5G makes broadscale debut at Olympic Winter Games 2018
Spectators can enjoy the Olympic Winter Games more vividly this time, as 5G network is allowing viewers to enjoy high-resolution media streaming at gigabit speed and low latency.
The 5G experience features the world’s first broadscale network from KT, paired with Intel and Samsung’s 5G technology, to provide a series of immersive on-site 5G experiences at the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang.
One hundred cameras are placed around the Olympic Ice Arena to capture 360-degree views of the action on the rink.
They will capture videos in real time and transmit it to nearby edge servers and the information will be sent over KT’s Olympic 5G network to its data centre, where servers using Intel scalable processors will rapidly produce time-sliced views of the athletes in motion.
It will then be transmitted over Intel’s 5G Mobile Trial Platform providing gigabit speeds connectivity.
A secondary time-slicing demonstration will be available in the KT “5G.Connected.” Pavilion, which will allow attendees to step onto a virtual version of the Gangneung Ice Arena and show off a few of their ice hockey moves. Multiple cameras will capture their moves in real time from various angles, sent to nearby edge servers and processed by Intel FlexRAN technology.
Multiple 5G-connected cameras have been set up along the cross-country course in Alpensia, capturing the skiers as they travel along their path. On the slopes, omni-view and multi-angle broadcasting technology is placed to provide personalised views of athletes in motion, triggered by GPS sensors.
The “Gwanghwamun KT live site” will be created to provide an Olympic atmosphere for people in Seoul unable to attend the games in PyeongChang, offering a 5G device experience zone including various 5G programmes such as “Bobsleigh Challenge” – a motion sensor game to experience bobsleigh, according to a report posted on Winter Olympic website.
In the VIP experience and spectator zones, Samsung 5G-enabled tablets will be available to view streaming HD video of the athletes from virtually any angle, as well as athlete data and statistics.
Those who cannot make it to “5G.Connected.” in Gangeung Olympic Park can easily peek into every corner of the Pavilion through the 5G network at the KT live site in Gwanghwamun, Seoul.
With 5G, people will be able to experience the Olympic Games, and also have experiences that have never existed before – and this is just the beginning.