Bell, Verizon, Vodafone, and Matsuko successfully conducted the first live transatlantic meeting featuring multiple holographic participants. The meeting connected employees in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom using 5G and multi-access edge computing (MEC) technology. Demos of this tech is happening at Mobile World Congress exhibition in Las Vegas.
The meeting was unique in that it used holograms instead of avatars, offering a more personalized experience. “Multi-party holographic calling can make people feel more connected and productive, whether collaborating across classrooms, offices, hospitals or at home,” said Giorgio Migliarina, Vodafone Group Director of Business Products and Services.
This technology has applications in various sectors, including remote healthcare, collaborative working, and education. The speed of 5G, combined with the quick response times of MEC, ensured a reliable and consistent holographic experience by minimizing delays.
Holograms of employees located in Toronto were connected via Bell’s 5G network; those in New York used Verizon’s 5G network; and participants in London, U.K., were connected through Vodafone’s 5G network.
The holograms were created using Matsuko’s real-time software and a single camera. “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,” said Costa Pantazopoulos, VP Product at Bell.
Matsuko’s patented technology uses its presence app on a smartphone, coupled with an Extended Reality (XR) headset, to stream holograms instantly. The company was able to connect to the 5G networks of Bell Canada, Verizon, and Vodafone using the 5G Future Forum’s (5GFF) Application Programmable Interface (API).
“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, in a statement on Monday.
The 5GFF’s Edge Discovery API allows developers like Matsuko to discover the nearest edge to their end-users, ensuring optimal application performance across mobile networks. The 5GFF, an industry body, facilitated this first-of-its-kind demonstration, highlighting the growing capabilities and applications of 5G and MEC technologies.
