Rising to the Challenge
By Curtis Knittle
Rising to the Challenge
How Six Innovators are Leveraging 10G to Invent the Future
Imagine a future where digital technologies unlock endless possibilities. From self-driving cars and AI-powered robots to revolutionary energy storage systems and augmented reality that powers immersive virtual experiences, our digital future will undoubtedly demand better device and network performance as technologies continue to evolve ahead of consumer needs.
As many of you know, CableLabs and the rest of the broadband industry have been hard at work developing the network that will power such experiences: 10G. The emerging 10G platform is a collection of technologies that enable a seamless end-user experience by delivering Internet speeds 10 times faster than today’s networks and 100 times faster than the speeds most consumers currently experience.
Much more than just achieving speeds of 10 gigabits per second, 10G can support symmetrical upload and download speeds to achieve lower latency, improve consumer connectivity, identify and organize connected devices to isolate security threats and engage solutions before issues occur. In short, the 10G platform is set to revolutionize our daily lives.
The 10G Challenge, Presented by CableLabs
On behalf of the cable industry, CableLabs launched The 10G Challenge at SCTE Cable-Tec Expo 2021. It is a unique competition meant to inspire innovators to leverage the emerging 10G broadband network. With the goals of informing the public about the transformative capabilities of 10G, inspiring the next generation of innovators to leverage the near-future network and encouraging rapid adoption of new, life-changing technologies, services and applications, The 10G Challenge was designed to advance experiences that will rely on the 10G network. At this year’s Expo, The Challenge came to a successful conclusion with the introduction of six winners and their life-changing technologies.
Spotlighting the Winning Innovators
Through the forward-thinking competition, CableLabs encouraged participants to envision connectivity as a tool to provide even more meaningful connections, engaging experiences and more. By motivating forward-thinkers to formulate new impactful experiences and other emerging technologies that will create a better future for humanity, The 10G Challenge focused on innovation across four categories: Live, Work, Learn and Play.
All submissions were reviewed by representatives from industry expert organizations — Mayo Clinic, Corning, Zoom and Intel — to determine finalists in each category. From there, six winners were selected by CableLabs’ board of directors: one winner in each category, a People’s Choice Winner and a Grand Prize Winner.
Grand Prize Winner
Millions of ultrasound-guided procedures are performed every day in the U.S. MediView helps patients in rural areas access care from National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers without leaving their community via advanced augmented reality technology. By enabling real-time medical ultrasound streaming and remote collaboration with cancer care specialists, MediView bridges the current gap in access to specialty-trained physicians while considering the new landscape of emerging technologies.
Douglas Fajardo, CEO of Xennial Digital, accepts the Live category award from Michael Powell, president and CEO of NCTA.
Live Category Winner
Xennial Digital addresses one of the health care industry’s biggest challenges: the need for a scalable solution to train medical professionals to address the shortage of critical medical staff, such as nurses and first responders. Their solution leverages the reliability of the 10G broadband network to create a secure, scalable, analytics-driven platform for medical simulation training.
Morgan Swanson, CEO and Founder of TractorCloud, accepts the Work category award from Catherine McNaught, emerging applications market development manager at Corning.
Work Category Winner
In the world of work, efficiency is the name of the game. Unpredictable tractor failures can cost up to $100,000 because it takes an average of 40 hours to get the tractor working again while the plants or livestock grow at their usual pace. Imagine a fleet of tractors using many different brands and experiencing a dozen failures like this every day. TractorCloud develops hardware and software solutions that save farmers thousands of dollars and will drive the future of tractor fleet management.
Doug Hohulin, volunteer affiliate faculty member at the University of Kansas School of Nursing (left), and Jim Starcev, solutions lab program manager at KC Digital Drive, accept the Learn category award from CableLabs CEO Phil McKinney.
Learn Category Winner
The traditional model of nursing education — students led by an instructor or preceptor in site-based classrooms and clinical experiences — has been questioned for more than five decades, but progress has been slow or limited. And in the face of a national nurse staffing crisis, the world of health care needs a solution. KC Digital Drive addresses the problems of accessibility and engagement by utilizing the 10G network to expand access to nursing education via digital twin classrooms.
Dana Leung accepts the Play category award from CableLabs CEO Phil McKinney for his submission, “Interacting Within Live Video Scenes.”
Play Category Winner
Across the entertainment sector, technology is altering how we amuse ourselves and one another. Dana Leung’s “Interacting Within Live-Action Video Scenes” technology aims to enhance consumer experiences with real-time virtual reality. This convenient technology for interacting within live-action screens empowers users to experience the same retail adventures they’ve always experienced but without the hassle of driving, looking for parking or fighting the crowds.
People’s Choice Winner
T4 Movement Engineering solves multiple problems related to evaluating and treating musculoskeletal disorders. Such issues create significant and difficult problems for the individually afflicted patients and their respective health care providers. Leveraging the power of 10G, T4’s technology helps patients identify the root cause of their musculoskeletal issues and improve rehabilitation in an innovative, low-cost, easy-to-execute and scalable manner.
Each winner received a cash prize to further their project’s development. As the Grand Prize Winner, MediView accepted $100,000 to support the development and move its life-changing technology forward. Each category winner was awarded $50,000 to help advance their projects, and the T4 Movement Engineering project earned $10,000 for the People’s Choice award.
Together, these innovations will help shape how the society of tomorrow will live, get work done, acquire knowledge and entertain itself, and we are thrilled to help advance the research and development and collaboration necessary to enable a 10G future.
Innovators Helping Innovators
While those of us at CableLabs may not know exactly what the future holds, we know the emerging 10G network will be ready for the immersive experiences of tomorrow and beyond. With incredible innovators like the folks at Mediview, Xennial Digital, TractorCloud, KC Digital Drive, Dana Leung and T4 Movement Engineering conceiving state-of-the-art solutions to some of the most significant real-world problems humanity is facing today — and might meet tomorrow — our digital future appears to be in good hands.
With 10G, the possibilities to transform how we live, work, learn and play are limitless.
The MediView team (from left to right: John Black, chief commercialization officer and co-founder, Scott Gunnigle, director of commercial, and Dr. Jamie Wagner) accepts the grand prize from CableLabs CEO Phil McKinney.
Curtis Knittle, Ph.D.,
Vice President of Wired Technologies, CableLabs
Dr. Curtis Knittle is the Vice President of Wired Technologies at CableLabs, the non-profit research & development lab funded by the global cable industry. Curtis and his team are responsible for specifying scalable deployment solutions in both hybrid fiber/coax and all-fiber access networks for CableLabs’ member companies. DOCSIS® technologies, distributed CCAP architectures, and coherent optics are a few current high priority projects under his leadership.
