Virtual sales with augmented and personalized reality have arrived in Barcelona. It is a privilege of the municipal market of La Boqueria thanks, among others, to the 5G network designed and deployed by Cellnex in the Catalan capital, within the framework of the 5G Catalonia Pilot. The infrastructure offers massive data usage and includes mobile edge computing (MEC) servers that guarantee minimal latency. This allows connecting the buyer in real time, through multiple devices, with a personal shopper who visits the market's points of sale.
The use of 5G facilitates the immersive and personalized user experience through the technological solution Augmented Reality Personal Shopper. The application allows virtual shoppers to select in real time from their devices (PC, tablet, mobile phone) specific products from the market stalls and obtain additional information about them with augmented reality, as well as converse ---if they deem it convenient--- with the personal shopper or the store manager.
Cellnex Telecom is one of the companies that have promoted this use case, led by the mobile phone operator Parlem Telecom, in collaboration with Lenovo, Masmóvil and i2CAT.
The initiative applied in the emblematic Barcelona market is the first use case of the eight that the 5G Catalonia Pilot will implement in Barcelona, led by Cellnex and Masmóvil, with an investment of 5.4 million euros and is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and promoted by Red.es, a public business entity of the Spanish Government. The deployment of the 5G network has meant an investment of two million euros for Cellnex, explains Eduardo Fichmann, Global Director of Innovation and Product Strategy at Cellnex Telecom.
"The deployment of this 5G stand alone network in Barcelona, based on a neutrality model, will facilitate technological advancement and digitalization not only at this point in the city but also in many others in the Catalan capital, one of the European cities most committed to technology," highlights Fichmann. The Augmented Reality Personal Shopper application was born with the aim of scaling to other immersive shopping experiences in the transformation process to e-commerce for local businesses in Barcelona. "Thanks to this 5G network, all mobile operators will be able to offer their services to companies and citizens from a single shared infrastructure equipped with the best technology," according to the Global Director of Innovation and Product Strategy at Cellnex Telecom.
The advances of the 5G network
5G will represent a paradigm shift in terms of connectivity to facilitate the exponential increase in data consumption and transmission, as well as the minimal latency necessary for the development of applications such as autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, Industry 4.0, or telemedicine, among others.
5G requires a new network architecture, and Cellnex ---with a presence in twelve European countries--- is working on the development of the necessary infrastructures for the effective deployment of this new technology, in which the neutral host model and sharing schemes among operators are key.
Barcelona is a scenario of open innovation, with technological solutions that improve the end-user experienceThe 5G Catalonia Pilot, in which Aumenta Solutions, Atos, Nae, and Nearby Computing also participate, seeks to turn the city of Barcelona into a scenario of open innovation and develop solutions for real needs of citizens and the business fabric. Amongthe applications on which the Pilot partners are working through the use of 5Gstand out: a platform that allows asset localization inside the Seat factory; the deployment of cameras and mobile phone devices at an event to capture and transmit images for remote production and distribution with the Xarxa Audiovisual Local; the remote management of urban devices such as video cameras located in furniture so that the Guardia Urbana and Bomberos de Barcelona can act more effectively in the face of possible emergencies; or the construction of a neutral multi-operator network designed to offer connectivity in areas with high seasonal occupation, such as the beaches of the Barcelona coast.
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