Virtual Reality allows users to interact with a computer-generated environment that feels like a real world. This technology is also being increasingly used in the manufacturing industry, where VR technology helps visualize complex machinery and work processes. With this technology, problems are solved faster and companies make better strategic decisions. Yet VR, or its sister Augmented Reality is not yet penetrating the industry very quickly. The emergence of 5G technology is playing an important role in accelerating VR adoption by making it easier and cheaper to apply VR in the workplace. And that is exactly what this innovative startup from Delft is doing on a daily basis, meet Senseglove.
Gloves for realistic interaction in Virtual Reality trainings
When you say Virtual Reality, the first image that comes to mind is a person wearing 3D glasses. With these, you can look around in a nonexistent world. But until recently, touching and picking up things in that same world was not possible. SenseGlove changed that. They are developing gloves that allow you to touch, grasp, feel and hold things in Virtual Reality as if all objects and tools really exist. These gloves are unique because unlike game controllers, they offer a natural way to interact with the environment in VR. That’s important if you want to train people, for example, in handling hazardous materials, performing complex tasks with multiple tools and objects or learning to design and test prototypes. Renowned companies like Volkswagen, Honda and ESA are using the gloves for exactly those purposes, because in VR their employees can train faster, more often and cheaper than is possible without VR.
Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Extended Reality (XR).
Most people are familiar with Virtual Reality, where you can use glasses to look around in a completely virtual world. Augmented Reality is also widely used in industry. With AR you see the world like it is through the glasses and the virtual objects are projected onto them, so you can, for example, look at a machine and a digital construction drawing of that machine at the same time. Together, these technologies are summarized under the name Extended Reality.
5G: the key to more efficient training in Virtual Reality
The development of 5G technology is key for Senseglove to realistically train in Virtual Reality. Because the player’s hands must have complete freedom, cables are impractical. But wireless connections are slower and delay ruins the training experience in the virtual world because the hand closes just a little later in VR, for example. The SenseGlove gloves are therefore until now mainly used in combination with heavy computers with special software at the training location itself, while software from the cloud with wireless connection to the gloves would be much more practical. With 5G, the delay between all the VR equipment and the VR software in the cloud is so small that it results in lifelike training with real-time feedback without delay. The high-speed connection over 5G makes it possible to offer training worldwide while the virtual world runs centrally on a server in the cloud. This requires much less start-up costs and makes training more flexible, making it more accessible and scalable to many companies.
Pushing boundaries and accelerating innovations
With this video, we want to inspire and invite entrepreneurs, scientists and governments to work together to develop technologies of the future. Application of 5G is not an end in itself, but can accelerate the development of innovations as this example of SenseGlove also shows: with 5G, the boundaries between the local device and the cloud blur and new solutions become possible. Thus, we can continue to amaze the world and push the boundaries.
Grant and support for 5G experiments
Want to know more about this interesting case and the grant scheme around the 5G facility at Do IoT Fieldlab? Read all about it on the Do IoT website. Are you curious about how to experiment with the latest 5G technology? We have several test sites for 5G technology in South Holland: DoIoT, Unmanned Valley, The Green Village and (soon) Tomatoworld. Download the 5G guide here to be completely up-to-date.
For companies that want to develop and test 5G innovations in South Holland, help is available in the form of grants, matchmaking and expertise.
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