China’s Huawei released a 5G phone with a folding screen. Photo: FILE

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This year, the organizers of the two sessions have provided 5G signals in the media center for the first time. Many representatives have paid close attention to the application of 5G technology.

What will 5G bring to people’s lives? Zhang Yunyong, president of China Unicom Research Institute, answered by describing how “in the morning, the smart mattress will sense your sleep, and then inform the coffee machine to make a cup of coffee.” In his opinion, not only is 5G fast, but it allows for the devices adopting it to become more intelligent. It will transform the communications industry and society.

5G will bring profound changes to the cultural industry, such as by aiding the development of digital technology and innovation in the  industry and with its products. The sector development has entered a new stage, said Jin Yuanpu, director of the Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries under Renmin University of China. He said that along with the arrival of the 5G era, the fusion of various factors will give birth to new patterns in the cultural industry.

Today, internet-based digital products associated with animated games, literature, music and video have a broad user base and are penetrating people’s daily lives. With the application of 5G technology and the development of technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and 8K video, these digital cultural products will have a brand new look in terms of form and content.

At present, Qualcomm is working with a number of industry partners, including Chinese manufacturers, to develop an extended-reality head-mounted display that can connect to 5G smartphones to create the next generation of immersive mobile computing experience. Industry insiders pointed out that although the experience provided by existing products such as VR games is not satisfying, the market for such immersive experience devices may be rejuvenated as 5G accelerates its pace toward commercial application.

The Global System for Mobile Communications (ICT) predicted that the number of 5G connections worldwide will reach 1.4 billion by 2025. In the next 15 years, 5G will add as much as US$2.2 trillion to the global economy. The close integration of 5G technology with artificial intelligence and big data will open a new era of the Internet of Everything, and the related fields will follow a vigorous pace of development. The cultural industry will also usher in major opportunities.

Today, 5G is coming. “In China, 5G mobile phones will sporadically enter the market in the second half of this year, and large-scale applications will be available in the first half of next year. At that time, everyone will be able to enjoy 5G services with excellent speed, quality and intelligence,” Zhang said.

It is reported that 5G technology will create a broad space for the cultural industry, promoting the transformation and innovation of its production mode. The application of 5G technology will optimize the cultural industry’s production process and improve its production efficiency as well as product quality. In addition, 5G technology will pave the way for the high-speed transmission of digital information and the efficient circulation of production factors and products, thus culture and technology can be integrated in a profound way.

“Culture and technology are the two wings of creativity. The content of culture drives technological innovation while technology explores greater possibility for cultural integration and expression,” Jin said, adding that China’s cultural industry will welcome a new wave of development on top of 5G and digital technology.

Chen Shaofeng, vice president of the Cultural Industry Research Institute of Peking University, predicted that with the trial commercialization of 5G in 2019, data transmission costs will be greatly reduced. The model involving platforms, technology, content and vertical operations will shape a new ecology for the cultural industry and huge business opportunities. In addition to leaving their comfort zones and breaking with old patterns of thinking, enterprises should make early plans and connect online and offline operations. Technology and content will be integrated, as will tradition and modernity. In this way, the cultural industry will leap into the future.

 

This article was translated from Guangming Daily.

edited by Ma YUHONG