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We’re pleased to announce the full set of 6G demonstrations that will be taking place in Bristol for the Connected Futures Festival:
1. Luma
Luma is not your average robot snail. She is soft and supple — and nine metres long. And, when hooked up to a wireless network, she takes on a life of her own.
Participants can take the reins, and encourage Luma to shift and move by manipulating a small-scale model. But keep an eye on the latency scale, indicating a slowed or interrupted connection between the model and the full-size Luma — or this giant snail might not respond in the way that you’d hoped…
The 6G connection
6G speeds won’t be measured in milliseconds. They’ll be measured in microseconds. That’s 1,000 times faster — or, to use the telecoms terminology: it offers 1/1000th of the latency of millisecond throughput.
With Luma, we’re able to demonstrate the impact of latency on real-world movements — and hopefully show what a difference faster speeds and lower latency can make. The consequences of shorter latency might not be so great when applied to the movement of a 9-metre, biomechanical, inflatable snail. But when network connections are being used to move heavy machinery in industrial settings, for example, any delay in response can be both costly and perilous.
2. Cybernetic tortoises
Behind these slow-moving, cybernetic Testudinidae is superfast connectivity — and some big questions. Don a headset and immerse yourself in the thought process of an artificially intelligent being. See how AI forms thoughts and makes decisions, how it senses and responds, in its tortoise form, to our world.
Revisiting the work of Bristol-based cybernetician William Grey Walter — creator of his own biologically inspired robo-tortoises — this exhibit opens up new perspectives on AI. Walter created his tortoises to help him understand how the brain functions. Now, decades later, and with the help of powerful new technologies including Neural Radiance Fields and the latest powerful iteration of the Unreal Engine, those same principles are being put towards understanding how an AI ‘brain’ functions.
The 6G connection
The cybernetic tortoises represent the symbiotic relationship between AI and 6G — two crucial technologies for the future of communication and, well, pretty much everything else too.
High-speed, low-latency 6G networks will be vital to the function of future AI applications. AI’s capability for real-time data analysis and fast, complex decision making will be complemented by the high speeds, low latency and consistent coverage of 6G. And as future 6G networks grow more complex, AI will be an essential tool in managing them more efficiently and effectively.
3. The JOINERmobile
If you’re wondering how all this stuff actually works then step inside the JOINERmobile.
This terminal-in-a-van is a mobile node in the JOINER national experimentation platform, which is enabling cutting-edg e researchers across the UK to collaborate and advance research and development into 6G. The JOINER platform is also what’s powering the Connected Futures Festival — giant snails, holograms, roaming robo-tortoises and all.
The van is packed with connectivity kit, including a mobile satellite link with Starlink roaming, 5G Open RAN access, and Wi-Fi 7. This heady mix of connective tech is what JOINER is all about.
The 6G connection
JOINER is where the UK’s first 6G tests are taking place. So it’s possibly better to ask what doesn’t this have to do with 6G? JOINER, for all intents and purposes, is 6G.
6G promises to be immersive, interactive, intelligent — and ubiquitous. In technical terms, it’s hoped that 6G will enable what’s known as convergence to create a ‘network of networks’. This will involve drawing together a range of different technologies associated with connectivity — including satellite, Wi-Fi, cellular and more — to provide consistent coverage everywhere, in all corners of the globe.
One of the biggest challenges associated with achieving this is managing and controlling the interaction of these different technologies. To do this, the JOINERmobile is equipped with the mATRIC: an intelligent control device that allows for multiple access technologies to be managed in real time across the network. This device has been developed by the REASON project — which you can see more of throughout the 6G Festival.
4. Enter the metaverse
Step into the future with Vincent Baidoo, as the Bristol-based creative technologist leads a holographic presentation within the metaverse.
No headsets needed: Vincent utilises a 32-inch Looking Glass display to render immersive 3D environments and avatars in real-time — and offer a glimpse of the near future, today. What will you discover?
The 6G connection
While most people think of the metaverse, for now, as a place to hang out in virtual worlds, the technology has even more potential in enterprise and industrial settings. The ability to create ‘digital twins’ and blend digital and physical realities will change the way that factories, logistics centres, maintenance teams and more will operate.
But without the increased capacity and decreased latency that 6G will offer, there’s a risk that these more immersive experiences will be held back by issues like lagging and motion sickness that people using VR and AR can currently experience.
5. Holographic humans
Ever wondered what life as a hologram might be like? Well, wonder no more.
Using a wireless, volumetric video capture system, enabled by a six-camera set up, visitors will be able to transpose themselves into a Looking Glass viewer — existing, for a moment, in the digital realm. Then, thanks to a little bit of 6G magic, holographic humans generated at a second location (at the University of Cambridge) step into the frame too, interacting together, right before your eyes.
Now consider how this technology might be used to solve real-world problems. Engineers on different continents can tackle design challenges together in real-time, technicians can direct repairs on factory machinery across multiple locations without needing to travel to each site, surgeons can collaborate on complex operations.
The 6G connection
Visually exciting demonstrations like this one can help to spark ideas about how new technology can be put to work. Truly immersive environments like those on show at the Connected Futures Festival require ultra-high bandwidth capacity, and extremely low latency — which is one of the key promises of 6G connectivity.
Users’ actions in the real world need to be reflected in their virtual environment as smoothly and naturally as possible, and with minimal delay (or “motion to photon latency”, as it’s known in the world of telecoms). As well as providing the speeds required to support immersive experiences, telecoms networks need to meet a target of less than 20ms latency to avoid users experiencing motion sickness. 6G could well provide the answer to those challenges, and here, the JOINER platform aims to demonstrate just that.
6. Inside the arena
Peer inside a miniature version of the MK Dons stadium in Milton Keynes — now with added connectivity, thanks to Project ARANA. A private, high-speed network is ushering the home of the Dons into a bold new future, where the action happens both on the pitch and off it.
Consistent, speedy connections provided by a flexible private network are future-proofing the stadium. The ARANA platform sets the stadium up to offer more future services that rely on connectivity, be that at concession stands, pitchside, or on the concourse. Perhaps the only thing it can’t guarantee is a win for the home team every week.
The 6G connection
More than just a model, the Project ARANA demo shows how private, high-speed networks can be used to deliver elevated experiences for fans. On top of providing consistent mobile connectivity for attendees, higher speeds and lower latency open up the opportunity to enhance involvement in the game being played with multi-angle video streaming and on-field/off-field interactivity. Such experiences have started to be developed using 5G – with 6G and its promise of even greater capabilities, the potential for immersive experiences is even greater.
Sports stadiums are typically multi-use venues, hosting competitive fixtures, live concerts, conferences, hospitality, training sessions and more on any given week. They need flexible, scalable networks that can adapt to these dynamic demands.
7. Step inside the Reality Emulator
We The Curious is home to the UK’s only 3D Planetarium, and now to the Reality Emulator created by the Bristol Digital Futures Institute too.
The Reality Emulator is an immersive cave: a 360-degree LED screen, through which eight people can step into a visualisation of a giant digital model. This could be something as grand as a city, big as a factory, complex as an engine, or miniscule as a molecule. It could be a telecommunication network, or a health system.
Visitors at the Connected Future Festival can enter the Reality Emulator to explore a functioning factory floor, manipulating their environment, and making adjustments in real time via a ‘digital twin’ of the factory.
The 6G connection
Digital twins already exist — and are used to test out new, potentially costly ideas before implementing them in real life. But with 6G, these models will take on a whole new scale, immersion, and functionality.
Crucial to the operation of factories of the future will be Massive Machine-Type Communications (or mMTC), which is enabled by 6G and can support a far higher number of connected sensors and devices across a given area. More sensors means a more accurate digital twin — and the increased bandwidth and lower latency of 6G also means that digital twins can be used for faster and more precise activities. Changes in the digital realm can then be instantly actioned in the physical realm, seamlessly blending real and digital life. Speed and precision in an industrial setting can make all the difference, not just for productivity but safety too.
Complex communications like these will depend on a ‘network of networks’, in which connectivity can be seamlessly shared and passed between multiple different access technologies: from 5G to WiFi, wired to wireless, satellite to 6G.