Zoom has been all over the news as a way to connect with family and friends during this time of social distancing. Zoom is great for conversation and I’ve been part of using it for happy hours, which can be a lot of fun. But are you missing the interactions with your friends and family beyond conversation and happy hour toasts? What about game nights or movie nights? Those are a bit more of a challenge over a videoconference.
Recently I tried out a new option, virtual movie night. For virtual movie night, we both had VR (virtual reality) headsets. Once you put on the headset, its like you’re in a different world. Even though the two of us were in completely different states, it was like being in the same room. When I looked left, there she was, and I could talk to her just like she was right next to me. We could share virtual popcorn and even throw virtual tomatoes at the movie or each other, which was a very fun experience. You can also play your favorite tabletop games using VR.
The applications for VR are pretty impressive, from game and movie night, to board meetings, to watching live events from the comfort of your couch, once live events return. However, they all require a network with high bandwidth and quality of service, and low latency, to ensure they perform today, as well as tomorrow. That network is clearly a fiber network. But, is it a GPON network or a 10G PON network? The great thing is that you don’t need to choose the technology you may need in the future, today. Listen to our webinar, Is Your GPON running out of steam, to learn how to position your network to be ready for these VR applications, or whatever may come next.