By Laura Kobylecky

#SXSW Online 2021 is bringing people together in a socially distant world. For this session, “Can 5G Transform the Live Music Experience?” Cristiano Amon and Steve Aoki have come together to talk about the impact of 5G technology on music. Cristiano Amon is the president of Qualcomm Incorporated and Aoki is a Grammy Nominated DJ, Producer, Music Executive, and Designer.

5G is a popular topic in 2021. It was discussed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this year and remains a point of interest at SXSW this year. Qualcomm’s website explains that 5G is “a new global wireless standard after 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G network.” This wireless network could be a large improvement over the previous networks by delivering “higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra-low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users.”

5G remains a popular topic in 2021 #SXSW
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The virtual session with Amon and Aoki begins on the lighter side with a casual tour through Aoki’s opulent home. Aoki jumps off of a roof into a pool that is 16 feet deep. He shows off a large library room full of books and vinyl. Amon and Aoki discuss their mutual fondness for vinyl. Aoki shares an anecdote about how he acquired some of his vinyl after college when some friends couldn’t move with all their bulky collection. While technology has moved forward and allowed more efficient digital storage of music, Aoki seems to have maintained a deep fondness for this antiquated, tangible, method of music collection.

The home tour moves into Aoki’s home office, also known as “Aoki’s Playhouse.” Aoki’s Playhouse “pays the bills” and is also “where the magic happens,” according to Aoki. This room used to be a racquetball court. It has been remodeled and contains a large green screen, some GoPros, and the other tools that Aoki uses to perform and live stream concerts as a DJ.

Aoki talks about how the progression of technology has changed his experiences as a DJ. Nowadays, “anyone can DJ any song at any given place.” However, earlier in his career, “I used to tow in records. I could only play the 60 records that I brought. So, you go from 60 records 15 years ago, to having unlimited access to the internet.” Nowadays, when Aoki is traveling around the world, he can quickly download new music to an SD card and then insert the SD card into his unit.

@steveaoki talks about how the progression of technology has changed his experience as a DJ #SXSW 2021
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For Aoki, the possibility of 5G streaming would be a game-changer. He says it would give him “access to being able to play so much music to so many people.” One thing that 5G could help with is increasing access to computing power. Amon, of Qualcomm, explains how this would work. With 5G, the internet speed would let you connect to the cloud in real-time. Through that connection, you could get access to more computing power. Even if you were working from a phone, you could potentially access the “processing power of your studio,” from a distance, through the cloud.

@steveaoki believes that technology played a key role in keeping people connected during this time of social distancing and online conferences #SXSW 2021
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Aoki sees the value in that processing power. He explains that input and output speeds are significant to his work. For him, “It’s all about being in the flow, I don’t want to disrupt the flow.” He remembers how he used to spend a great deal of time sitting around and waiting for downloads or waiting for stems to render. He says that the faster workflow, enabled by 5G would help prevent being stuck in the “bottleneck of creativity.”

Even if you were working from a phone, you could potentially access the processing power of your studio, from a distance, through the cloud #SXSW 2021
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5G could also have a big impact on the festival experience. Aoki talks about the difficulties of staying connected with people at festivals. Currently, a person might just turn their phone on “airplane mode,” since they can’t get reception anyway. They could be at Coachella or Electric Daisy Carnival, trying to post but it’s like “a wall has gone over.” For Aoki, being able to share his experiences in real-time is important. 5G connectivity could make that possible soon.

This 5G connectivity could also enable better quality video. Amon explains that with 5G, people might be able to broadcast 4k interactive video in real-time. He also proposes the idea that Augmented Reality glasses could be a tool for sharing those perspectives, where a person could live stream high definition video taken by their glasses and the video would let other people look at the world through their eyes. The glasses could also provide real-time overlays of digital experiences so that a person could interact with the virtual world and the real world simultaneously.

A faster workflow enabled by 5G would help prevent being stuck in a bottleneck of creativity #SXSW 2021
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Aoki is enthusiastic about the ideas presented. He says “I believe not just in the merging of music and technology, but in human and technology.” Although he is an avid tech enthusiastic, Aoki remains practical about the limitations. Not everyone is caught up on the latest tech and Aoki doesn’t want them to get left behind. He explains his methods for deciding which innovations he wants to include in his process:

“When I produce I always listen on every different medium. You have to think just enough ahead but not too far ahead because if you think too far ahead they won’t get it. It goes right over their heads.”

For Aoki, the main priorities are quality content and connection and 5G may help with both of these. His music and live streams could be improved with 5G. The content would be delivered faster and with higher definition. This instant delivery would allow Aoki to take those lifestream experiences and amplify connections as he is able to provide more instant responses.

5G could also have a big impact on the festival experience #SXSW by @TheLauraKoby
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Aoki believes that “technology played a key role in keeping people connected” during this time of social distancing and online conferences. He feels that “at the end of the day I want to be able to connect with as many people as possible…in all the different ways that I can.” 5G may help Aoki fulfill those goals and enable other creators to do the same.

Tech Trends’ Digital Consultancy services offer support for companies looking to enhance brand strategy with immersive technologies such as Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality

Laura Kobylecky is a contributing writer to Tech Trends. She is particularly interested in new and emerging technology and culture. Connect with her on LinkedIn 

The post 5G and the Future of Music appeared first on Tech Trends.

By Sophia Edelblute and Tara Mendenhall.

Today Qualcomm has announced the release of the Snapdragon XR2, which the San Diego-based tech giant claims will fundamentally transform the entire XR user experience. For those unfamiliar with the term, the XR umbrella covers the entire immersive spectrum of Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR).

The Snapdragon XR2 5G chip claims to be “the world’s first 5G-supported extended reality platform,” allowing for processing to take place on an external computing platform in the cloud, rather than on the headset itself, so you could say goodbye to bulky head-gear and constricting cords and hello to lightweight glasses you wouldn’t mind being seen wearing. The connectivity is so efficient, it should reduce lag in the virtual experience, increase bandwidth and allow for near-perfect reactivity. Did we mention the chip also reduces battery drain?

While the introduction of 5G in the XR space is exciting, it’s Qualcomm’s innovative XR2 5G chip that sets it apart from others on the market
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Mobile XR technologies are always driven by constraints on power, thermal and size but also heavy demands on heterogeneous compute, AI, computer vision and now, connectivity
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Tech Trends talked to Hugo Swart, Qualcomm’s VP & GM of XR, about why exactly this is such a game-changer for the industry.

We believe that the combination of XR, AI and 5G will enable the next form of communication and collaboration. Mobile XR technologies are always driven by constraints on power, thermal and size but also heavy demands on heterogenous compute, AI, computer vision and now, connectivity. Qualcomm is extremely proud with the abundant features and leaps in technology that it has to offer on Snapdragon XR2 over its predecessor. We plan to push the boundaries on all areas for this and next generation of SoCs to come.

But what makes 5G so different from its 4G predecessor?

In one word: Speed. The 5th generation wireless technology unlocks possibilities for an immersive reality that is like nothing we’ve ever experienced before. What now is quick will become instant, taking the concept of being “always-on” to the next level and enabling a whole new class of XR experiences that most of us cannot even imagine yet.

The Snapdragon XR2 5G chip allows for processing to take place on an external computing platform in the cloud, rather than on the headset itself
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Qualcomm says their Snapdragon XR2 combines AI capabilities with the connectivity speed of 5G to create the ultimate XR experience for users
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Unlike their previous models, the Snapdragon XR2 is equipped with significant performance improvements to deliver 2x the CPU and GPU performance, 4x more video bandwidth, 6x higher resolution and 11x AI improvement. According to Qualcomm’s press release, “The Snapdragon XR2 Platform is the world’s first XR platform to support seven (7) concurrent cameras and a dedicated computer vision processor. Additionally, this is the first XR platform to enable low latency camera pass-through to unlock true MR, which allow users to see, interact and create a hybrid of the virtual and real-world while wearing a VR device.”

Reducing latency is one of the most crucial components in order to ensure realism and mitigate motion sickness in XR. VR devices and especially AR demand ultra-low latencies that we try to reduce along with low power and high performance. Snapdragon XR2 has specific enhancements through optimizing algorithms and certain enhancements in hardware that reduces latencies for specific AR displays. Additionally, latency reduction is thought through the whole chip including lower latency video decode, lower latency camera to display (critical for True Mixed Reality), lower latency connectivity with 11ay and 5G. When it comes to 5G latency, it will enable Boundless XR over 5G where the processing is split between headset and the edge of the cloud. Continued Swart

The sheer speed of 5th generation of wireless technology unlocks possibilities for an immersive reality like nothing we’ve experienced before
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Another interesting immersive feature of the Snapdragon XR2 platform is the ability to use real-time audio translation and Voice User Interface (VoiceUI). According to Qualcomm, “The platform has a custom-built, always-on, low power Qualcomm Hexagon DSP to support hardware-accelerated features like voice activation and context detection to help keep users’ heads in the digital world while having an ear in the real world.”

On the “XR for Business Podcast,” TechTrends Editor-in-Chief, Alice Bonasio, discussed how her mind was blown while attending a Microsoft demo, when presenter Julie White used real-time audio translation technology, and a hologram of herself, to deliver the second half of her presentation in Japanese. Bonasio says this type of progress in XR makes a lot of sense, “but it is also one of the most difficult ones to get right, because you just need a lot of elements to be at the optimal stage and to come together for the experience to work, and the experience either really works well, or doesn’t.” All of those elements will come to life, and be made possible with the speed of 5G networks and technology features of the Snapdragon XR2.

Expansion into 5G networks will not only improve content for gamers, but can also open XR possibilities to industries such as manufacturing, entertainment, education, travel, retail, and pornography.

The Snapdragon XR2 display panel offers up to 3K by 3K resolution per eye at 90 frames per second (fps) and is the first XR platform to support 8K 360o videos at 60 fps for photorealistic visuals in streaming and local playback. Custom silicon was developed for unique AR displays to help reduce overall system latencies to maintain immersive AR experiences. Qualcomm

Expansion into 5G networks will not only improve content for gamers, but can also open XR possibilities to industries such as manufacturing, entertainment, education, travel, retail, and pornography
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Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon XR2 looks to be the new leader in immersive mobile technology with the incorporation of more cameras on the headset to enable ‘True Mixed Reality’ and off-device processing set to improve the XR experience for consumers. This new technology from one of the worlds leading mobile chip makers will, no doubt, set the cat amongst the pigeons and strongly influence the future of XR and how we interact with the world around us.

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The post Finding XR 5G Spot appeared first on Tech Trends.