Timescales & Tech Breakdown

5G ultimately holds the key to zero-latency, ‘infinite internet’ (meaning digital worlds will function as seamlessly as our physical interactions with no time lag). From the demise of clunky VR hardware to 5G devices in consumers’ hands, we reveal the different types of 5G applications, as an early roadmap for planning and investment. 

Fashion & Sports Brands Bridge Realities

One of the most transformative short-term consequences of 5G will be its effect on ‘extended-reality’ technologies: AR – virtual overlays onto the real world; VR – fully virtual environments; and MR – where the real and virtual are imperceptibly blended). Users will inhabit the perspectives of sporting heroes or interacting with catwalk stars or spaces, among other things.

Ambient Internet: Transforming the Physical Store

Heralded as the ‘next big thing’ for bricks-and-mortar retail but currently limited to brand behemoths with mega budgets, 5G will make the Internet-of-Things (IoT)-enabled store commonplace. From more sophisticated pop-ups (key post-lockdown, see Post-Covid Pop-Up Perspectives) to checkout-free stores, IoT will enable physical spaces to function as intelligently and interconnectedly as e-commerce.

Remote Service, Upgraded

5G will spark an upgrade of remote customer service and ‘clienteling’ as high-quality video consultations are imbued with much greater fidelity. Coupled with better post-purchase support, online brand/consumer relationships will mirror the ease of the best real-life communications.