"The future first" is the motto of a MWC that started this Monday and in which the latest innovations in mobile technology share space with video games with virtual reality and futuristic bets such as a flying car or a traveling coffee machine on the back of a autonomous vehicle.
A quick walk through the halls of Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue confirms that there are more Asians than in recent editions and that the forecast of 95,000 attendees may fall short: it seems that, now and definitively, the covid crisis- 19 is a thing of the past.
Messages in the bathrooms and digital screens distributed throughout the venue reminding us that "every drop counts" also make it evident that Catalonia is going through "the worst drought in its history", as the Catalan president, Pere Aragonès, recalled yesterday, Sunday, in the dinner prior to the start of the MWC - the official name of the event, although popularly known as 'Mobile'.
The 2,400 exhibitors imagine a tomorrow in which Artificial Intelligence (AI) will gain ground, the incipient 5G will give way to 6G, mobility will be reinvented from top to bottom and video games will closely resemble flesh-and-blood games with friends.
The Chinese Huawei repeats, once again, as the main exhibitor of the event, with a space of up to 1,135 square meters distributed in six areas. In it they expose their mobile devices, but they also go further with various services designed for companies.
Coming from the Asian giant, China Telecom also attends for the first time, and Xiaomi, Oppo and Honor repeat, in what is a clear example of the rebound of companies from that country, last year still hit hard by the consequences of the pandemic and with the borders barely reopened when the congress was held.
There is also no shortage of Korean Samsung, which is exhibiting its new Galaxy S24 series, called to "lead the way towards a new era of mobile AI," according to the company's claims.
Google shows the new models of its terminal, Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, and the historic Nokia is also not missing from the event. What is missed is Apple, which has always avoided participating in this event organized by the mobile industry association, GSMA.
From mobile phones to video games, more present year after year and a real candy for busy executives who need a break.
The Taiwanese company HTC maintains its commitment to the metaverse, that technology that was talked about so much during the pandemic and that has been losing weight as in-person presence has once again become the norm.
One can see in its pavilion men in suits shooting shots or young people dancing: the trick is in the virtual reality glasses, which make the user imagine that they are in a parallel world, for the amusement of those who are in the real world - physics and mentally - and sees the scene from the sidelines.
Telefónica is also committed to this type of leisure and allows one to let off steam by throwing (virtual) balls at an opponent: the balls are not only seen, grabbed and thrown, but they must also be avoided, since if they hit you you will quickly know by the vibration of the vest you should wear.
The key to the game, explains the company, lies in the fiber used (given that minimum latency is necessary), in the creation of images through cloud computing and in the generation of three-dimensional environments with the Unreal 5 graphics engine.
The most surprising future is drawn in pavilion 6, which under the name "Journey to the future" houses the prototype - in reduced size - of the first fully electric flying car in the world, with the capacity to take off into the sky to avoid road closures and even to travel up to 177 kilometers in the air (plus 320 on land).
Devised by the American Alef Aeronautics - with the support of SpaceX - and with the approval of the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to carry out tests, this vehicle can now be reserved and should be available from 2025.
A few meters away is Rhea, a historic Italian vending company that has devised a machine that serves coffee (Italian, of course) on board an unmanned car, so that you don't have to go get the cup from the bar, but instead It reaches directly into your hands.
The device has been designed in collaboration with the Chinese company Neolix - given that this type of vehicle can already circulate in that country -, it has an AI system with which the drink can be ordered out loud and a design that simulates the bar of an Italian bar to give a feeling of warmth, as its marketing director, Claudio Valdetara, explained to EFE.
Beyond is a prototype of the hydrogen-powered boat that Emirates Team New Zealand will use in the Sailing America's Cup that will take place this year in Barcelona (which the user can get on and feel what it feels like to drive it) and the pavilion of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, the public-private entity that ensures that this technological congress leaves a legacy for the Spanish city.
In the coming days, this foundation will showcase various immersive experiences and innovations in fields such as energy, health, fashion and automotive, and also offers a tribute to Catalan industry, from industrial colonies to the digital economy, with an immersive space and museum objects such as a model of a loom machine, a memory card from the 1960s or a radiator from the legendary Hispano Switzerland T16.
