Five years ago Vodafone erected a 5G mast at Media City-
5G is now the norm for many and a new project launching at Blue Tower at Media City is set to put the region at the heart of the digital revolution
The Edge Innovation Lab,the first of its kind in the U.K will offer the opportunity for companies, academics, software developers and public sector organisations to see and test the possibilities of the next generation in network technology – Multi-access Edge Compute (MEC).
For those not familiar with MEC,it is a complementary technology to 5G to enable the creation and delivery of near real-time connectivity services. By using both 5G and MEC, low latency applications can be developed to almost remove buffering or lag entirely.
Shown around the Lab,which Vodaphone emphasise is a working environment,and encourage people to test out their ideas and how to launch them acriss a 5G network.
One example on show was an example of mixed reality using a headset or smart glasses presentiing digital information in front of your eyes to enable a person to complete tasks hands free.
In front of us was a mock up of an aircraft landing gear,giving a potential engineer remote guidance instructions in digital format, telling them step by step how to carry out the routine maintenance.
The software also enables you to record what has been done, so whether an experienced engineer knowing what to look at or a complete novice being trained
If you get stuck or need to share information, the software with lots of cameras and high definition video and audio, in theory anyone in the world will be able to see what you see and be able to guide or learn.
Software developers and innovators in the Greater Manchester region will have access to these technologies in the earliest stages of development. This head start will create a global centre of excellence for real-time mobile applications in the region, supporting the growth of digitally led businesses and industries in the area, as well as in the rest of the UK.
Customers who want to try before committing to a full pilot on their site. Our Edge Innovation Program offers customers access to Vodafone’s experts who will work with customers on a trial which will give them access to the lab for a couple of days to trial their applications on the hardware to experiment and innovate, testing the various latency speeds.
This is only the start.In the next demonstration room is software which is exploring how vehicles start communicating with each other and making sure that the decision making,vital in real time on the roads is as close to it as possible.
There are projects that will see robots becoming the first responders to a problem and then bringing the human element to do the more compicated parts, is the bin full, is there a crack in the road.
There is also a project that surrounds energy management, top of many people’s lists at the moment.It monitors the current on an electricity cable, collects data and helping to decide the most efficient way of using energy.in the manufacturing environment, how do I power my machinery, in the office, do we need to leave all the lights on?
The future, it seems is already here in Salford
