Veea Edge: the key to smart city augmented reality?
Smart cities promise to integrate cutting edge technologies into our daily lives. However, there are a few hurdles between that goal and reality. New York-based startup Veea just launched a new platform that promises to solve one of the biggest problems that stand in the way of integrating augmented reality (AR) and smart city architecture.
The global AR and mixed reality market was valued at US$2.98bn in 2019, and is expected to reach $27.44bn by 2025, registering a CAGR of 44.74%.
However, according to a Veea press release, engaging AR applications must be hyper-responsive, but processing performed in cloud data centers located hundreds or thousands of miles away from users adds unacceptable delay. Local "edge cloud" processing is increasingly critical as AR moves from novelty to necessity across a broad swath of markets, including industrial, education, and healthcare.
This week, Veea announced that Seongnam, South Korea's Smart City project is using Veea Smart Edge Nodes to enhance its latest cultural exhibits with AR technology. The Seongnam Cultural Foundation's Independent Activist Webtoon Project exhibit uses AR to delight, engage, and educate visitors as they learn about the lives and spirits of 100 historically important activists.
"In collaboration with the very talented Doodleis team and Seongnam City Hall administration, we are demonstrating the clear requirement for a highly integrated edge computing and communication platform as close to users as possible," said Allen Salmasi, CEO of Veea.
"Through this deployment, citizens of Seongnam and the local industry can explore an almost unlimited number of AR, IoT, and other applications of the VeeaHub platform through its open, highly secure software development environment."
VeeaHub Smart Edge Nodes (SENs) deployed in indoor and outdoor exhibit locations combine Wi-Fi hotspot access and server processing, forming a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) platform, which places cloud processing close to users. Along with secure edge-server processing, storage, and Wi-Fi access, VeeaHubs offer Wi-Fi Mesh, 4G/LTE, Bluetooth, Zigbee, and LoRa wireless connectivity.
Veea makes the localised, scalable edge clouds needed for AR solutions a reality. The highly integrated solution is optimal for demanding applications where small size, high performance, minimal power, functional integration, operational simplicity, and deployment flexibility are paramount.
