The 5G Future Forum members interact with
holograms rather than avatars, providing more personal
collaborative experience
MONTRÉAL, Sept. 25,
2023 /CNW/ - Bell
Canada, Verizon, Vodafone and Matsuko successfully
conducted the first live transatlantic collaborative meeting
connecting multiple holographic people in Canada, the US and the UK using 5G and
multi-access edge computing (MEC) technology.
Interacting with holograms of humans rather than avatars can
provide a more personal experience for many applications such as
remote healthcare, collaborative working, and education. The call
was enabled by the speed of 5G combined with the quick response
times of MEC, which moves the necessary computing closer to the
edge of the network. This ensures a more reliable and consistent
hologram by removing delays resulting from multiple hops between
different locations and across the internet.
Holograms of employees located in three different countries were
connected from Toronto, Canada,
using Bell's 5G network; New York
in the US using Verizon's 5G network; and from London, UK, using Vodafone's 5G network. They
were created using MATSUKO's real-time software and just a single
camera and were then streamed thanks to spatial computing, an
immersive technology which combines virtual and augmented reality.
MATSUKO's patented technology uses its presence app on a smartphone
coupled with a XR (Extended Reality) headset to stream holograms
instantly, creating the feeling that people are in the same room as
you.
"Through its active participation in the 5GFF, Bell continues to
support the developer community to access 5G MEC technologies and
to ensure their solutions take full advantage of Bell's 5G network
in Canada, and to interoperate
globally," said Bell's Costa Pantazopoulos, VP Product. "This
holographic video meeting demo illustrates how Bell - with partners
Verizon and Vodafone - is making it easier for developers to
leverage 5G capabilities to innovate and achieve their application
goals."
"This demonstration shows how Verizon via the 5GFF continues to
drive Open API industry momentum with real-life use cases while
also accelerating ease of use for developers," said John Nitti, SVP, Strategy, New Business and
Partner Development for Verizon.
Giorgio Migliarina, Vodafone Group Director of Business Products
and Services said: "Multi-party holographic calling can make people
feel more connected and productive, whether collaborating across
classrooms, offices, hospitals or at home. The smooth and natural
movement of these holograms will become more prevalent with the
growing availability of 5G and edge computing technology."
Bell Canada, Verizon and Vodafone
came together under the auspices of industry body, the 5G Future
Forum (5GFF) for this first-of-its-kind demonstration. They are
showing the transatlantic conference meeting and the technology
behind it at the Mobile World Congress exhibition in Las Vegas (Booth #1533, located in GSMAs Open
Gateway Zone).
MATSUKO was able to connect to the fast 5G networks of
Bell Canada, Verizon, and Vodafone
by using 5GFF's Application Programmable Interface (API) – called
5GFF's Edge Discovery API – which allows developers and ISVs like
Matsuko to discover the nearest edge to their end users, so their
applications perform optimally with a consistent service across
mobile networks. Network APIs are a set of interfaces based on
industry-wide open standards that allow developers to plug into and
use the low-latency benefits, speed, and scale of 5G and MEC.
Note to Editors
The 5GFF is inviting independent
software vendors (ISVs) globally, who either currently use 5G MEC
or have it on their development roadmap, to apply to join the
organization's acceleration program and work closely with some of
the world's leading telecommunications companies to shape the API
development process. The program is designed to expand and
interconnect the global MEC ecosystem by partnering and engaging
with developers.
In addition, the 5GFF works closely with GSMA's Open Gateway
initiative, which launched earlier this year and now has over 30
signatories. Open Gateway is a framework of common network APIs
designed to provide universal access to operator networks for
developers and works closely with Linux Foundation's CAMARA which
develops API specifications.
For more information, visit
https://www.5gff.org/5g-mec-acceleration-program/
About the 5GFF
The 5G Future Forum (5GFF) consists of
America Movil, Bell Canada, KT
Corp., Rogers and Telstra, Verizon and Vodafone, taking on the
challenge to develop seamless MEC interoperability across global
telecom networks.
About Bell
Bell is Canada's largest communications company1,
providing advanced broadband wireless, TV, Internet, media and
business communication services throughout the country. Founded in
Montréal in 1880, Bell is wholly owned by BCE Inc. To learn
more, please visit Bell.ca or BCE.ca.
Through Bell for Better, we are investing to create a
better today and a better tomorrow by supporting the social and
economic prosperity of our communities with a commitment to the
highest environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards. This
includes the Bell Let's Talk initiative, which promotes Canadian
mental health with national awareness and anti-stigma campaigns
like Bell Let's Talk Day and significant Bell funding of community
care and access, research and workplace leadership initiatives
throughout the country. To learn more, please
visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.
About Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE,
Nasdaq: VZ) was formed on June 30,
2000 and is one of the world's leading providers of
technology and communications services. Headquartered in
New York City and with a presence
around the world, Verizon generated revenues of $136.8 billion in 2022. The company offers data,
video and voice services and solutions on its award-winning
networks and platforms, delivering on customers' demand for
mobility, reliable network connectivity, security and
control.
About Vodafone
Vodafone is the largest pan-European
and African telecoms company. Our purpose is to connect for a
better future by using technology to improve lives, digitalize
critical sectors and enable inclusive and sustainable digital
societies.
We provide mobile and fixed services to over 300 million
customers in 17 countries, partner with mobile networks in 46 more
and are also a world leader in the Internet of Things (IoT),
connecting over 167 million devices and platforms. With Vodacom
Financial Services and M-Pesa, the largest financial technology
platform in Africa, we serve more
than 71 million people across seven countries.
We are committed to reducing our environmental impact to reach
net zero emissions by 2040, while helping our customers reduce
their own carbon emissions by 350 million tonnes by 2030. We are
driving action to reduce device waste and achieve our target to
reuse, resell or recycle 100% of our network waste by 2025.
For more information, please visit www.vodafone.com, follow
us on Twitter at @VodafoneGroup or connect with us on LinkedIn
at www.linkedin.com/company/vodafone.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Bell
Jessica
Benzinger
jessica.benzinger@bell.ca
Verizon
Katie
Magnotta
katie.magnotta@verizon.com
Vodafone
Media Relations
Vodafone.com/media/contact
GroupMedia@vodafone.com
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1 Based on total revenue and total combined customer
connections
SOURCE Bell Canada