Original Source: http://bit.ly/2BIp6hk
AT&T has started the first phase of a trial to test and improve augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) experiences on mobile devices. The operator has joined with GridRaster on an edge computing test zone at the AT&T Foundry in Palo Alto, in California. AT&T will be testing low-latency network access to cloud computation for the AR/VR experiences.
GridRaster will provide the underlying compute and network stack to power high-end AR/VR experiences on mobile platforms while AT&T will bring its next-generation, low-latency edge cloud. The operator said the combination will allow for immersive experiences without the blurry or choppy graphics that often come with mobile AR/VR apps currently on smartphones.
The AT&T Foundry in Palo Alto developed a test zone for third-party developers of emerging applications, such as AR/VR and self-driving cars, to experiment with the performance of their devices and applications on a next-generation edge computing network environment. Currently, the zone uses a 4G connection. This will be upgraded to 5G potentially by the end of this year.
AR/VR applications require digital overlays and high-end graphics to create virtual or augmented reality environments. Smartphones and other mobile devices have limited processing power and battery life, which lowers the quality of the overall user experience. To solve these, the edge computing test zone aims to enable distributed computation in the cloud.
