Team New Zealand to use augmented reality, 5G during America's Cup

An exclusive laboratory to test superfast wireless technology was launched in Auckland today - and Newshub can reveal Team New Zealand is among the first to test it.

Forget cyclors - this America's Cup is about augmented reality (AR), and Team New Zealand looking to win the technology race. 

Grant Dalton, the Team New Zealand manager says "we can't outspend them, so we've got to out-think them."

"You can't get live VR at the moment that I'm aware of. We could bring live VR to the fanbase by running a 360-degree camera on the boat, and transferring it back by 5G."

The new technology would also give off key information about boat speeds and loads - which could mean spies out in AR headsets.

Dan Bernasconi, Team New Zealand head designer, says "of course there's going to be recon implications for that, and every team is going to be using that to look at what the other teams are going to be doing".

Spark is hoping to give Team New Zealand a head start by opening an innovation lab for companies to test 5G before it's launched. 

Heralded as being at least 10 times faster than 4G, improvements in delay or 'latency' are crucial for transport technology to respond instantly.

5G cuts reaction time down to one thousandth of a second. For Team New Zealand, that means designers can respond faster to necessary boat modifications.

Spark launched a clock today counting down to its hopeful 5G launch date in July 2020 - but first, it needs the Government to make space available on the broadband spectrum. 

Simon Moutter, managing director of Spark, says there is "no real indications yet on timing, but certainly the Government and policy-makers understand our concerns".

For the time being, all indications are that the launch won't be as fast as the 5G network is said to be.

Newshub.