BITE Latvija, is planning to finish the 5G network deployment in Latvia by 2023. To educate the society about the meaning of 5G technology, the company teamed up with Overly. An evolutionary video tale covering the development from 1G up to 5G was created and hidden on an interactive exhibition stand. In five fun video snippets, which can be revealed when exploring the exhibit in augmented reality, a popular Latvian Radio DJ, Jānis Romonovskis, guides people through each stage of the network development.
The augmented reality stand was first launched at the company’s business customers and partners’ event. The stand received almost 1000 scans on the day and is now due to tour Latvia, inviting society to learn more about mobile networks and especially about 5G.
5G deployment has received widespread media coverage, and it has divided the society into two groups – supporters and opponents, who are afraid of the side effects of this new technology. To set the story straight, the Latvian telecommunications company, BITE Latvija, tries to educate the society about the new technology. “As with any new technology, the wider public needs to be informed about its benefits and risks. As we will provide this technology, it is important for us to educate our customers about the positives of 5G,” says Media and Digital Communication Manager, Mārtiņš Kairovs at BITE Latvija.
The goal was to create an easily transportable and autonomous stand that could be located in various public spaces across the country and wouldn’t need promo people to engage the audience, tells Mārtiņš. “We were looking for an interactive and effective way to engage people and encourage them to find out what the 5G hype is all about. There is a lot of information stands out there, and it can be challenging to get your message across to people with sole exhibits. We saw that augmented reality could help our information to stand out and the tech is also a great storytelling opportunity. The new tech captures people’s attention and once we get people interested, they can interactively learn about 5G.”
To launch the information campaign, BITE Latvija held an event for its business customers and partners, where professors, experts, and company engineers were talking about 5G technology and the company’s plans related to it.
Promo staff invited the guests to explore the centerpiece augmented reality stand and handed out tablets to allow quick access to AR video stories. “People enjoyed the augmented reality aspect and many visitors took time to go around the stand and explore it in detail,” Mārtiņš reflects.
Mārtiņš reveals that the augmented reality stand is now due to tour Latvia, visiting the country’s biggest cities. There will be no promotional staff encouraging people to explore it, and its unique AR functionality will have to be its stand-alone promotion. To overcome some people’s reluctance to download new apps on their mobile devices, two tablets with readily installed Overly app are available at the stand.
“After the launch event, the stand was exhibited at Riga Technical University. We are pleased that it generates interest. However, not everyone wants to engage through augmented reality as it is still something that raises interest but isn’t widely understood. So the stand has two built-in digital screens to provide alternative learning opportunities. The goal was to get all the information and expertise about 5G in one place and take it to people across the country. Yet we wanted to let each person decide for themselves what and how much they want to explore in detail,” Mārtiņš adds.
