The $1.8 billion global VR (virtual reality) games market, comprising game and headsets, is a small fraction of the $180 billion games market1 mostly because VR requires an expensive high-end VR PC, VR headset, and a fast, typically wired, wide area connection such as cable or fiber. 5G mmWave provides a viable wide area connection alternative that, combined with edge cloud computing, will obviate VR PCs.
5G mmWave and edge clouds will dramatically lower entry costs for VR and expand both consumer and business markets, leading to lighter and smaller headsets and glasses. Wide area mobility, in turn, will accelerate the augmented reality (AR) market.
This paper will describe how Pivotal Commware repeaters extended a 5G mmWave signal from a gNB into a hotel room in downtown Los Angeles, where it streamed Beat Saber from PlutoVR’s PlutoSphere server at Amazon Web Services (AWS). The purpose of this demonstration was to compare the gameplay and video quality between 4G and 5G mmWave. 5G was a clear winner on both counts and represents a superior, mobile alternative to cable and fiber.
