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38 SMT007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2018 last two articles covering XR at CES 2018 and the Augmented World Expo (AWE) show.) With the advances in computer hardware and the resultant higher capabilities, the approach of 5G connectivity, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence (AI), the mix of what is real and what is not, what is in your presence and what is a half a world away or does not really exist, is advancing rapidly and the uses of XR are increasing exponentially. It has now been about three months since AWE 2018, and CES 2019 is less than five months away. What follows is what we can expect over the next year. Some is speculative, but expect much of it to be announced, dis- cussed and even demonstrated at CES 2019. One major advance happening faster than anticipated is the installation and activation of the first 5G networks. While 5G is going to be used extensively by far more than smart- phones, it is smartphones that the public will first associate with 5G. The first phones with 5G capability will be available in 2019, a full year earlier than what was predicted just two years ago. The first fully commercial 5G networks will be launched in the USA, South Korea and Japan, and probably by multiple carriers. The first small commercial network is already run- ning, set up by Finnish company, Elisa. According to a study released by Qualcomm Technologies Inc., 5G is projected to contrib- ute $3 trillion to real GDP, produce up to $12.3 trillion worth of goods and services by 2035, and support nearly 22 million jobs. 5G will ele- vate mobile networks to not only connect peo- ple vocally, but primarily to interconnect and control machines, objects, and devices. It will deliver new levels of performance and efficien- cy that will empower new user experiences and connect new industries. Per my article on 5G last winter, here's a quick history of mobile interconnect genera- tions and what they made possible over the last 25 years. • 1G: delivered analog voice • 2G: introduced digital voice • 3G: added mobile data transfer • 4G LTE: ushered in the era of mobile Internet • 5G: will seamlessly connect the Internet of Things (IoT), a massive number of embedded sensors in virtually anything and everything All the XR enablers such as machine learn- ing, AI, predictive analyt- ics, quantum computing, and other technologies that ar e rapidly advanc - ing and being accepted are remaking the busi- ness landscape today. A brave but perhaps scary new world is upon us, where every indus - try from agriculture to healthcare, medicine, military and commerce, to advertising/moneti - zation and just about everything else, is inno- vating and accepting the innovations exponen- tially. Figure 2: IoT.