Rohde & Schwarz and Slalom Unite for 5G AR Avatar Calls
Rohde & Schwarz has partnered with Slalom, a next-generation professional services company creating value at the intersection of business, technology, and humanity, to create a state-of-the-art lab environment. This collaboration has resulted in a test bed for XR-based use cases.
At the test bed’s core is the R&S CMX500 5G one-box signaling tester from Rohde & Schwarz. This innovative setup empowers network operators to evaluate XR-based applications and services in a controlled environment, ensuring optimal performance and quality of experience (QoE) for their subscribers even before mainstream deployment.
The animated avatar, developed by Slalom, renders on a cloud computing architecture, which is seamlessly integrated with the R&S CMX500. The R&S CMX500 emulates a 5G network to establish a Voice over New Radio (VoNR) connection to the end-user device. The end-user experience is brought to life using a motorola edge 40 pro 5G smartphone connected to Lenovo ThinkReality A3 Smart Glasses, where the avatar is displayed. The system also features a loopback of audio samples, laying the groundwork for future audio quality assessments based on the POLQA[1] algorithm. A key aspect of the avatar’s animation is head movement emulation, which is designed to convey attentiveness during calls. The accurate rendering and timely display of such details on the end-user device are among the key performance indicators that are being further investigated by both companies.
Christoph Pointner, Senior Vice President for Mobile Radio Testers at Rohde & Schwarz, said, “We are thrilled to enhance our application testing capabilities through our collaboration with Slalom. This partnership lays a robust foundation for the wireless ecosystem, accelerating the market introduction of XR-based applications and services to pave the way for the metaverse.”
Sam Andrews, General Manager at Slalom, said, “In partnership with Rohde & Schwarz, we have developed an innovative concept where we can assess and measure the end-to-end quality of XR experiences that considers network, device, and application to create seamless outcomes for end users and unlock new opportunities for enterprises.”
Jason Inskeep, Advanced & Converged Architectures / Mobile / 5G at Slalom, added, “At Slalom, we believe that being able to architect a true end-to-end integrated solution – from the network to the application layer to the end user – is fundamental to helping our customers achieve resiliency and efficiency at scale, unlock new revenue streams and create amazing customer experiences.”
This collaboration between Rohde & Schwarz and Slalom opens the way to virtual interactions that are more immersive and personal. For consumers, this innovation promises an enhanced sense of presence and engagement during voice calls.