South Korean Telecom (SKT) is set to debut a wide variety of Metaverse, artificial intelligence (AI), and virtual reality (VR) experiences at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona 2022.
The SKT showcase will unveil updates to several of its solutions, including the company’s Ifland Metaverse platform, mixed reality (MR) volumetric video capture stage Jump Studio, and Korea’s first AI semiconductor chip, Sapeon.
It also plans to reveal a new intelligent infrastructure for urban air mobility (UAM) and public transportation, as well as a theoretical ‘4D’ Metaverse.
SKT Chief Executive Ryu Young-Sang will represent SKT at the event to highlight his firm’s latest technology ventures, following the company’s successful deployment of 5G technology in 2019.
The CEO said,
“Since commercializing the 5G service in 2019, we have successfully introduced diverse services and technologies including Ifland, AI semiconductor and quantum cryptography technologies that brought revolutionary changes to the market”
Additionally, SKT will bring nine South Korean firms to the MWC startup expo floor, who will showcase eleven projects using emerging extended reality (XR) technology to tackle social issues and connect global corporations to reach the same ethical goals.
What Will SKT Showcase?
Last year, the South Korean leader in 5G launched Ifland as a new Metaverse platform aimed at younger demographics to encourage virtual events and remote play. The platform contains up to 18 virtual meeting spaces, deep avatar customisation, and an intuitive user interface.
Now, at the MWC Barcelona 2022, SKT will debut a version of Ifland on a variety of VR headsets and use a Jump Studio volumetric capture stage to record a K-pop concert for Ifland users.
SKT will also showcase its AI semiconductor chip Sapeon, which enables the superfast transfer of data with massively reduced costs and energy requirements compared to other graphical processing units (GPU).
Last month at the Consumer Electronics Show 2022 (CES), SKT confirmed that, when compared to other GPUs, its Sapeon AI chip consumes roughly 20 percent less power, contains 1.5 times faster transfer speeds, and is 50 percent cheaper to produce.
SKT worked in partnership with SK Hynix and SK Square to develop and fund the project with capital reaching around USD 41.5 million.
Furthermore, SKT plans to unveil details regarding its UAM Team Korea partnership with Korea Airports Corporation, Hanwha Systems, and the Korea Transport Institute.
The partnership will introduce an integrated communications network model for South Korea’s UAM that includes the public transport methods such as buses, trains, and planes.
Finally, the Seoul-based firm will tease an elusive ‘4D Metaverse’ that takes users on an immersive trip on a giant robotic arm.
Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2022
MWC Barcelona is a space where technology firms and trailblazers share the latest updates regarding telecommunications technology.
Global mobile operators, device manufacturers, technology providers, vendors, and content owners are set to attend the event to exhibit groundbreaking projects aimed at greatly enhancing consumer and enterprise-grade remote communications.
MWC staff are hosting the in-person event at the Fira Gran Via Conference Centre in Barcelona, Spain from 28 February to 03 March, and those seeking information and tickets can visit here.
