Verizon today announced that it has built and tested an orchestration system and enterprise capabilities that will foster new experiences in mixed reality contexts. The move highlights a desire and need by mobile operators to create new services targeted at 5G network edge technology.

The system, which is based on an independent graphics processing unit (GPU), is designed to facilitate a new platform for ultra low-latency cloud gaming and other scalable GPU cloud-based services. Services that make use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and augmented, virtual, or mixed reality are dependent on GPUs for compute and Verizon believes its technology will do the heavy lifting necessary to transmit imaging and graphics at the edge of the network.

Verizon developed a prototype using GPU slicing and virtualization management that supports any GPU-based service for multiple users, according to the operator. During proof-of-concept trials in Houston, Verizon used the GPU orchestration technology and edge services to successfully test computer vision as-a-service, which allowed for an eight-fold increase in the number of concurrent users, and a graphics gaming service that enabled an 80-times increase in concurrent users.

“Creating a scalable, low cost, edge-based GPU compute capability is the gateway to the production of inexpensive, highly powerful mobile devices,” said Nicki Palmer, chief product development officer at Verizon, in a prepared statement. "This new innovation will lead to more cost effective and user friendly mobile mixed reality devices and open up a new world of possibilities for developers, consumers, and enterprises."

Verizon developed a series of edge capabilities and processes, which it describes as similar to APIs, that developers can use to build an application without writing additional code. These eight services for 5G edge technology include: 2G computer vision, mixed reality lighting, split rendering, real time ray tracing, spatial audio, 3D computer vision, real time transcoding, and asset caching.

The 2D computer vision capability allows users to provide 2D images that a device can recognize and track. Mixed reality lighting will transmit environment light and video information to reproduce a scene to more accurately reflect lighting, shadows, and reflections to blend into the environment. Split rendering will allow high quality graphics to be delivered to a mobile device by splitting the graphics processing workload of games and 3D models.

Real-time tracing will advance the realism of 3D by enabling each pixel to receive accurate light coloring and uses algorithms to calculate lighting and color. Spatial audio processing, which is “extremely processor heavy,” according to Verizon, will allow objects in a 3D scene to react with the sound so users experience the relative location of the object in an augmented reality environment.

3D computer visioning recognizes and trains the edge network to understand all angles of a 3D object. Real-time transcoding is a content creation tool that removes the need for raw format graphics to be transferred to another format by users. And finally, asset caching allows a “limitless number of people” to work on the same file in real time by hosting assets on the edge, according to Verizon.

Verizon says it will demonstrate the new 5G network edge technology and capabilities during Mobile World Congress Americas in Los Angeles next week.