Sports broadcasts, video games or even the news: the elimination of physical barriers enabled by technologies such as 5G is going to have a huge impact on the entertainment industry.
Let’s look at some concrete examples of this to get a specific idea of what we are talking about in a world where data traffic is multiplying and, in addition, we want to have more and more connected devices.
Immersive experiences in sports thanks to 5G
Football, basketball or even cycling are some of the 5G use cases in which this technology demonstrates its potential in the world of sports.
Football
Telefónica and Atlético de Madrid developed at the end of the 2022/2023 season a pioneering pilot experience in soccer in which an immersive experience could be enjoyed thanks to 5G and virtual reality.
A group of fans watched two matches at the Cívitas Metropolitano (specifically against Osasuna and Real Sociedad) from different perspectives thanks to 360º cameras installed in one of the goals, the dressing room tunnel, the control room or one of the stands.
To the 5G and its capabilities (such as low latency or higher speed) that allow transmission to VR glasses must be added the importance of fiber optics to send video streams to the server as well as the computation and combination of video streams in the cloud.
Basketball
Already in the ACB Copa del Rey in Málaga in 2020 and thanks to 5G and virtual reality glasses, the public located in the vicinity of the José María Martín Carpena pavilion could follow the match between FB Barcelona and Valencia Basket as if they were on the court.
Similar to the case we have seen previously, with 360 cameras installed (one over the basket, another in the referees’ area and another under the basket to cover more angles) and the bandwidth and high-speed data transmission capacity provided by 5G, fans enjoyed an immersive experience as if they were watching the clash on the court.
Cycling
As part of the 2018 edition of the Vuelta Ciclista a España, and in the lead-up to a stage start in Talavera de la Reina, former cyclist Pedro Delgado demonstrated in a practical way what low latency is and why it is so relevant.
Wearing virtual reality goggles that prevented him from seeing directly, Delgado rode a circuit thanks to the images that the camera in his helmet sent to edge computing and that were sent back to these VR goggles.
Precisely thanks to the low latency, the winner of a Tour and two Vueltas was able to overcome the obstacles and complete the entire circuit as if he were seeing directly.
Gaming and video games: faster thanks to 5G
The virtual disappearance of latency brought about by 5G technology will also have a huge impact on the gaming and video game industry.
Other advantages of this technology that we have already mentioned above, such as higher network speed and better bandwidth (greater data volume and network capacity) will make network connectivity in games more uniform, improving performance and the gaming experience.
All these advances will also help to popularize virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) games, bringing immersive experiences that are increasingly difficult to differentiate from physical reality.
5G news broadcasts
But it is not only the world of entertainment that can benefit from the advance of this technology. The news field will also benefit from the advantages of 5G broadcasts by allowing coverage of events without the need to move mobile units.
It also facilitates the immediacy of coverage in the event of sudden news, as only the TV camera connected by 5G to the place of coverage is needed so that the director, remotely, can access the signal in real time.
Thus, live media broadcasts thanks to 5G will be more efficient and flexible, in addition to lower costs and less complexity of the infrastructure associated with these information connections.
Conclusion
Broadcasts of different kinds of entertainment events, as well as some live TV broadcasts or video games will benefit from 5G technology both from a logistical perspective in the broadcast itself and from the point of view of the user experience.
