3D At The Speed Of 5G

By Carli Johnston

Optus is highlighting the work of women working on the cutting edge of 5G Technology. Carli Johnston, CXO & Co-Founder of Virtual Method writes about how 5G will transform the 3D technology space.

They say that the revolution will not be televised, it will be 3D, spatially anchored and streamed through 5G from the Cloud. Well, ‘they’ don’t say that - but I do, because I believe we are on the cusp of some really world-changing leaps in technology, right now.  

In the mobile Augmented & Virtual Reality industries, a lot of limitations to-date quite often have to do with the computer on our devices (our phones or untethered headsets). These devices have small and powerful computers, however they quite literally can’t handle the dreams and creativity of a new generation of spatial thinkers that wish to build huge, beautiful, immersive virtual worlds for us to explore and enjoy.

A single frame in any Avengers movie can take hours to render on powerful desktop computers, in order to produce a movie-quality image. If we want the same high-quality experiences to occur in mobile AR/VR, we can’t rely on the power or storage capacity of our phones and untethered headsets.

Enter: 5G.

When our devices are able to harness the power of huge super-computers in data centres, with Cloud services to do the grunt work, streaming 3D renders and spatial data into our experiences, only then we will see a huge increase in the content available for us to enjoy. Perhaps also then, the promise of the “Oasis’ in Spielberg’s movie, ‘Ready Player One’, will be properly realised.

With 5G enabling us in Virtual Reality, we will be able to interact with Augmented reality in new and exciting ways through 5G powered edge computing. We will be able to see 3D simulations of our world at photo-real quality, with astonishing sensory presence, and perhaps some of us just won’t want to leave.

In Augmented Reality, we may toggle on/off all the layers of the ‘Multiverse’. We will have contextual information available to us at the time of need. Information such as IIoT (Industrial Internet of things), infrastructure, spatial data, social layers, branded content, retail layers, will be instantaneously available and  be able to contribute to this digital, real-world fingerprint of humanity. We will be able to mediate public + private places, create our own sanctuaries, and share this easily with others, or not.

In all honesty, this is a big vision, and one that is certainly multi-faceted, largely enabled by the massive amount of data that will need to be exchanged from edge-device-to-cloud-and-back. It’s a vision that empowers us to make more sense of the real world, adding content and purpose to the layers of data in the real world that we otherwise just can’t see.

No matter the form factor, the children of today will experience incredible virtual content, and marvel at how their ‘oldies’ used a ‘Mouse’ to drive our intentions on a flat display screen.

Thanks to 5G being rolled out Australia-wide, we can begin to properly build-out this ‘Multiverse’, in the hopes the children of today will never have to convert their 3D imaginations into 2D form factors available to us today - and I for one can’t wait to see the worlds they create.

About Carli Johnston and Virtual Method

Carli has been working in the AR + VR industry for over 2.5 years, coming from a successful career as a Designer, Brand + Culture Strategist, working with celebrities and household brand-names . She specialises in translating the advanced (and sometimes confusing) technologies of AR + VR, and inter-spatial storytelling, into clear consumer activators. She is also the Co-Founder of Australia’s only Women in AR/VR group.

Virtual Method  brings a broad and strategic approach to advanced technologies, seeking-out and deeply-aligning with the world’s best SAAS & Hardware, giving customers the opportunity to build rock solid business cases and achieve and fast and impressive ROI.  

Optus 5G rolling out in selected areas. Not available in NT or TAS. Check if 5G is available in your area here .