(Expansion) – Yes, we are going to talk about 6G even though your cell phone still does not have 5G, even though you think you do. Surely, when you hear about 6G technology, the first thing that comes to mind is, precisely, how fast your internet connection is going to be on your cell phone, the connectivity advantages that you are going to have and the comparisons with 5G. And surely you are thinking: “so, we still do not have 5G, but we are already talking about 6G?”.
As exaggerated as it sounds, this is a technology that seeks to enrich people’s lives – and not necessarily to load your bank’s app on your cell phone faster.
There are many aspects that 6G technology will improve, but I am going to tell you what it can do in terms of health, collaboration and sustainability. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Now, let me give you an example about these.
Health
How many times did you go to your doctor through a digital platform or application as a result of the pandemic? Health has experienced an enormous pace of digitization and 6G will continue with this trend and will ensure that people with an illness are always monitored and send information to the network so that action can be taken on the matter when something is not right. What’s more, wearable and remote technology could also help visually impaired people navigate the world independently.
In fact, this technology is going to add to the increasingly important artificial intelligence. Imagine, your smart ring today can alert you if you are at risk of having a heart attack, in addition to scheduling an appointment with the doctor, sending your most recent medical studies, and rescheduling your work meetings so you can go to the hospital urgently.
collaboration
6G has the potential to reach speeds more than 1,000 times faster than 5G. This means that having it will make access to its different tools practically instantaneous (as fast as a blink), which will allow us to do meetings like the ones we see in Star Wars where there are holograms in the rooms and it seems that we are all physically in the same place, even being in different parts of the world.
Supported by 6G, the idea is that these digital replicas allow us to perfectly optimize traffic flow (with autonomous cars and without accidents), build houses capable of withstanding extreme weather events and boost public transport operations without fail.
Of course, all this would be added to the metaverse -another reality that we will see in our lives-, this being a virtual world parallel to the physical one and in which we will have friends from all over the world and we will buy things that we will never have in our hands, but our ” avatar” yes. In this way, we will see the daily reality coexist with the virtual one and we will have two “realities” in our lives.
Sustainability
Finally, 6G could lead us towards a more sustainable world, as it can enable resource-efficient networking that improves society and enables the reduction of the environmental footprint through effective digitization. When I say that it will be sustainable, I mean that it is a technology that has processes that will maintain themselves, which helps to avoid using other resources. This means that the energy consumption is sought to be much lower when it comes to a device that has 6G.
To make it a little clearer why it is necessary to start talking about this technology, 5G came to cover the needs that were due to the overflow of information that is handled around the world. Instead, 6G is a technology that companies are working on to anticipate problems and have solutions for future challenges.
Of course, the large telecommunications companies in Mexico have to be prepared for this change, so I believe that, hand in hand with the government, this should be a priority in our country, since the lives of Mexicans and of all people in the world can see many benefits.
As you can see, we are about to live a moment that will break down the barriers between human, physical and digital existences, in addition to building a more sustainable, collaborative and healthy world, so we only have to be ready for this “digital revolution”.
Editor’s note: Ana Peña is Communications Director for Intel Americas. Follow her on . The opinions published in this column belong exclusively to the author.
