Imagine a work environment, such as a large office or warehouse, where your workers can go mainly hands-free. That’s the future using 5G connected glass wearables. Whether they be for technicians and engineers, or warehouse workers and other remote employees, they can provide the benefit of fast speeds and low latency for real time, high definition video calls. This also allows developers to add more robust augmented reality features. The up front cost could be quite high for this technology (especially at this stage), but this could save companies thousands of dollars by not having to send someone on site to troubleshoot an issue.
“5G Edge is what really allows us to drive a lot more power and capability to these glasses, because we have orders of magnitude greater processing power up in the cloud,” T.J. Vitolo, who leads the XR (augmented and virtual reality) organization at Verizon, told PYMNTS in a recent interview. “Through 5G, we have extremely low latency which allows for the rapid delivery of assets that allow for a very seamless experience of the glass that’s much more capable of what they can do today as a standalone device.”
Verizon Wireless, who also offers 5G business class Internet options, announced that it will soon offer BlueJeans Meetings preloaded on the Google’s Glass Enterprise Edition 2 glass wearables, which the carrier sells. Users can pair that with a Google Pixel 6 phone for added benefits. The phone will serve as a 5G mobile hotspot, enabling the glass wearables to utilize 5G’s low latency, and users to work hands-free while using high-definition video.
“From a customer perspective, the idea of not having to find some sort of connectivity to those glasses via WiFi, especially when in a remote scenario, is great with Google,” Vitolo said. “It quickly pairs to the phone and goes right to the 5G network.”
The BlueJeans Meetings video conferencing app allows a user to broadcast what they see directly to the viewer. Vitolo said the primary use case for this experience is a remote support scenario. This is exactly what we use it here for at the 5Gstore. It allows us to communicate with technicians and customers alike, making the remote experience more personable.
“Field workers, factory workers, whatever might be the case, that have limited experience in things outside their domain are now able to troubleshoot, diagnose and fix things through remote support — remote support that’s guided by a bit more than audiovisual feedback, but with some additional tools that help for a better collaborative experience versus just a communication experience,” Vitolo said.
BlueJeans Meetings also gives the remote viewer some control using a PC. This includes turning on a flashlight on the glasses as well as using the digital zoom within the camera to zoom in on items in view of the glasses.
“This gives the support assistant in the back office that much more flexibility to help understand the scene or the information that’s being broadcasted by the end client,” Vitolo said.
“With software, hardware and connectivity combined in one product, users of this package available through Verizon won’t have to discover and acquire the components themselves and then try to make them work,” he added.
“Simplicity is the key,” Vitolo said. “We want to take a little bit of insanity out of that equation and really help our customers buy one product and just get the ball rolling.”
Looking ahead, Vitolo said that with the capabilities of 5G, developers could add mixed reality use cases to these devices. For example, with augmented reality, if a technician working on a site needed to unplug one of five wires, the support personnel in the back office could highlight the correct wire, and that highlight would be anchored to the object.
“The idea is that now it feels like someone is pointing over my shoulder, someone is there with me giving me explicit direction,” Vitolo said. “We want to continue to create that bond between the remote worker and the back-office support personnel in order to have the feeling as though you’re there supporting in person — and augmented reality is a big, big part of that.”
For those not quite needing 5G services at this time, check out Verizon’s Business Internet plans offered for LTE. Let the 5Gstore team work together with the Verizon team on getting your business the service it requires. Whether you have one temporary site, a large-scale deployment or just need backup for critical operations, LTE Business Internet offers a fast, fixed wireless internet connection that you can easily self-install at any location where you have LTE coverage. The device is even portable, so you can take it on the go as needed. There’s no annual contract to sign into and you get 24/7 support – what more can you ask for?
To learn more about Verizon Business Internet (VZBI) and how you could qualify for an exclusive 5Gstore promotion with up to $400 in cash rebates, contact us today!