It may feel like years ago when we first heard about the arrival of 5G. The anticipation has been high after a considerable amount of hype, as the world has been constantly drip-fed information on how fifth generation (5G) wireless networks can dramatically improve technology.
Now, 5G is finally becoming a reality for us. As 5G becomes rumored to affect our lives in a more dramatic manner than any recent technology shift, it’s important to understand how much potential it has.
The question most people are pondering is how exactly is 5G going to change my life?
The answer lies across speed, omnipresence (also known as ubiquity) and greater stimulation and response.
5G networks are said to operate at much higher frequencies yet with shorter ranges than that of 4G. At any one given time, this allows the network to support billions of devices all at once, charging at super-fast speeds of up to 20 times faster than 4G. The 5G antennas have been designed to consume less power, too.
As we become an online-addicted world, obsessed with technology and using it to simplify our life, let’s explore how 5G could impact our lives in five key ways:
1. The Development of Smart Cities
How many of you are incorporating smart technology into your homes? If we had asked this a couple of years ago, many of you would possibly say you had heard of it but wasn’t too sure about it. Fast forward to today, and the installation of smart technology within the home is on the rise.
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Take smart lighting systems, for example. This is the technology that automatically dims the lights when no one is present in any of the rooms, saving homes a fortune on a yearly basis.
We’re now seeing states in America replacing streetlights with LEDs containing sensors, which not only light up when there is action around but monitor the air quality too.
It isn’t just lighting that has become smart. In South Bend, Indiana, sensors have been installed that redirect the water flow when the sewer levels rise too high. In areas of San Francisco, there are now gunshot-detecting microphones placed around the high crime neighborhoods.
5G will be supporting the move to smart cities, allowing areas to handle the increased data from millions of devices. It will help with installing low-power sensors that will perform for years. Moving on from lighting and heating in the homes, smart cities will be able to monitor and manage traffic flow, power use and public safety.
2. Careers and Work
5G is set to increase the world’s confidence with networks and assisting how people feel about moving their work to run off technology more.
Those within commercial and industrial and commercial industries will see smarter systems reacting faster to moving inventory goods, right through to faster and efficient shipping and delivery.
For those within agriculture, 5G will support cameras and sensors which can work across the grounds to identify crop disease, determining the right times to water and feed, along with controlling pesticide usage.
As we all begin to increase our confidence in being connected to an ultra-fast wireless network, it will be easier to take up all our education and learning needs via apps and the internet, too.
It’s predicted that a decline in classroom studying will arise, as the world turns to covering all qualifications and training via the internet. As there becomes a stronger need for those with financial skills and strategy planning, accountants, financial strategists and data analysts will become more in demand. With the rise Masters degrees that are studied completely online, like the accountancy course here https://online.suffolk.edu/programs/ms-accounting, those looking to climb the career ladder can now so easily and around their own schedules.
3. Driverless Car Roads
The National Highway Traffic Administration claims that most car accidents are caused purely by human error. By removing humans from the equation is a step towards saving millions of lives due to road accidents every year.
It’s not a simple process, as driverless cars to need to fully communicate with any car they come into contact with to successfully avoid accidents and cause congestion. Becoming a driverless nation would rely on sensors embedded into everything, from traffic lights to road signs, and not forgetting the pavements!
The whole process needs to be fast and instant, which is where the low-latency of 5G networks come in.
The arrival of driverless cars will result in the roads and streets becoming less crowded with a reduction in air pollution. Ride-sharing should increase, and fewer people will own their own cars.
4. Virtual Medicine
Introducing Telemedicine – a virtual way we could receive medical assistance and the right medication in the future. This approach means that physical visits to the doctors will become less common, thanks to virtual visits via fast wireless networks.
By wearing medical devices (or having them implanted) allows our health to be captured and transmitted to health care professionals. This could assist with detecting early signs of cancer, strokes, heart attacks, and any other life-threatening issues.
With the speed of 5G, this could encourage personalized health scanning to be sent over to doctors and health care specialists at record speed.
This can only become possible with the help of high-speed wireless networks, which 5G is aiming to bring in.
5. Virtual Reality Lives
As 5G has a high-bandwidth and low latency, it is predicted that this will give virtual reality the push it needs to become a practical reality. VR apps will allow companies to let their colleagues across the world work side by side, and shoppers browse shopping centers in New York and pick out goods to be shipped to us. It’s all about being able to virtually visit anywhere in the world, which needs high-speed technology.
As exciting as all the above sound, these updates to our lives won’t happen overnight. 5G is going to be a developing process, opening opportunities and planting ideas which can shape our lives.
We’ve still got a long way to go, as devices capable of accessing 5G networks are only just beginning to launch. This means that ultra-high-speed arrangements are still many years away. After all, 4G took 10 years to dominate the tech world fully, and some say 5G could take even longer.
The important thing worth remembering is that 5G is a massive improvement to that of 4G, paving the way for some fantastic changes to develop.
