Verizon and 3D technology company Unity are partnering on projects aimed at leveraging the carrier’s 5G Ultra Wideband and mobile edge computing (MEC) in combination with Unity’s technology to support 3D applications.
The idea is to enable interactive real time 3D content utilizing Verizon’s millimeter (mmWave) 5G and edge capabilities. The platform enables low latency applications because computing functionality is near where it will be utilized. Expensive hardware will not be necessary, according to a press release.
The companies promise the tie-up will enable new digital experiences ranging from entertainment applications to enterprise toolkits using 5G, mobile edge compute (MEC) and real-time 3D technology.
MEC, 5G and 3D
“Every business is accelerating the shift to digital for their employees, supply chain or end-customer experience,” Verizon Business CEO Tami Erwin said in a press release about the 5G 3D applications. “So whether you’re an enterprise [reimagining] how you do business using predictive real time insights, computer vision, machine learning and artificial intelligence, or a mobile gamer who simply wants to download the hottest new game in seconds and enjoy data intensive, multiplayer games conventionally reserved for consoles, the future is happening right now.”
Verizon is continuing to deploy MEC. Early this month, the carrier said that it 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength is available in Denver and Seattle. The offering had been rolled out in in Boston and the San Francisco Bay area in August and also is available in Atlanta, Dallas, Las Vegas, Miami, New York City and Washington, DC.
It seems clear that the future will lean away from single “killer apps” and more toward creating infrastructure and platforms into which a variety of revenue-generating niche services and applications can fit.
For instance, last August Verizon introduced an application that targets sports and entertainment venues. The application, which relies on 5G Ultra Wideband and MEC, enhances fans’ experience by doing such things as using analytics to estimate wait times at rest rooms, check-in locations and concessions and identifying and managing crowd density.
