The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, being the globe’s premier event for wireless technology, gathers numerous manufacturers showcasing their cutting-edge devices and innovations.
This year’s exhibits aim to impress attendees with incredibly lifelike human-like robots, phones whose colors can change, intelligent contact lenses, and much more.
‘Ambient audio’ in phone conversations
Mobile equipment builder Nokia and operator Vodafone say their “3D spatial sound” will offer users “truly immersive audio” on phone calls, with the person on the line sounding as if they are in the same room.
While present calls utilize just one audio channel to convey the voice, the advanced system enables sounds to appear as though they are coming from various directions.
Labeled as “Immersive video and audio services” (IVAS), this technology necessitates smartphones equipped with dual microphones.
This, coupled with the requirement for a speedy 5G network, suggests that the technology might not be accessible to the majority of users for several years.
High-fidelity robot
Dressed in a black gown, a red blazer, with long brown hair flowing down her back, the highly lifelike human-like robot named Amira is showcased by Etisalat, an Emirati telecommunications company.
Although Amira replicates human characteristics with great accuracy, her motions still appear noticeably sluggish and disjointed.
Elliott White from Engineered Arts, one of the robotic creator’s companies, mentioned that the machine could be linked to various generative AI “large language models,” enabling communication with individuals.
Remote driving
At MWC, numerous connected vehicles could be found throughout the exhibition areas; however, attendees had the opportunity to remotely operate a car located 3,000 kilometers away in Finland from the GSMA congress organizer’s booth.
The configuration — consisting solely of a steering wheel and several displays — was developed by the Estonian company Elmo. They have equipped the vehicles with a specialized control system as well as numerous cameras, working together with Nokia.
Chameleonic smartphone
A Chinese company called Realme has created a smartphone whose color alters with fluctuations in external temperature.
The casing of its 14 Pro series, designed to resemble a seashell, incorporates thermochromic pigments that change to blue at temperatures below 16 degrees Celsius (61°F) and turn white when it heats up.
The company behind the smartphone acknowledges that this solely ornamental feature won’t be trendy for long.
“Due to regular usage, the ability of the color-change feature to respond to temperature changes will eventually diminish,” according to Realme.
Smart contact lenses
The Dubai-based start-up Xpanceo plans to incorporate advanced functionalities such as an “extended reality” screen, health tracking, and wireless power reception into a bendable contact lens.
Models standing at their booth demonstrate proof-of-concept examples for every feature that co-founder Roman Axelrod states they aim to incorporate into one singular prototype device “by the end of 2026.”
Currently, these gadgets remain somewhat bulky, requiring a sizable metallic loop just to obtain enough wireless energy for illuminating a solitary pixel during an exhibition of one prototype lens.
Axelrod mentioned that those components would be made smaller with the use of “two-dimensional materials… just one atom thick.”
Those are the scientific insights that set us apart.
Solar-powered laptop
Lenovo, a Chinese PC manufacturer, has integrated solar panels into the lid of its Yoga Solar laptop to enhance battery longevity.
Lenovo claims that its 84 solar cells can supply power to the device even without being directly under the sun.
The laptops will include a power management system designed to determine when the solar panel should be utilized.
Lenovo stated that this innovation enables the solar panel to capture sufficient direct sunlight within 20 minutes, which can then be used to support up to an hour of video playback on a PC.
“Cat Eye” for detecting cataracts
Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica has teamed up with startup Edgendra Innovacion to develop their “Cat Eye” tool.
Individuals can perform an eye examination on their own to assess if they have a cataract severe enough to necessitate surgery.
An image of each eye taken with a basic photograph is processed using an AI-driven system for disease detection.
This indicates that physicians can “assign specific duties to their staff so they can step in at appropriate times, thereby optimizing their own time usage,” according to Telefonica.
