Enhanced public safety and advanced traffic automation are among the key benefits of the new 5G private network launched in Las Vegas ahead of the Mobile World Congress (MWC).
Vapor IO, using Nvidia hardware, deployed this 5G private network, integrating artificial intelligence (AI) to offer computer vision-based camera services throughout the city. The network also employs a large language model (LLM) for AI inference, allowing it to interpret and make decisions based on new, unseen data.
Vapor IO’s CEO, Cole Crawford, explained that this software-programmable network supports “next-gen AI-centric workloads,” with much of its data sourced from computer vision cameras positioned at various intersections. One notable use case is assisting with public safety, such as locating missing persons. For example, the network could be queried to track the movements of a lost child based on data from city cameras.
Soma Velayutham, Nvidia’s general manager of AI, 5G, and telecom, highlighted that these public safety tasks could be enhanced through citizen engagement via mobile phones, incorporating data from consumer devices into the network.
Roy Chua, principal analyst at AvidThink, emphasized that AI-powered computer vision (CV) has been a leading application in smart cities, construction, utilities, healthcare, and more. He believes public safety, health, and traffic management will see the most immediate benefits from these advancements. As the costs of private networks decrease and AI models improve, Chua expects wider adoption of AI-enabled edge inferencing in various sectors.
