Currently the QR code payment is widely applied in China. From supermarket to street side stores and from meals to taxi, everything can be paid via scanning QR code. In China, all you need is a smart phone, which is even more important than cash these days. Today, China is the world’s largest and fastest-growing market for mobile payments. The transaction volume of third-party mobile payments reached RMB 40.36 trillion in the first quarter, ahead of the US and the rest of the world (Jao, 2019).

As the development of mobile payment, facial payment is also available right now in China as new entrance. It reduces human resource cost dramatically. However, the current facial payment is not efficient and convenient enough since you still have to fill in your last 4 numbers of your bank account to be secure. Facial payment is strongly promoted by Alipay and WeChat because the potential benefit is huge. For example, shops can improve their services and products based on personal preference when you use facial payment. In addition, they can also provide personalized  promotion and marketing.

While some people still concern the risks of privacy and security, the facial payment is a trend of mobile payment in the future. I had never seen the QR code would be really popular 5 years ago. But I believe facial payment will be widely used within 5 years in China.

Reference

Jao, N. (2019). A short history of the QR code in China and why Southeast Asia is next · TechNode. [online] TechNode. Available at: https://technode.com/2018/09/10/qr-code-payment-overseas-china/ [Accessed 8 Oct. 2019].

Self-driving, the technology mostly existing in a lot of fiction movies, seems like a standard function of the cars in the future. Currently there are many companies which are researching on it such as Uber and Tesla. I am really interested in Tesla recently and I found that Autopilot has already been applied in all Tesla models. However, technically it is not really self-driving but driving assistance. The most crucial problem is that 4G is not fast enough, which is dangerous because of slow responds to certain situations.

The automobile industry is experiencing exponential growth of self-driving features, and this trend is expected to continue. 5G network connections will have a major influence on the development of self-driving cars making them faster, smarter, and safer (Llanasas, 2019).

Furthermore, the technology of AI and LoT is also developing based on the benefits of 5G network. Autonomous cars depend on sensors on the cars, which is Internet of Things. They also depend on big data analytics to understand all situations while driving, which is the contribution of artificial intelligence. 5G will allow us to develop the potential of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT).

So are autonomous cars coming in the age of 5G? I think the answer is yes. But there are still a lot of work needs to be done before it’s widely used. Technology and network evolution bring incredible and useful advancements to society(Llanasas, 2019). Autonomous cars would be one of the most remarkable developments of the age of 5G.

References

Llanasas, R. (2019). 5G’s Important Role in Autonomous Car Technology. [online] Machine Design. Available at: https://www.machinedesign.com/motion-control/5g-s-important-role-autonomous-car-technology [Accessed 8 Oct. 2019].