5G and edge computing offer a high degree of innovation potential and completely new development opportunities for tech start-ups. We present future-orientated solutions. Part 4 of our practice series.

Train, develop, play: Users can collaborate in virtual worlds and interact with each other across the globe. It’s not just the application possibilities of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) that are developing at a rapid pace, but also the technology. Simulated Reality (SR) allows completely new worlds of experience – thanks to 5G. What is behind it?

5G AS THE KEY TO INNOVATIVE BUSINESS IDEAS

More and more devices and machines are networked with each other: Private individuals watch films and series via smartphone or they control smart devices in their home via app. Companies in the automotive, retail, transport and logistics industries are identifying new areas of application to improve processes and grow their business. For example, the Internet of Things (IoT) makes asset tracking of supply chains or machine-to-machine communication in production facilities possible.

According to a recent study by Juniper Research, more than 50 billion devices will be connected to the IoT by 2022. As more and more IoT applications rely on processing ever-growing volumes of data in real time, a fast, stable, and scalable network is required. The key to this is 5G: with latency times of up to one millisecond and transmission speeds of 10 Mbit/s, the new mobile communications standard creates a correspondingly high level of connectivity. That’s necessary for the trouble-free operation of, for example, immersive applications, i.e. fictitious worlds such as Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality or Simulated Reality.

3D EXPERIENCE WITHOUT EXTERNAL DEVICES

With the fusion of reality and the digital world in AR and VR applications through data glasses or headsets, the Dutch start-up Dimenco is creating a completely new world of experience: via an autostereoscopic display, users intuitively interact in the simulated 3D world. The start-up’s special cameras with lenticular Clear View technology capture the individual movements of the eyes, while sensors measure the hand movements in the air. This allows depth perception and gesture control without wearables; all movement information flows directly into the 3D environment. Thanks to high connectivity, users immerse themselves in a virtual world in which they can, for example, disassemble machine parts into their individual parts during virtual training courses without actually holding them in their hands. Or they can design new products and learn about motion or surface properties before the prototype is even produced.

EDGE COMPUTING ENABLES LOW LATENCY

"On our platform we unite physical and virtual worlds in a completely new way. We bring together numerous sensor-supported eye movements and user hand gestures," says Dimenco CEO Maarten Tobis. "Time is the decisive criterion for integrating the information gained directly into the virtual environment.” For a trouble-free user experience a low latency is indispensable, which is ensured by the start-up through 5G and edge computing (see box).

Over several months, the start-up tested how SR technology behaves in the 5G network in Telekom's hub:raum tech incubator in Berlin. There, as in Bonn, the Bonn-based provider is pushing ahead with the 5G expansion before the official launch in 2020. Together with experts and mentors, the start-up worked in parallel on a cross-sector solution so that numerous users could benefit from the idea of a Simulated Reality platform. At this year's Telekom 5G Ecosystem Summit, visitors were able to try out a gaming prototype developed by the company itself. The start-up and T-Systems Innovation are now working together to derive further solutions specifically for the B2B environment. "We support Dimenco in presenting new ideas and prototypes to our customers and are cooperating closely on discussing the potential for industry-specific applications," says Andreas Droste, Innovation Manager at T-Systems. "Innovation workshops and tech events at the customer's site provide the ideal framework for this, which we create for start-ups at hub:raum.”