Could 5G unlock a world of holographic phone calls?

Roll out of the next generation of mobile connectivity – 5G will start from 2020.

Roll out of the next generation of mobile connectivity – 5G will start from 2020; it will see a revolution in speed, bandwidth and connectivity which will lead to a change in the way we use our mobile phones.

5G’s ability to handle greater amounts of data at much higher speeds could see us benefiting from augmented and virtual reality on the go and could potentially see us enjoying holographic phone calls.

Could the worlds of Star Trek, Star Wars and Red Dwarf be coming to life?  Richard Foggie, KTN’s Digital Economy Knowledge Transfer Manager thinks that with the advent of 5G, this could become fact rather than fiction.  He said: “5G will allow mobile devices to handle big data at high speed.  To view holograms now you need a headset or an enclosed ‘cave’; within five years I think we’ll see AR/VR just sprout out of the phone.  That means you could use your phone for video, gaming and yes, even holographic phone calls.”

But the changes 5G will bring in aren’t limited to the possibilities of holographic phone calls.  Industries as diverse as agriculture, aerospace, health, manufacturing and media will be impacted by 5G technologies.  And it is as likely to bring productivity gains to small companies as well as large ones.

Jon Kingsbury, Head Creative Industries and Digital Economy at KTN explained more: “5G’s improved speeds could lead to better real-time interaction over the web which could allow people to collaborate and work together in a very immersive environment, perhaps even having virtual conferences.”

Both the KTN experts quoted above were recently interviewed by the BBC for their thoughts around UK5G and developments in AR/VR.

You can read the full article here.

To find out more about UK5G, visit the UK5G national innovation network.