How will 5G affect our lives?

5G is slowly rolling out in many countries around the world, with the service available on most major mobile networks in the UK, Europe and the US. Like the 3G and 4G rollouts before it, 5G will be rolled out first in the most densely populated areas, with coverage slowly expanding to most areas of each country.

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5G promises not only faster internet speeds on our mobile devices so we don't have to wait for videos to buffer, it opens up a new world of new technology that requires faster connections.

Here are some of those techniques.

Virtual Reality

5G technology will unlock the true power of virtual reality. A fully immersive VR experience requires full 360-degree HD video to be delivered to each eye. This is much more data than regular HD video, which means more bandwidth is needed. For games and other interactive uses of VR, these video streams must be created on the fly, so low-latency connections are needed to prevent delays. 5G will provide this low latency, making VR a more reliable and practical tool.

While virtual reality will likely benefit greatly from 5G technology, VR services do already exist, such as virtual field trips, new training opportunities for doctors, and even methods of treating patients with certain mental illnesses.

Gaming has become another area where virtual reality has become popular, with companies like Facebook and Sony investing heavily in the technology and releasing their own devices. These games are mainly aimed at hardcore fans rather than casual enthusiasts, as the hardware requirements are high and cost a lot of money.

An example of this is the system requirements for PokerStars VR, which requires at least 8GB of RAM, four USB ports, an NVIDIA GTX 1060 graphics card, and an Intel i5-4590 processor. This is not something that 5G will be able to overcome, so VR will likely remain a technology for hobbyists and commercial use.

Self-driving cars

Some technology companies have been testing self-driving cars for several years, with some regularly driving on the streets of U.S. cities. One of the biggest factors holding back the development of self-driving cars is that they must interact with humans and the cars they control. Humans are unpredictable, so it's hard for onboard computers to determine what they're going to do.

5G technology will facilitate inter-vehicle communication due to its lower latency, so all vehicles on the road can "talk" to each other, telling them what they are doing or about to do, eliminating the need for cars to make predictions.

These vehicles will also communicate with smart sensors built into roads, traffic lights and other parts of infrastructure. This can make travel more efficient and safer.

Healthcare

There are several physical and geographic barriers that prevent people from accessing healthcare. This could be because the patient cannot get treatment where they live, or the treatment is not currently available there. In some cases, patients have no choice but to travel abroad to receive potentially life-saving treatment. Not only is this a costly ordeal, traveling can be a daunting task for people in certain conditions.

5G could solve this problem, allowing doctors to perform surgeries remotely. Not only would this be more cost-effective, it could be a safer alternative to traveling abroad for medical treatment, and could allow doctors to perform multiple surgeries on patients in different countries in a single day. 5G’s low latency properties could allow doctors to control robotic arms with millimeter-level precision, making remote surgery a safer option.

5G has the potential to revolutionize many aspects of our lives, giving us new ways to travel, new ways to be entertained, and new ways for doctors to save our lives. If 5G lives up to its hype, it could bring significant efficiencies and cost savings to many aspects of our lives.