What 5G technology means for families of the near future

Want to know what the fast 5G future means for your family? We look at the ways some things will change for the better. 

You hear it everywhere: 5G is the next greatest technological breakthrough. With its higher bandwidth, reduced latency and promise of self-driving cars and smart cities – but what does it all mean for the typical family? With 5G just around the corner, here are a few things we can expect to see in our homes of the near future.  

Smarter smart homes
Our homes are smart – but they can be smarter. With 5G, smart devices like virtual assistants, smart locks and coffee machines won’t just be individual novelty tools only used to show off in front of family and friends. Your smart devices will become interconnected, communicating with the internet and each other to predict, anticipate and create a system to suit your family’s needs and individual routines. Imagine waking up to the smell of toast and coffee as your kitchen syncs with the alarm on your phone to time it perfectly as you wake up.

As you step into the bathroom, the tiles are heated just right to keep your feet toasty having just checked the temperature and determined it to be a cold morning. The water is also refreshingly hot the moment you turn it on as it’s set to start heating the moment it detects your weight missing from your smart bed. Outside, there’s fresh milk waiting at your doorstep, ordered online by your smart fridge the night before when it detected you were running low. 

Driving in driverless cars

With faster speeds, reduced latency and the ability to allow even more devices to be connected at the same time, automated driverless cars won’t just be a nifty feature only seen in expensive luxury cars but the new norm in our daily lives.

Your car will be able to communicate with other cars on the road, with traffic lights and with the internet in real time, meaning it can be programmed to sense and react to other vehicles in a matter of milliseconds – faster than any human reaction time. This means safer drives, smarter navigation and more time for you and your family during commutes to catch up on the latest TV shows, play games or just have a quick snooze.

It also means that in the near future, you won’t have to search for parking and park your own car. Your car will be able to drop you off where you want it, park and charge itself in the nearest available parking spot and then come pick you up when you’re ready with a quick message from your phone. 

Real virtual spaces

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) also benefit immensely from the low latency and higher bandwidth 5G offers.

Being able to communicate and interact within a virtual space in real-time means that you won’t have to physically be in a specific location to be able to participate in its events and activities. Soon, 360-degree virtual seats to concerts or your favourite sporting events will allow your family to experience the blood-pumping excitement of being at a live event from the cosy comfort of your home. You’ll be able to finish a conference meeting at 5 and immediately switch on and join a virtual cooking lesson starting at the same time.

Online shopping will also be vastly improved with the ability to virtually browse real life shopping districts across the world, making it a lot easier to compare item sizes and colours without the hassle of having to lug your shopping home when you can just have it all shipped to your door.

Wireless health care and remote surgeries

While telemedicine and remote consultations are already a thing, lag is noticeable and can make online check-ups a pain. 5G technology effectively removes this lag time with its low latency, making it possible to get smooth real-time video consultations as well as giving your doctor a view of your blood pressure, weight, heart rate and other health readings when paired with wearable or implanted medical devices that communicate directly with their system. Soon, the days of being in a room full of sick people just to get a check-up will be a thing of the past.

This technology is especially useful for elderly patients who aren’t able to have 24-7 care, where smart health monitoring devices can detect early warning signs and notify the patient to book in a quick check up with their health care professional.Beyond that, testing has already begun for the use of haptic feedback gloves and VR headsets for remote surgeries meaning surgeons around the world will be able to provide their skills to those in need across the globe without the need to travel, saving time, money and potentially many lives.

When will all this happen?

It already is. A lot of 5G powered smart devices are already out there waiting for their potential to be fully realised once 5G rolls out across the world. In the meantime, check if your address has 5G coverage and begin exploring the innovations of the future, today.