5G & Extended Reality, the stakes of remote calculation
Extended Reality
Extended reality include virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality. Although very similar, these are in fact quite different. They are technologies that allow you to simulate virtual environments and/or modify a real environment. They are used in professional activities as well as by the general public for fun.
Virtual Reality allows the user to be totally immersed in a “virtual reality” different from his own. It is essentially realized with the help of computer-generated images diffused through virtual reality headsets or screens. The virtual environment can then be imaginary or real but at a different time or on a different site than the user. Thus the virtual reality makes it possible for example to plunge the individuals as well in a futuristic world as contemporary.
The Augmented Reality consists in superimposing in real time virtual information (in 2D or 3D) on the perception of the real in order to create an “enriched reality”. Smartphones, tablets, glasses allow to live this augmented reality.
Mixed Reality consists in a hybridization between the real and the virtual. It involves the integration in the real world of virtual objects interactive with the user and the real environment.
What about computing in all this?
In 1965, the American engineer Gordon Moore described Moore’s law, according to which the number of transistors in a chip would double each year and its power at the same time. This law is more or less true over time.
Moore’s LawTo simplify, what is shown to the user in a virtual reality headset or an augmented reality application (snapchat) is only a set of points in space linked by segments on which textures are applied.
This requires a calculation, a lot of calculations. The first virtual reality helmets for example were created in the 80s at the University of Utah, but the power of the computing chips of the time and the quality of the screens did not allow it to achieve an “incredible” result.
From the 2000s onwards, with the evolution of the power of computing chips, we saw the emergence of much more efficient materials at acceptable costs: oculus and HTC helmets in particular.
The same goes for augmented reality, which, thanks to our smartphones, has become accessible to the general public.
Why not move computing around?
Nevertheless, despite the evolution of hardware computing power, we are gradually reaching a glass ceiling. Some virtual reality headsets, for example, need a desktop computer powerful enough to run, which is a hindrance to ergonomics and a significant expense.
With the emergence of “cloud computing”, it becomes obvious that extended reality can benefit from it. As a reminder, cloud computing is the access to IT services (servers, storage, networking, software) via the Internet from a provider.
The main services offered in cloud computing are SaaS (Software as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service) and IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) or MBaaS (Mobile Backend as a Service).
With these types of services it is easy to imagine being able to integrate extended reality applications in the cloud.
However, the real problem with moving the calculation is the response time between a request for calculation and the result, because what would be the point of having a response that does not allow the human brain to feel instantaneity?
What 5G can bring ?
The 5G brings interesting innovations, among them the one that interests us the most is the latency (1ms), indeed it allows to overcome the problem previously mentioned with the remote calculation.
Thus we could have VR/AR applications that can be used ergonomically in the cloud. Moreover, with a higher bandwidth, we could very well transfer large volumes of data.
5G architecture model with AR/VR applications In this AR/VR application model, the hardware that displays the content requires a minimum of power, 5G compatibility and an internet connection.
Perspectives
Although 5G greatly enhances the use of those technologies, outside of smartphones equipped with 5G, it is still not widespread. HTC and OCULUS, among others, will have to adapt their hardware platform to 5G and optimize it for display.
It is also possible that players such as google will take the plunge in the future. Indeed, google has already used this process to enter the market of video game consoles with stadia.
Today, extended realities are used by the general public (snapchat facial filter for example) as well as by professionals in fields such as architecture, industry, art, research and defense.
However their cost is quite high outside the smartphone world. Thanks to 5G and remote computing, it is possible to reduce the cost of electronic equipment as well as to increase the quality of the final rendering.
