The 5G Disruption: It’s Time To Engage Your Audiences Through Immersive Video Experience

‘A picture is worth a thousand words.’ We have all heard or read this statement, and it brilliantly sums up the power of visualisation in storytelling, communication, and engaging the audience. The journey of businesses focusing on visually engaging the audience started from hand-painted signage, text and imagery at facades of business locations, and has now entered its most exciting, experiential and impactful stage. Streaming or broadcasting of visual content is undergoing a major transformation of user experience with the activation of 5G networks across countries.

Video has been the most impactful and effective channel for the entertainment industry for quite some time now, but in the wake of the pandemic, it has become a critical component for healthcare, education, public services, sports, gaming, marketing and urban management, etc. However, audience attention spans are becoming continuously shorter, despite rising demand for real-time, seamless, and uninterrupted flow of video content.

This challenge of captivating the audience right at the outset, necessitates integration of technologies and video elements such as AR/VR and 3D visuals to create an immersive experience. While these tools are already being used by some brands, integration of the same with live-streams and broadcasts didn’t achieve desired success in the past due to poor data speeds. This alone makes a compelling case for broadcasters, entertainment companies, event management companies, healthcare and education services providers as well as other entities dealing in video, switching to 5G.

5G is capable of enhancing data transfer speeds by up to 100X making it possible to seamlessly connect billions of devices, and deliver uninterrupted, real-time, and immersive video viewing experiences. The emergence of products such as LED/LCD walls, wireless conferencing, and virtual reality projectors etc., has already enabled the framework for AR/VR-driven immersive viewing experience.

In India, 5G will accelerate the adoption of advanced technologies and equipment facilitating the growth of healthcare, education, logistics, agriculture and entertainment. Content and event marketing will reach an altogether new level of engagement with VR and AR displays and streaming services. Estimates peg the 5G-driven digital market to be worth around $1.3 trillion by 2026. Enterprises will find it much easier to deploy technologies such as AI, ML, big data analytics, cloud computing, IoT and video sharing which require massive data volumes to be transferred in real time.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways in which 5G integration with existing display and streaming solutions will transform various sectors.

Marketing and public awareness – Holographic and AR displays can now deliver a personalised and immersive experience. AR billboards that literally make onlookers feel that things and creatures in the videos are jumping out of the display screens and engaging with them directly, have become a reality. With 5G, it will be possible for marketers to run such displays at thousands of locations using a single broadcasting source.

Event Management – Imagine attending a concert of your beloved singer even when you are at home and the concert venue is kilometers away. Through AR/VR streaming, it is not going to be a fictitious scenario anymore. Similarly, conferences, sporting events, business seminars, product launches, family celebrations or even political rallies would be experienced by audience in a near life-like manner irrespective of their physical location.

Entertainment and gaming – The combination of 5G network, and the advanced display solutions, would allow your audiences to not just watch a movie or play a game but literally experience it. Metaverse growth is going to be incredible in the years ahead, and the evolution of haptic technologies would eventually create experiences that have so far remained in the realm of imagination.

Healthcare – Medical live-streaming of complex procedures or real-time remote monitoring of patients would achieve great consistency and quality with 5G networks. Service providers can undertake live training sessions and the medical students would be able to get hands-on understanding of various surgeries and transplants through AR/VR streaming.

Education – Students will be able to real-time experience geography lessons, undertake virtual tours of historical places, events, jungles or watch science lessons come to life through AR/VR streaming, creating visuals that would last longer than even memorizing a thousand-word lesson.

What does the future hold?
Real-time rendered (RTR) content (live visuals) will witness tremendous growth alongside the continuing popularity of video content and hardware as well as applications that support high-res/3D/AR/VR visualisations. Video gamers will have a much superior experience of competing in the virtual world, and social, political and entertainment personalities will be able to engage with their audience online in a real-time and interactive manner. All this will enable entertainment companies, game developers, and software companies to further create high-quality cloud-based software, and resources for monetisation. Content creator economy will witness significant boost as new formats of premium video content with data-heavy audio and multi-dimensional camera setup will be seamlessly transmitted through 5G.

The global 5G B2B market is currently growing at a CAGR of 34 per cent and will be worth USD 16.8 billion by 2028. The picture is very clear -- it’s time for 5G for every business.

                                                                      AuthorRajiv Bhalla, Managing Director India & Vice President - Large Video Wall Experience (APAC), Barco