control robotic arms through a console to perform surgery using a minimally invasive approach. With 5G, the console could no longer have to be in the same room where the surgery takes place.

HOLOGRAPHIC

MEETINGS

Last year, Vodafone demonstrated what a 5G holographic call could look like. On stage, the image of England Women’s football captain Steph Houghton was projected from Manchester to Newbury and interacted with an 11-year old fan. Previously, holograms have been pre-recorded, rather than live.

AUGMENTED REALITY

EVERYWHERE

With 5G, everything could become augmented reality — buildings, roads, people’s clothes. Ikea has started allowing people to use their phones to find out how its furniture would fit in their homes. Devices like Google Glass or the Hololens, a mixed reality headset developed by Microsoft, is likely to be the start of a series of generations of augmented reality-inspired technology.

Natasha Bernal The Daily Telegraph