Peter Deming ASC / Mulholland Drive: The Road to Ruin

British Cinematographer

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Peter Deming ASC recounts working on David Lynch’s surreal LA noir Mulholland Drive. 

Peter Deming ASC was an established DP (Evil Dead II, My Cousin Vinny) before beginning his collaboration with David Lynch first on HBO anthology series Hotel Room (1993) then helping create surreal murder mysteries Lost Highway (1996), Mulholland Drive (2000), and Twin Peaks: The Return. 

Mulholland Drive was conceived as a television pilot by Lynch for ABC. When Disney’s network declined to commission it, Lynch secured funding from StudioCanal to turn the material into a feature and shooting a final third of material 18 months later. 

“When it was resurrected, I was trying to think how David was going to conclude it because there was a real effort on his part in the pilot to start a lot of story lines to give himself somewhere to go for future seasons. A lot of those story lines had to be dropped and distilled down into the third act.” 

Art works

The director’s background as a painter meant he had definite ideas about colour and composition. “I always equated David’s prep process to gathering his box of paints. That said, he was extremely involved in what shots he wanted. I would maybe suggest something and then we’d agree on, say, the eight shots we need for the scene. David would leave and we would light it and as long as he felt that mood when he returned, we’d start shooting.” 

Deming gleamed what clues he could from Billy Wilder’s 1950 noir satire Sunset Boulevard, one of Lynch’s favourite films. “When he built his screening room, that was the first film he screened, so for me, internally, that was a guide for Mulholland. We never talked about it. What was in my head was that, however we stylised it we had to have one foot for the story to land.” 

The mood he believed Lynch had in mind might be termed romantic noir. “David loved Los Angeles and the city is often sunny but through David’s eyes behind that sunny facade, a lot of dark things go on. That’s a reoccurring theme in his work; the facade versus what’s really happening.” 

He shot 35mm on Panavision Panaflex using Primo Primes and applied filtration and nets on the rear element to soften the look. 

A notorious jump-scare scene is among Lynch’s most enigmatic. Two unidentified men chat at Winkie’s diner. One of them recounts a recurring dream he’s having which takes place at the diner and features a terrifying creature. When the pair go out back of the diner they do indeed encounter… something. 

“We discussed ways of making the camera more nervous, maybe doing it handheld, but David thought that would be a little too jittery and obvious. So, we ended up very low-tech with a six-footjib arm and me operating the camera sort of floating around nice and easy. Nothing aggressive.” 

He recalls, “We shot all the material in the diner and it was getting late in the day before we moved out back. The light wasn’t anything I was thrilled about. I think I managed to stall until that section of the alley was in shade or at least didn’t have that hard late sun. On the page, I don’t even think he called ‘it’ a person. It was sort of a being, but it was hard for me to understand how it would affect our character. I’m surprised to this day how freaked out people are by it.” 

The scene doesn’t fit into the narrative and is not referred to again, except for a brief and unexplained glimpse of one of the men and the creature in miniature later. 

“It was edited in such a way that there were a lot of pauses that gave it a lot of weight. And, of course, David’s sound design just propels it into the weird zone.” 

A later scene on Sunset Boulevard when Betty (Naomi Watts) gets into a cab is filmed from a dolly without tracks on the uneven pavement as the story itself begins to unravel. 

“Sometimes we asked, mostly, we gave up,” says Deming of trying to winkle information from Lynch. “That’s not to say he wasn’t open on set. You could ask him anything.” 

He recalls the scene shot for the pilot when Betty arrives in California. “She’s all excited and bubbly. It’s a happy scene and David is smiling. So, between setups our second camera assistant Lisa [Ferguson] went up to David and said, ‘I feel like something bad’s gonna happen to Betty down the line.’ David just looked and doesn’t say anything. At this point it’s still a TV pilot with episodes unwritten but I’m sure he had it in his head. 

“He was pretty locked up that way. In a way, it was great, because when you saw the finished film, you were also a spectator and discovering things even though you were there for all of it.” 

Deming supervised the film’s remaster in 2014. “This is sort of quintessential David. I was shooting in London, and he was in Los Angeles, so he did a pass, and then we had a long talk on the phone about it. He didn’t want to change anything. He’s of course fully aware of the post-production tools we had available, but he was adamant – ‘People are used to the film a certain way and I’m not going to change that.’”  

Frederick Elmes ASC / Eraserhead: Out of the Darkness

British Cinematographer

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Few debuts have been more disturbing than Eraserhead, the surreal body horror that announced the arrival of David Lynch. The project began as a short during the 24-year-old’s first year at the American Film Institute AFI in 1970 with Herbert Cardwell shooting early scenes.

“When it became clear that it was going to be a long-term project, Herb departed to get a real job, while I, still a starving student, took over,” explains Fredrick Elmes ASC.

Elmes, who joined AFI a year after Lynch, recalls first meeting the writer-director.  “David showed me some shots and I got a sense of it in gorgeous black and white 35mm.  I seemed a very simple story, a very simple character but it was also evident he was creating something out of the ordinary. There was nothing really controversial until the last shot of the baby and that piqued my interest completely.”

Lynch’s opaque narratives have come to be critically lauded and loved by audiences but as one of the first to encounter the auteur at his most raw, Elmes must share credit for shaping the look and tone of not only Eraserhead, but Blue Velvet and later, Wild at Heart.

“It was a matter of extracting,” he says. “David was not forthcoming with words or anything about story so it was up to me to figure out how to take the next step. Really, there was a great trust between us because [then] he didn't know me from anyone.”

The budding DP drew on clues he’d seen in a couple of Lynch’s paintings. “His sense of light and design and the graphic nature of it were really astounding.”

There no overall lighting plan. Elmes says, “We were lighting specific spots out of the darkness that had to be seen as the character moves from spot to this spot. I saw what was happening with just enough light on the wall for the character’s transition and that's all that David wanted. That became integrated into the style and really the feeling of the movie.”

As deliberately vague as he could be, Lynch could also be exacting. Recalls Elmes, “Early on Eraserhead, I remember going up to one of the tables as I was setting the shot and moving one of the props over to get a better composition. David said, ‘You know, we don't actually move the props.’ This was contrary to every other director I worked with.”

Eraserhead introduces Lynch’s signature transitions which seem to move from one reality into another dimension. “There’s a moment when Henry's alone in the room and about to have a dream. We cut to a bulb lighting up and then the camera starts to dolly and the next light bulb lights up and the next and the camera tilts up to reveal this stage, which you've never seen before with a character you've never met before. We appear to be in a different dimension; none of it's familiar.

“I chose to make those transitions in the most straightforward way possible. There was nothing tricky, there were no dissolves. It was really nothing out of the ordinary. We just treated it like the next scene in the movie. That simple approach became part of the film’s style.”

Eraserhead was supposed to be made in a few weeks but ended up taking five years as Lynch continually ran out of money but persisted in pursuing his vision. Only a handful of cast and crew, including lead actors Jack Nance and Catherine Coulson, stayed the course.

“It was a slow, methodical process. Most of the film was made by five or six people, including the actors who helped build the sets.”

Elmes continues, “AFI was extremely supportive. They gave us a load of equipment and lights. After they stopped giving us film stock they gave us the laboratory and a deferment on processing. They also leant David a little studio space where we could work and edit. It was wonderful, but at a certain point there were no more dollars.”

The AFI gave them short ends of negative from The Last Picture Show (Peter Bogdanovich’s black and white movie) that had just wrapped while Elmes would stop by Kodak on his way to work and pick up a roll of film “so that we had something to shoot that evening.”

Elmes even shot The Killing of a Chinese Bookie for John Cassavetes in 1975, just to pay the bills. When this happened, Eraserhead paused “partly because I took the crew with me.”

The almost non-existent budget had Elmes experimenting to create optical effects in-camera, “either running it backwards or upside down or doing some weird small thing.”

Members of the cast and crew kept the production afloat with donations. Lynch didn’t forget this generosity. At a diner with Elmes and Coulson he promised them a share of royalties with a contract written on a napkin. No-one expected the film even to be released, but Elmes confirms that Lynch’s handshake was honoured with an annual cheque.

“It became a very intimate relationship with David because it really was just a few of us shaping this story scene by scene. It did change, but it was our growth that changed it.”

Filming also took place in Elmes’ small West Hollywood apartment. “We had this exterior scene which required a number of bigger lights. I discovered I could climb on the apartment roof and tap into the power on the other side of the meter so we could plug in the bigger lights and wouldn't be charged electricity. It's a little dangerous now, when I think about it, but that's what we did to get it done.”

Crafting the Contenders: Michael J. Benavente on The Last of Us and the Art of Listening

interview and copy written for Sohonet

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Michael J. Benavente’s introduction to sound didn’t come with an epiphany at the movies. Nor, despite living an hour south of L.A., were any of his family in the entertainment business. Instead, it happened at an accountant.

“I’ve thought about this a lot,” he recalls. “When I was about 12, in the late ‘60s, my father took me to his accountant — I don’t remember why, I was just tagging along while he did his taxes. The accountant had these giant Koss headphones, which were pretty new at the time. He put them on me and played the soundtrack from Camelot.”

For Benavente this was life changing. “I’d never experienced music that way before. It was completely immersive. I was fascinated. My father could see how into it I was.”

Soon after, Benavente Snr modified his son’s small General Electric stereo, installing a headphone jack so he could recreate that experience at home. Benavente would spend hours in his bedroom, lost in music.

“I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. In a way, it was a curse,” he says with a laugh. “I’ve basically worn headphones most of my life since then.”

Sound post legend

Benavente is a three-time Emmy-winning sound editor with a storied, five-decade career at the heart of Hollywood postproduction. His feature film credits include The Goonies, The Color Purple, Manhunter, Three Men and a Baby, Edward Scissorhands, Sleeping with the Enemy, Super Mario Bros., Batman Returns, There's Something About Mary, 2012, Charlie’s Angels, Moneyball, Whiplash and If Beale Street Could Talk. 

Having previously served for 12 years as supervising sound editor at Sony Pictures Entertainment, and with stints at Soundelux and Technicolor, Benavente has spent the last decade as supervising sound editor at Formosa Group working on titles including HBO’s The Last of Us which won Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) Emmys for each of the series’ two seasons.

Here he reflects on his big break, working with directors like Paul Verhoeven and why he now gets just as much a kick from imparting his wisdom to young filmmakers.

‍Zero to hero

Benavente entered UCLA at 17 as an English major, intending to become a lawyer. Film school wasn’t even on his radar. It was only after he discovered UCLA had a highly competitive film program that he began to consider a different path. A professor, impressed by his work in a screenwriting class he had quietly slipped into, encouraged him to apply.

“My parents were incredibly supportive, even though we had zero connections. I applied and got accepted.”

After graduation, he found himself in the familiar position of many film students: degree in hand, no connections, no job. Graduate school at UCLA was his backup plan — and he was accepted there, too. 

“But I didn’t want to go. I was 21. I wanted to work, make money, be independent.”

It took about three months, which today sounds fast. “I got a job in the mailroom at a TV studio — the cliché Hollywood starting point.”

Within a year, he had moved to KABC Television as an assistant editor, working in a department that trimmed older films to fit broadcast time slots. “If it was a musical, you’d just cut out a song,” he recalls. It was steady work — and it got him into the union — but he wanted something more creative.

At the time, Dallas was the biggest show in America. Benavente heard they were looking for an assistant sound editor. He had never worked in sound, but believed he could learn, provided he could pluck up the courage to cold call. 

“It was terrifying,” he says. “Most people said no. But the head of the sound department at Lorimar (which made Dallas) took my call.” In short order, Benavente found himself assistant sound editor on the most popular television show in the country.

From there, his career expanded steadily into features. He earned his first major sound editor credit on 2010, Peter Hyams’ sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey, after being promoted mid-project. It marked a turning point.

Creative relationships

Director Paul Verhoeven became a key creative partner, hiring Benavente as dialogue supervisor on films including RoboCop, Showgirls, and Starship Troopers. Another long-standing collaborator, director Betty Thomas, repeatedly brought him onto her projects, including Private Parts and Dr Dolittle. Those relationships — built on trust and consistency — sustained decades of steady work.

“The beauty of working in the film industry is you always have a new challenge that’s never repeated,” he says. “Your workflow is different for each project.”

Despite the scale of some of the films he worked on, Benavente remains steadfast about what matters most. “Dialogue is everything,” he says, recalling Verhoeven’s mantra. “Even in a movie about giant bugs, if you can’t understand or connect to what the actors are saying, you don’t have a story.

As supervising sound editor, Benavente typically collaborates most closely with the director and picture editor. In spotting sessions, they move through the film scene by scene, discussing tone, pacing, and narrative intent. 

“Some directors provide extensive guidance,” he says. “Craig Mazin (showrunner of The Last of Us) writes detailed sound notes directly into his scripts such as ‘wind intensifies,’ ‘leaves crunch underfoot’ or ‘silence expands before impact.’ Those cues help shape the sound of what we want to create long before post-production begins.”

He adds, “Sometimes a director will say, ‘We’re replacing this line,’ or ‘We’re going to play music here, so don’t overwork the sound.’ It’s incredibly helpful when they communicate that upfront.”

The sound of The Last of Us

Years after collaborating with him on comedies like Scary Movie 3, Benavente read that Mazin was adapting The Last of Us. On impulse, Benavente emailed him. 

“We always liked each other and we’ve always kept in touch but I hadn’t seen him in years. “He responded within minutes, saying ‘if post-production happens in Los Angeles, the job was mine.’ And you know, he kept his word.”

To prepare, Benavente watched hours of gameplay on YouTube and talked to his daughter-in-law, who loves the game. The team worked with game creator Neil Druckmann at Naughty Dog for reference, but aimed to craft new sounds that honored the spirit of the video game rather than replicate it. 

“Season one was tough. We started doing some creature voices, which Craig did not like at all,” Benavente says. “So, I hired some younger sound editors who did play the game. That's the key. I didn't know much about the game, but I hired the right people who did. They taught me about the game and I taught them what I knew about sound, and it worked out really well.

“That first episode was almost the length of a feature and packed with elements. We tried a lot of ideas. It was challenging, but incredibly rewarding.”

One major challenge was constantly evolving VFX. Gunshots would shift by frames as shots were updated. “We had to keep recalibrating everything.”

In the emotionally intense scenes, like Joel’s death in season two, he says sound becomes subjective. “It drifts, becomes surreal, moves inside Ellie’s head. The emotional power in these moments comes from restraint not spectacle. That’s where sound can really tell story.”

35mm to AI

Technological change has reshaped the craft during his career. He began cutting on 35mm magnetic film, when mixing stages included pool tables to fill the downtime between reel changes. 

“You had an hour while they loaded the next reel up. Pre-internet, you’d sit around reading magazines.”

The transition to Pro Tools in the early 1990s felt gradual at first. “It didn’t feel faster because we were so efficient on film. But over time, computers got faster, drives got bigger, plugins more sophisticated. Now the precision is incredible — especially with ADR. You can match lip sync almost perfectly.”

Artificial intelligence is the newest frontier. Benavente has already worked on a project that recreated a deceased actor’s voice with the family’s permission. “It was astonishing,” he says. Used ethically, with consent and compensation, he sees AI as another tool in the evolving sound palette.

“I'm the least technical sound editor on the planet. I know what I need to know, and I know who to ask if I don't know something. When I teach classes, I tell my students not to be afraid of admitting to not knowing something. Just know how to handle it and get the information from whoever has as opposed to faking it because that way you’ll get found out.”

Now in his seventies, Benavente describes himself as semi-retired. Speaking from his home in Palm Springs, coffee in hand, he appreciates mornings without looming deadlines.

But he hasn’t stepped away from sound. He teaches at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, guiding a new generation of filmmakers. Their ambition and creativity energize him. “They’re incredibly talented. The excitement I used to get from a big project,” he reflects, “I get now from my students.”

A career that began with a boy listening closely in a quiet office has come to rest not in noise, but in the simple, enduring act of listening.

Nordic AV comes in from the cold

AV Magazine

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A conventionally conservative AV market is being shaken up by increased military spend, and a trend towards experiential applications.

Riedel Communications and Nordic media technology company, Media Tailor delivered broadcast, AV, and communications infrastructure aboard Royal Caribbean International’s newest vessel - Star of the Seas.

While the Nordics (encompassing Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland – and, for the purposes of this article, the autonomous Danish territory of Greenland) tend to forge ahead in technology and market developments, it appears that it’s in a phase of rearrangement.

“A good business climate, but currently shifting,” sums up Torbjorn Mahler, product and marketing manager, Panasonic Projector and Display. “We see new technologies taking over established places in the market. At the same time many new use cases offer existing technologies a new grow potential.”

Katrin Kerber, local account manager at Matrox Video reports a similar trend. “Pro AV verticals in the Nordics truly behave differently,” she says. “You cannot define the market into strict verticals.”

Philippe Genar, sales manager Northern Europe, Riedel Communications says: “The Nordic AV market is shaped by a highly technology-driven culture and a strong willingness to challenge established workflows. Customers are not focused on repeating legacy approaches. Instead, they actively explore how new technologies can improve quality, flexibility, and operational efficiency.”

James Kennedy, who runs operations for Peavey Commercial Audio, reports a noticeable decline in spending in 2025 but a more positive outlook for 2026.

“While investment in new technology continues, purchasing decisions tend to favour well-established brands, making brand awareness a key factor in market traction. This can slow adoption for less visible manufacturers and limit rapid growth compared to more aggressive or cost-driven markets elsewhere in Europe.”

Immersive applications
What we’re seeing, and this won’t be unique to the region, are technologies conventionally pinned to one vertical now bleeding across into others. The most striking example are immersive AV spaces in corporate and education used “to improve experiences within environments, like car manufacturers, exhibition halls and universities,” says Mahler. “Many new customers are following in the footsteps of larger entertainment experiences, and we see a clear spill-over of this into the more traditional markets.”

Mahler goes further and thinks that developments in immersive entertainment are only just beginning, and that we’ll likely see more implementations of the physical fused with digital and multisensory experiences in other markets.

“Traditionally very different markets like surveillance/control rooms, visualisation studios at universities, advanced ship and vehicle simulators and sport simulators are adopting immersive technologies.”

This is supported by Genelec’s Head of Business Development, Gaurav Narula who says: “Museums are a key vertical in this region as they are increasingly focusing on creating immersive, experience-driven environments rather than traditional static exhibitions. High-quality audio is essential for storytelling, spatial sound, and smooth integration within architectural spaces.”

Venue owners are placing greater emphasis on delivering a “complete, holistic experience” to end users, he adds. “This means creating immersive environments that go beyond just sound or video. In some cases, additional sensory elements – such as aromas or fragrances – are incorporated to enhance the overall experience.”

Cautious optimism

Judging the region “generally pragmatic, quality-focused, and risk-aware” Kennedy cites experience-driven venues, particularly theatres, as a key trending vertical “driven by the push for more immersive audience experiences and continued investment in cultural infrastructure. This is further supported by growing interest in modern, energy-efficient AV systems as venues replace ageing installations.”

Calling business “stable and mature” Kim Nedertorp, sales manager, DPA Microphones adds: “While uncertainty and economic pressures like inflation have introduced some short-term caution, the region remains structurally strong.”

Johan Hoel, sales and business development manager at Netgear says the region is experiencing “exceptional momentum” having begun a “significant expansion roughly four years ago with no signs of slowing down.”

This trend is reinforced by customer priorities around “sustainability, longevity, and energy efficiency,” he says. Sustainability is already a key purchasing criteria in many public and private projects “reflecting a strong Nordic mindset and values,” reflects Narula.

Arctic Circle
Military spend is on the increase across the northern hemisphere with instability felt acutely in countries neighbouring the Arctic Circle. “The biggest increase has been in Norway,” notes Lightware’s representative Kjetil Pettersen.

2025 marked an “all-time high” for Lightware in the Nordics driven by projects for military/defence, universities and oil and gas. “Based on our technology portfolio and solutions, USB-C, video distribution for both CAT and fibre, as well as BYOD/BYOM integration, will play an important role,” he says.

Kennedy expects Sweden to increase investment spending on military and defence infrastructure. “After a prolonged period of limited investment, the expansion and modernisation of military facilities is generating new construction and refurbishment projects which typically require AV systems for command centres, training environments, and secure communications.”

Subtle differences
Esports has emerged as one of the most active and influential pro AV verticals in the Nordics with significant investments in advanced production environments.

“The sector’s technical demands – high reliability, low latency, and tightly integrated audio, video, data, and communications workflows – are pushing production standards forward,” says Genar. “As a result, esports is acting as a trendsetter beyond its own ecosystem, increasingly influencing adjacent markets such as live events, entertainment venues, and even traditional broadcast.”

Region wide there’s a growing trend for more advanced light festivals and events as well as theme parks “utilising light and projection mappings to attract customers who are also visiting in the darker period of the year,” says Mahler. “In projection we see an increased selection from customers of solutions in higher brightnesses due to a noticeable decrease in price in both LCD and DLP.”

Aside from the capital cities, prime pro AV hotspots identified by Kerber are Göteborg and the Lund/Malmö region in Sweden, Trondheim, Bergen and Stavanger in Norway, as well as Tampere in Finland.

But the Nordic countries are vast, so it is possible to have high end AV installations almost all over the region. “Remote parts of these countries can still house large industries like mining, military or tourism,” says Mahler. “AV is used by many different customers and will therefore also follow into remote areas.”

Country by country
Norway stands out for its concentration of larger-scale public projects, according to Hoel. It was an early adopter of AV-over-IP technology in the region, setting the pace for others to follow.

Norway leads in ambitious entertainment and public sector investments: theatres, operas, courthouses, and large governmental projects dominate its landscape, with project sizes notably larger than those of other Nordic countries, he says. “Norwegian governmental and cultural projects continue to expand, with new arenas also emerging across the country.”

There are two important reasons for this: firstly, the proximity of the production and R&D departments enables the company to maintain quality and keep its promises. “Second, our company is part of the wider society which can inspire people globally, and we want to make a constructive impact on the community around us,” he says.

Finnish market dynamics are particularly noteworthy. Historically conservative about adopting new tech, the country has “transformed dramatically and is now experiencing explosive growth, with significant investment in municipalities, universities, and new arenas,” reports Hoel.

Finnish customers demonstrate newfound confidence in modern infrastructure, evidenced by their rapid shift from passive observation to active deployment of AV-over-IP solutions.

“This cultural shift in Finland represents one of the most significant changes in Nordic pro AV adoption patterns in recent years, with the market transitioning from extremely cautious to almost outpacing Norwegian adoption rates,” he adds.

Finnish municipalities and universities are currently in active tender periods, representing substantial and immediate investment opportunities.

Sweden maintains a steady pace with predominantly small- to mid-sized projects, while Denmark shows consistent growth, according to Hoel, “with 90 per cent of projects remaining relatively small but advancing at a reliable pace.”

Tight public sector budgets
Nedertorp says public-sector spending for cultural applications in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark has “tightened unevenly, impacting demand from publicly funded institutions. Simultaneously, cross-border operations are increasing, with pan-Scandinavian players becoming more common, smoothing out country-specific fluctuations.”

Kennedy highlights nuances between Sweden and Finland “which both tend to be early adopters in collaboration tech and digital infrastructure, particularly within corporate and public sectors” and Norway “which often benefits from strong public investment capacity, supporting large-scale projects.” Denmark, he suggests: “Shows a high focus on design integration and sustainability.”

There are differences in channel, too. While AV integrators in Denmark seems to be consolidating, Norwegian SI’s may have fragmented more by use case compared to their neighbours. “This can influence manufacturers’ views on which channel model to choose,” Kerber says. In addition to a “high technology affinity” across the region, Matrox reports a strong level of standardisation and an established vendor ecosystem.

“Open standards for media over IP are becoming increasingly popular in all four countries even in different installations,” she says.

Global healthcare company Novo Nordisk in Denmark and Norwegian broadcaster NRK are upgrading their facilities to ST2110 from a variety of different manufacturers. Helsinki’s Landmark Finlandiatalo music and exhibition venue has invested in an IPMX infrastructure in its convention centre.

“Norwegian theatres are also beginning to roll out open standards,” such as the Trondelag Theater and Den Norske Opera and Ballet, an architectural landmark in the Oslofjord.

d&b audiotechnik recently expanded its local business presence by acquiring pro-audio distributor Arva Group, with offices in Stockholm, Malmö, Aarhus, Oslo and Helsinki.

“Both brands share the belief in education and focus on relationships,” notes territory manager, Christian Orcin-Torner who thinks the move will get d&b closer to the customer.

“We want to offer more tailored solutions, strategic expertise, and direct access to our latest innovations throughout the whole region.”

Overall, trust, performance, and brand reputation remain central across the Nordics.

CASE STUDY 1: Star of the Seas
Built in Finland for Royal Caribbean International’s cruise fleet, the Star of the Seas (pictured left) features multiple entertainment venues and highly demanding production environments across the vessel.

The installation, delivered in collaboration with Media Tailor, includes a broad Riedel technology footprint, incorporating hi human interface, MediorNet, Artist, Bolero, and PunQtum, supporting integrated AV, data, and communications workflows at scale.

The project was recently recognised with the ‘Applied Technology’ award at ISE.

CASE STUDY 2: Centria University
Finland’s Centria University in Kokkola has adopted a technology standard based around Lightware’s Taurus UCX-4×3-HC40-BD solution to unify classroom devices.

“The lack of permanent hybrid devices, such as microphones and cameras, and the need to set up the room peripherals for every class, was a huge drain on teachers’ time and caused stress,” explains Centria’s AV and education specialist, Janne Torvikoski.

“Our goal was to make the teacher’s life easier, so they could go into the classroom, connect their laptop to the camera and the smart microphone and enjoy laptop charging.

 

AV Interview: Jack Cornish, Technical Director, Tateside

AV Magazine

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Tateside doesn’t aim to be the biggest integrator, but it would like to be the most respected for quality, care and integrity. Driving this ambition is Jack Cornish who has led the London-based AV consultancy and integrator through record growth, scaling the team to 24 people whilst delivering bespoke solutions for commercial and creative environments.

Cornish’s own career journey reflects deep dedication, not just to his business but to raising industry standards. Numerous testimonials shared with AV Magazine call out not just his technical expertise and forward-thinking innovation, but genuine care for his clients and team.

So what makes Jack tick?

“Culture is everything to us. I used to hire purely on skillset and learned quickly that wasn’t enough. Now it’s about whether we’ll work well together. You spend more time with your colleagues than your family – chemistry matters.”

Musical roots
It’s worth exploring Cornish’s route into the industry. At school, he loved sport and excelled in music, attaining Grade 8 on the clarinet. “Music was a huge part of my life. A lot of my close friends still come from that world. I played with Bromley Youth, toured around Europe, and performed at a pretty high standard.”

At the same time he started to rebel against classical music and fell in love with electronic dance tunes. “I produced music electronically – probably ripping software at the time – and DJing at weekends to make money. From about eighteen to my early twenties, I ran a fairly successful mobile DJ business. This really sparked my interest in loudspeakers, sound systems, and technology, alongside writing and performing music.”

Although university was a logical next step, Cornish was unconvinced. A music technology degree didn’t excite him because a lot of it seemed like things he was already doing. Plus, “I wanted to start earning money.”

Old school opportunity
Then an opportunity came up at his old school which was starting a new music programme, had received a large government grant, needed someone to build a studio and act as a music technician. “I went straight from school into working in a school at around nineteen, with a huge budget and very little idea what I was doing.”

Over four years, he ended up designing studios, technology classrooms, and running the technical side of music education. “I even became an associate music teacher, but I knew teaching wasn’t my long-term career path. I always thought I’d end up working in a studio in Soho – post-production, TV, film, that kind of thing.”

When he did get a job as a runner at a Soho post-production house he only lasted six months. “It was a shock going from a supportive school environment to the reality of the industry – being shouted at, getting people’s lunches – and I realised it wasn’t for me.”

 

Tateside start
At that point in 2008, Jack’s brother-in-law offered Cornish a job at Tateside. Back then, it was a three-person outfit operating out of the Blue Fin Building, Southwark with a major contract supporting publisher – Time Inc.

“We handled infrastructure and meeting room support, and I was thrown into AV fairly quickly. For the first year, I was purely a technician – pulling cables, and doing installs. We learned by saying ‘yes’ and figuring it out afterwards. Trial and error, lots of mistakes, but always making it work.”

The decline of print media – impacting Time Inc’s business – hastened Tateside’s need to diversify. Cornish started doing local outreach, spotting new developments, and chasing opportunities. That led to some lucky breaks. One was landing work at NEO Bankside, a residential development on the South Bank which attracted Cornish “because it felt more accessible. It had Lutron client control, multi-zone audio and TV distribution before smart TVs were mainstream. Every source had to be centralised.”

The second was work for Gordon Ramsay for whom Tateside did repeat business outfitting bespoke restaurants.

Eventually, Tateside moved out of Blue Fin into its own office. “That was a big moment,” he recalls. “Suddenly we weren’t supported by a single contract anymore. We were on our own.”

Today, around 95 per cent of its work is enterprise and corporate. Clients range from global companies seeking enterprise-wide AV strategies to boutique hospitality chains. Recent work includes global partnerships with workplace providers WeWork and Halkin, several new Soho House venues, the new BLOODsports bar in Covent Garden and ongoing AV support for the Haas F1 team.

“Culture is everything to us. I used to hire purely on skillset and learned quickly that wasn’t enough. Now it’s about whether we’ll work well together. You spend more time with your colleagues than your family – chemistry matters.” Jack Cornish

Room to grow
The intense and stressful early days of learning – “Friday nights where nothing works and you fix it under pressure” – has segued into a more measured and mature approach that only comes with experience.

“There’s still room to make mistakes, but within a safety net. Our junior engineers are always paired with senior engineers. Problems escalate through commissioning engineers before landing with senior staff. Manufacturer training has improved massively. Engineers can now go on courses and come back with real skills – but nothing quite replaces real-world pressure. A lab environment isn’t the same as a live site with someone talking in your ear and a handover tomorrow morning,” says Cornish.

Arguably, Cornish’s career mirrors the recent professionalisation of the AV industry. “When I started, I didn’t really know about ISE, InfoComm, or trade bodies like AVIXA and CEDIA. The industry felt fragmented and unprofessional in places. Now there’s far more training, standardisation, and cohesion,” he says.

“Social media has played a big role too — for better and worse. It forces visibility and accountability. Companies have to show their work, their values, and why clients should trust them. It can be toxic, but it’s also accelerated professionalism across the industry.”

Under his leadership, Tateside invests heavily in staff development, from funding certifications to encouraging cross-disciplinary learning, and fostering a culture of curiosity, autonomy and trust. As they grow, preserving this culture is central to the strategic plan.

“We’re lucky to have great staff retention. This Christmas we celebrated two 10-year anniversaries and several five-year ones. We invest heavily in socials – about 24 a year – because we value being together. We also try to keep things fun. Music plays a big role. We’ve hosted club nights in the office, built our own setups – things that reconnect people with why they got into AV in the first place.”

Of Tateside’s 24 staff only three are women. It’s something Cornish is trying to change. “It’s my dream to find a female engineer,” he says.

“We find that a lot of new talent have a passion for music, or DJing and are therefore generally interested in sound. I think we can channel this passion into AV by showing them how what they love translates into the professional and corporate environments.”

Although they habitually outfit meeting rooms for hybrid communication, Cornish sees tremendous advantages in his own staff working in the office.

“My fellow directors and I work five days a week in the office but of course we are flexible. We’re not dinosaurs and we also have families so we recognise there is a balance. But we hope we create a culture where people want to be here. It’s not good enough to come into an office which is used by just a handful of people because when people overhear conversations, jump in, collaborate – that energy is hard to replicate remotely.”

The importance of education
Cornish has also made it a priority that Tateside gives back, whether that’s through pro bono work, donating equipment to underfunded schools, hosting unique AV networking events (such as Lateside nights) or participating in outreach with education charities to demystify AV careers for young people.

Cornish remembers his own early challenges in the industry and is driven to make that path smoother for others.

“The outreach to schools is particularly important because no one really knows what AV is. Most people stumble into it,” he explains. “When I talk to students, I try to show how broad the industry is – from installed AV and live events to museums, immersive tech, content and corporate. It’s not about selling our company. It’s about showing that if you love music, technology, or creativity, there’s a career path here you might not even know exists.”

Explaining AV to anyone outside the business is notoriously difficult. “My mum still doesn’t really know what I do. People think we just hang TVs on walls. In reality, we sit at the intersection of networks, software, design, and experience. We work closely with architects and interior designers to hide technology, not show it – which is ironic, because we’re often dealing with ugly boxes. We’re the face of the network team.

“I think we would lose staff if all we did was churn out meeting rooms. What excites me most are the bespoke projects – high-end restaurants, LED walls, projection, custom fabrication – where we’re helping deliver an experience, not just installing kit.”

The power of AI
Jack’s best tip for keeping up with the pace of innovation is to follow social media. “LinkedIn is my doom-scroll at night. That’s where I see what other companies are doing, what’s working, what tools people are adopting. I’ll often forward things straight to the team and say, ‘Can we look into this?’ Trade shows are still valuable, but to me they’re more about the people as technology now.”

Artificial Intelligence might not seem to impact the physical nuts and bolts of an SI but you’d be mistaken. “We’re not monetising AI yet, but we’re definitely using it. I’m particularly interested in how AI can support service – analysing years of tickets and suggesting faster, better responses. It’s already changing how people work. We’ve had engineers programme integrations using AI code that previously would’ve required outsourcing.

“That’s huge but I’m also aware that maybe that work I’ve kept inhouse might have gone to another contractor. I’m excited, but also cautious. AI is powerful, and we’re only just scratching the surface.”

Cornish’s goal is for Tateside to become an even more respected and trusted name in the industry – “where people know who we are and what we stand for,” he says. “We want to grow sustainably, improve efficiency, and build processes that take us to the next level. And long-term, I want a business that can run without me being involved day-to-day – even though I still love being hands-on.

“I’m most proud of the team. Seeing people grow, take on responsibility, and build careers here – that’s everything. I’m also proud of how far we’ve come.

“We started soldering racks in a basement. Now we own our own building (in Tower Hill) and work with clients I once dreamed of. I’ve made mistakes of course. Early adoption of technology has bitten me a few times. Wanting to make something work before it was ready. But those lessons shaped how we operate today.”

 

Nanorobots are poised to transform medicine

IEC E-tech

article here 

While specific standards will be required for nanobots, some technical committees have published documents in adjacent areas. Find out more about the tech  advances enabled by these minute devices, notably in the medical domain.

Sixty years after the release of the film Fantastic Voyage, science is finally going beyond fantasy with nanorobotic agents designed to traverse thousands of kilometres of vessels inside a living being, delivering drugs directly to lungs, brain or heart.

“We are using MRI scanners to navigate tiny therapeutic particles inside the body, effectively treating them like microrobots,” says Professor Sylvain Martel of the Department of Computer Engineering and Software Engineering at Montreal Polytechnique. “We can see where they are and control their trajectory using magnetic fields.”

The global nanobotics market was worth USD 9,1 billion in 2024 and is projected to hit USD 20,45 billion by 2030 with biomedicine the biggest industry driving demand. “For liver cancer, for example, we plan to introduce these particles through the hepatic artery, similar in concept to Fantastic Voyage,” says Martel. “Results are very encouraging.”

Nonetheless, the technology has yet to make it out of the lab and move on from animal trials. It is still early days and the tech is far from being produced on a wide scale. Nanorobotics holds huge potential for targeted drug delivery, but transferring the technology for human clinical use is not straightforward.

Micro or nanorobotics?

Nanorobotics itself refers to the emerging field of science and technology that deals with the design, development and control of robots at the nanoscale. In medical research and articles about advances in this area, however, the term nano and micro are used interchangeably. The term “nanomedicine” has been used for at least 15 years to describe the use of nanorobotics for performing tasks typically requiring invasive microsurgery.

At its simplest, nano and micro are measures of size. The nanoscale ranges from 1 to 100 nanometres, where one nanometre (nm) is equal to one billionth of a metre. This size is comparable to the width of a DNA molecule. A micron or micrometre is 1 000 times bigger than a nanometre and measured in μm, where 1-10 μm is the length of a bacterium.

“We often say ‘micro–nanorobotics’, but when you look at nature, the organisms that actually move – bacteria, paramecia, sperm cells– aren’t nanoscale. They’re microscale,” explains Dr Bradley Nelson, Professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at ETH Zürich. The body of E. coli, for example, is one to two microns in diameter, with a tail about 15-20 microns long that rotates to propel it. Sperm cells are of similar size.

When researchers build robots that they can control in a living body, they do so at the microscale, because anything smaller is susceptible to Brownian motion. “Below about a micron, random atomic impacts dominate,” Nelson explains. “Directed locomotion becomes much harder and less effective. That’s why nature evolved microscale propulsion systems, like the rotary motor in bacteria or the beating flagella in eukaryotic cells. So, for controllable movement, microscale is often the sweet spot.”

Robots the size of red blood cells

Nanorobots may conjure up images of tiny, controllable mechanical objects, and these attributes still apply in medicine. Research is inspired by the ability to use the robot-like characteristics of DNA, bacteria or other biological substances to transport and release drugs with greater efficacy than other surgical procedures. 

Bacteria were first observed in 1675, yet it took nearly 300 years to discover that they swim using a rotary motor. Inspired by this, scientists began studying the fluid dynamics of bacterial locomotion and exploring how nanotechnology could replicate some of these mechanisms. Researchers such as Howard Berg (who helped uncover the rotary motor mechanism of flagellated bacteria like E. coli and Salmonella) have described bacteria as nature’s “microrobots”.

Nelson explains, “These organisms are typically one to two microns long and have chemoreceptors that function as sensors, a rotary motor that drives their flagellum and a signalling pathway that determines whether they are moving in a favourable direction. DNA and plasmids act as ‘onboard software’, controlling protein production. In many ways, they truly are autonomous robots.”

Fabrication methods have advanced from materials such as gallium arsenide and indium gallium arsenide to polymer-based structures using nanoscale 3D printing systems. These devices are 5 to 10 microns in length, comparable in size to a red blood cell.

Standards are tackling miniaturization

While these are very far from being nano, the IEC has developed most of the standards used for motors, including the very widely employed IEC 60034 series of international standards. Some principles in these specs could probably be adapted to microscale requirements, although this remains to be seen and is very much in a future realm.

IEC TC 47 has set up a specific subcommittee to standardize micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) – miniaturization being a huge trend in electronics. Among its standards, the IEC 62047 series specifies a number of performance tests for micromaterials. IEC TC 40 Chair, Markus Schwerdtfeger, explains how miniaturization is changing the name of the game for his TC and for many others. TC 40 produces standards for capacitors for electronic circuits. “Components are becoming microscopically small, yet they must deliver the same or even higher levels of performance. For TC 40, this means enormous challenges, especially regarding thermal management and reliability in the tightest of spaces. We have to continuously adapt our testing procedures for these tiny surface-mount devices (SMD).” Read the full interview in e-tech.

IECQ, one of the four IEC Quality Assessment Systems, provides an approved component certification scheme, which ensures small components are subjected to comprehensive reliability testing to ensure their performance under various conditions, such as temperature fluctuations, vibrations, and stress.

The joint technical committee formed between ISO and the IEC focusing on IT, ISO/IEC JTC 1, has published a number of standards relating to 3D printing, including for the medical world. The IEC has also recently set up a joint systems committee with ISO, to look investigate the area of bio-digital convergence. It should examine the requirements for standards in this growing area of tech.

Control and navigation using magnetic fields

Further questions address how nanobots are tracked and coordinated and whether and how they adapt to their environment. Actuation methods include chemical propulsion and light. Researchers have also explored acoustic propulsion using ultrasound. Most work has focused on using magnetic field gradients or rotating magnetic fields.

“Magnetic control offers biocompatibility, deep tissue penetration and precise external programmability,” says Nelson. To briefly review the physics: magnetic fields can generate both torques and forces on magnetic bodies. If a magnetic dipole – such as a microrobot made of iron, nickel or neodymium-iron-boron – is placed in a magnetic field, it experiences a torque that aligns it with the field. If there is a magnetic field gradient, the dipole experiences a force that moves it toward regions of stronger field.

“We typically generate these fields using electromagnets mounted on robotic arms. One major advantage of electromagnets is that nothing mechanical needs to move, aside from electrons flowing in the coils. By adjusting the current, we can change the field strength and direction instantly. In contrast, permanent magnet systems can generate stronger fields but require physically moving large magnets, which makes them slower and less flexible.”

Scientists are testing 300 nanometre magnetic robots for brain aneurysms. These tiny surgeons are guided by external magnets, cluster together at the problem site and release blood clotting proteins in seconds.  

Martel is leading a team developing a method that uses magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) that respond to magnetic fields. “These bacteria naturally migrate toward hypoxic (low-oxygen) environments like tumours,” he says. “Once guided near a tumour with magnetic fields, they autonomously move toward the hypoxic zones and deliver the therapeutic drug directly where it is needed.”

Medical standards for MRIs

This approach may be even more powerful than the MRI-guided particles because the bacteria act as self-propelled microrobots with built-in sensing capabilities. Martel explains, “We synthesize chains of magnetic nanoparticles inside the bacteria which act like a compass needle. By creating magnetic field gradients, we can orient the bacteria in a specific direction. Unlike pulling an object directly with magnetic force, we simply align the internal ‘compass’. The bacteria then propel themselves using their own molecular motors (flagella).”

Torque-based control requires much weaker magnetic fields, with more reliance on bacteria’s natural propulsion system. According to Martel, MTB are 10 times more powerful in propulsion than typical bacteria.

To implement such systems, the patient would need to lie under fluoroscopy. Surgeons see the capsule via X-ray and steer it using precisely controlled magnetic fields. “Strictly speaking, the ‘robot’ is the entire system – imaging, magnetic control, user input – not just the capsule,” Nelson says.

IEC TC 62 is one of two medical standardization committees inside the IEC. It has produced multiple standards for the safety of medical devices – notably X-rays. The IEC 62220 series specifies the different characteristics of X-ray machines.

IECEE, the IEC System of Conformity Assessment Schemes for Electrotechnical Equipment and Components, offers testing and certification for the safety, reliability, efficiency and overall performance of electrical equipment for medical use to IEC International Standards, whether new or refurbished.

IEC TC 113 outlines the standardization of the technologies relevant to electrotechnical products and systems in the field of nanotechnology - including nanomanufacturing - in close cooperation with other committees of the IEC and ISO. Still early days, but it could embark on the standardization of nanobot requirements.

Biocompatible materials: safety is paramount

It is critical that the materials used to manufacture these nano-microrobots are proven safe and non-toxic. “We must demonstrate safety within blood vessels with no harmful side effects and controlled biodegradation within a defined timeframe,” says Martel. “Even if navigation works perfectly, you still must prove that everything is safe for patients.”

Gold, titanium dioxide and biodegradable polymers such as polylactic-co-glycolic acid have emerged as preferred materials due to their established safety profiles in medical applications. Graphene flakes can be embedded into a hydrogel polymer to create structures that respond to infrared light. “The graphene absorbs infrared radiation, generates localized heating and triggers swelling in the hydrogel, enabling controlled shape change,” Nelson explains. “This allowed us to fabricate deformable microrobots whose morphology could be dynamically controlled.”

ETH Zurich have developed a microcapsule that comprised of a polymer gel matrix, iron oxide particles (so it responds to magnetic fields); tantalum (Ta), which shows up clearly under X-ray imaging; and a drug payload (such as tissue plasminogen activator for dissolving blood clots).

Nelson explains, “The iron oxide acts as the actuator, responding to magnetic fields. The tantalum allows imaging under fluoroscopy (X-ray). The drug performs the therapeutic task. The polymer matrix holds everything together and dissolves at the target site. The strongest magnets, like neodymium iron boron, are toxic. That’s why we use iron oxide. It’s safer, though less powerful.”

Regulatory approval is a hurdle

Because R&D in this emerging technology integrates biology, chemistry and robotics, as well as involves the medical treatment of humans, regulatory approval is complicated. “If one constituent isn’t approved for human use, you either spend enormous resources getting that part approved or reformulate the whole recipe,” Martel reports. “Reformulating can delay progress significantly. “We are approaching human trials, though I cannot give a specific timeline. We are not talking about 50 years – but regulatory approval takes time.”

Regulatory frameworks governing medical nanobot deployment are evolving to address unique challenges posed by these autonomous systems. The FDA, which regulates nanotechnology chemotherapy agents in the US warns that the “very changes in biological, chemical and other properties that can make nanotechnology applications so exciting may merit examination to determine any effects on product safety, effectiveness or other attributes.”

Researchers are exploring more programmable behaviour – such as altering magnetization in situ or adding logic elements. One solution involves coercivity, the magnetic “hardness” of a material.

“At the nanoscale, coercivity can be tuned by altering the shape of a structure,” Nelson says. “We can create structures with distinct magnetic anisotropies and coercive properties. Exposing the structure to magnetic fields of varying strengths and directions allows selective magnetization. This enables programming.” A stronger magnetic field might permanently magnetize one part of the nanorobot, while a weaker field magnetizes another part with lower coercivity.

“By designing specific magnetic domain patterns and encoding magnetization vectors in different directions, we achieved behaviours such as turning motions, hovering-like dynamics and distinct deformation patterns,” Nelson says. The fact that geometry and magnetic encoding together define behaviour opens fascinating connections to robotics concepts such as motion planning, complexity and control – now implemented physically at the micro-nano scale.

What application for oncology?

Targeted drug delivery using nanorobotics is particularly suited to cancer treatment because it overcomes a major limitation of chemotherapy; less than 1% of injected drugs actually reach the tumour. The rest circulates systemically, causing side effects. With around 85-90% of cancers in localized tumours, targeted delivery makes sense.

“Imagine putting a drop of ink in the middle of a swimming pool,” says Martel. “It won’t diffuse far enough to reach the edges. Tumour blood vessels deliver drugs only about 6-8 micrometres into tissue. But hypoxic tumour regions can be 80-100 micrometres away from blood vessels. By actively transporting drugs deep into those hypoxic zones, nanorobotics solves this diffusion problem.”

In 2024, researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institute created DNA nanobots that hunt down cancer cells in mice. These robots carry a “kill switch” that only activates in the acidic environment surrounding tumours. The results: tumour growth significantly reduced with healthy cells left completely untouched. Nelson says, “Our hope with this technology is to carry very high local doses directly to the tumour – whether that’s breast cancer or a brain tumour like glioblastoma – while minimizing exposure elsewhere in the body.”

Use cases beyond biomedical: cleaning water pollution and PFAS

Beyond medicine, there are environmental applications for soft nanorobots such as cleaning toxins and “forever chemicals” like PFAS from water, removing pharmaceutical residues from hospital wastewater and cleaning oil spills. ( For more on IEC Standards relating to PFAS read this e-tech article.)

“Whenever nature evolves locomotion at small scales, it’s solving a transport problem. That principle can inspire solutions in medicine and environmental cleanup alike,” Nelson says. Researchers in the Czech Republic have developed nanobots 200 nm wide that remove 65,2% of arsenic from contaminated water in just 100 minutes. They work like tiny janitors with polymer hands, grabbing toxic molecules while powered by magnetic fields.

The invention could provide a sustainable and affordable way of cleaning up contaminated water in treatment plants, according to Martin Pumera at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague. The task now is to scale up and develop nanorobots to target different chemicals or pollutants. 

Medicine is an appropriately conservative field. Any new device must be at least as safe and effective as the current standard of care. Regulatory agencies require evidence that risks are minimized. To that extent, development in nano-microrobotic agents in medicine will be incremental, except when targeting diseases for which few other options for treatment are available. In treating glioblastoma, which has an extremely low survival rate,  a wider approach may be justified

Is the race to 6G being driven by necessity, or FOMO?

IBC

article here

6G is coming and promises massive improvements in efficiency across society. But beyond those with vested interests, 6G may not justify either hype or investment. Adrian Pennington reports.

As the telecoms industry inexorably turns its attention toward 6G, the narrative feels familiar. A new generation of technology promises a leap forward in capability, a seismic wave of transformative applications that even in its initial phases will “provide immediate operational and economic benefits.”

But the real story behind 6G may be less about technological revolution and more about operational reality and a less than enthusiastic response to another round of hefty investment.

“Manufacturers would like 6G to be ‘5G on steroids’ because that justifies selling more equipment,” argues telecoms consultant William Webb. “But most operators would prefer 6G not to happen. The last thing they want is another massive 5G-style capital spend that doesn’t increase revenue.”

Webb ran R&D at UK regulator Ofcom between 2003-2007, is a former president of the IET, and co-founded IoT developer Neul which was acquired by Huawei for $25m in 2014. He now consults via his company Commcisive and authored the book ‘The 5G Myth’ which warns that the industry is sleepwalking into repeating past mistakes.

“Equipment manufacturers – companies like Ericsson, Nokia, and to a lesser extent Samsung and NEC, are primarily pushing for 6G,” he says. “Much of the 6G material circulating comes either directly from them or indirectly via research institutions they help fund, such as the 6G Flagship in Finland. Academics often derive significant funding from these vendors, so research tends to align with those interests.”

None of this is unusual since generational shifts in mobile technology have historically been vendor-led. What’s different this time is the financial backdrop.

“Operators are still working to monetise their 5G investments,” Webb says. “Many of the high-profile 5G use cases like autonomous vehicles, remote surgery and hyper-connected smart cities have yet to scale commercially. Consumer revenues have remained largely flat. Enterprise 5G has proven more complex and slower moving than anticipated.”

Nonetheless, the industry is headed down the road to making 6G a reality. The standardised timeline will see the first 6G specifications, under 3GPP Release 21, finalised by Q4 2028. New spectrum has been identified for 6G use leading to the first anticipated commercial 6G deployments in 2030.

5G claims recycled for 6G

When the drum was being banged for 5G, all manner of applications were dangled in front of telcos that, the marketing said, couldn’t be achieved without it. These included being able to share video from sports venues, HD streaming to mobile, cloud gaming, volumetric holograms and 5G as a replacement for DTT.

In 2019, mobile operator EE was boosting 5G rollout from 2022 as enabling “truly immersive mobile augmented reality, real-time health monitoring, and mobile cloud gaming.”

A report that same year by Ovum, commissioned by Intel, said 2025 would be the ‘tipping point’ for 5G in entertainment and media. By 2028 it forecast that 5G M&E experiences will generate $1.3 trillion in revenues.

Back then BT Sport was experimenting with sports AR for the home and telcos like Orange in partnership with France Télévisions were trialling 8K live streamed virtual reality from Roland Garros. These markets never got off the ground.

Now “wide-area mass-market mixed reality” and a “high-fidelity mobile holograms” are being touted as applications for the next decade – only with 6G.

Recent tests lead Nokia to claim that 6G’s potential isn’t theoretical but “alive, tangible, and undeniable”.

Mobile data growth hype

One of the central justifications for generational change has been exponential traffic growth. Industry forecasts from bodies such as the GSMA predict significant increases in global mobile data over the next decade. It expects volumes to reach up to 3,900 exabytes per month by 2040 (equating to 140–360GB per mobile connection per month).

Webb points out that such historical projections have often overshot reality by substantial margins. He says the GSMA is incentivised to project growth because that strengthens their case for more spectrum and investment.

There is evidence to suggest that mobile data growth is beginning to level off in mature markets. Telecoms analyst Tefficient tracked trends over the decade to 2024 and found mobile data usage growth decelerating in a clear majority of countries including UK, Netherlands and Germany.

“This deceleration trend is bad news for mobile operators, and it appears to have a negative impact on the ARPU development,” it concluded. “Demand for additional mobile data is now weaker than ever.”

Reaching the same conclusion Webb says the developed world has largely reached the point of sufficiency. “Data rates beyond 10Mbps on mobile and around 50Mbps on broadband for most homes and 100Mbps for virtually all homes will not make any meaningful difference to most end users – and we have these rates now where we are appropriately connected.”

Most of the recent rises in data use have come from streaming video but Webb contends our usage is plateauing here too. “People are already watching as much video on their phones as they realistically can in a day,” he says.

Notably, there has been no “5G effect”. Webb says: “The introduction of 5G has not led to more mobile usage than would have been predicted had it not been introduced.”

Current 5G networks frequently deliver peak speeds around 200Mbps, while average user consumption remains a fraction of that.  “There’s enormous headroom. It’s not as though networks are at capacity and crying out for a dramatic leap forward.”

Predicting the AI surge

There’s currently a lot of talk about AI surging network capacity. Nokia, for example, says the transition to 6G will coincide with an “unprecedented increase in mobile data driven by the AI supercycle”.  It suggests that wide area network traffic could grow by as much as 700% by 2034, driven largely by the rapid expansion of AI workloads. Nokia also estimates that AI could represent 30% of all global traffic by then.

Webb remains unconvinced. “There’s evidence that AI may actually reduce network traffic,” he says. “Typing a query into ChatGPT and receiving text back consumes far less data than scrolling endlessly through TikTok.”

Where AI will play a starring role is in making network operations more efficient. Research from Tata Consultancy Services shows that nearly half (48%) of telco operators globally have already started enterprise-wide deployment of AI.

Chatbots are replacing call centre staff while algorithms can help detect fraud or highlight failing equipment before it breaks. These are useful cost-reductions but overall AI’s impact on telecom networks is modest.

“The real AI revolution is happening in data centres, with companies like Amazon Web Services, not in the telecoms stack itself,” Webb says.

False promise of integrated sensing

One of the advanced capabilities being baked into 6G is Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) which in simple terms means 6G won’t just connect sensors to the network but will act as a sensor itself.

“This will imbue the network with a digital ‘sixth sense’ that can extend our human senses to every point the network touches,” states Nokia in phrasing that seems to suggest it will give us superhuman power.

South Korean telco SKT was demonstrating integrated sensing technologies at MWC26 and Türk Telekom with partner InterDigital claimed a breakthrough in proving how cellular and Wi-Fi networks can combine as complementary sensing technologies. Potential use cases include the detection and tracking (of presence, motion and objects) without visual sensors.

There’s a practical application for military or police in drone detection, for example, or for civic authorities monitoring autonomous vehicles but Webb thinks the arguments don’t add up.

“One network delivering both connectivity and sensing sounds attractive and could offer efficiency gains, but we already have a technology that is better suited to sensing and that’s radar,” he says. “Radar (or lidar) operates on extremely short timescales – microseconds – whereas cellular transmissions work in milliseconds. That’s a thousandfold difference.”

To make ISAC work properly, you’d need to re-engineer radios to transmit and receive simultaneously, which is both difficult and expensive.

“You’d likely end up with a mediocre radar system that doesn’t perform well enough to justify the cost. For enterprise buyers, that raises a familiar question: is this a commercially viable capability – or a research project?”

Rather than ultra-high peak speeds or immersive virtual worlds, Webb argues that what customers would most value from investment is seamless, universal coverage.

“I want my phone to work perfectly underground, on planes, in rural areas, in crowded venues and indoors. I don’t want it to barely work but to handle a video call flawlessly without manual Wi-Fi logins or network switching.”

Technically, this is achievable by integrating an array of existing communications systems including satellite and even multiple different cellular networks.

Yet this would require cooperation between cellular standards bodies, Wi-Fi organisations such as the IEEE, and global regulators including the ITU – organisations that don’t naturally collaborate.

“Nor is integration necessarily in the commercial interests of equipment vendors,” Webb says. “It would also require rethinking cellular as just a data pipe – like broadband – rather than a voice system anchored to phone numbers.”

Alongside better coverage, a priority for operators is to lower operational costs (with greater automation and fewer network engineers), and reduce power consumption (since electricity is now over 20% of operating costs).

“There’s a tension in the standards process,” Webb says. “Vendors dominate technical specification work within standards bodies, but ultimately, they must produce something operators are willing to deploy. What we’re seeing now is that battle playing out. The emerging shape of 6G is therefore as much a commercial negotiation as a technological one.”

6G FOMO

Nokia states that “on day one, 6G will provide a multitude of 5G services in more efficient, secure, resilient and sustainable ways,” but no mobile generation lights up with a flick of a switch.

6G is being built on the shoulders of 5G and in particular 5G-Advanced. Patent developer InterDigital, another company with a vested interest in 6G, says 3GPP Release 20 serves as the “pivotal link” between 5G-Advanced and 6G.

“Many of the innovations that will eventually rely on 6G capabilities will first be developed and tested on 5G networks,” says Johan Lundsjö, Research Director Communication, Ericsson Research. “5G is where we experiment, learn, and create new services that will later evolve to take full advantage of 6G’s enhanced capabilities.”

Spectrum sharing between 5G and 6G will allow both systems to operate efficiently side by side. At MWC, Ericsson and Apple demonstrated 5G and 6G spectrum sharing. With semiconductor maker MediaTek, Ericsson also showed how the low latency features of 6G could deliver AI-enhanced XR.

At a time when geopolitics is splintering, not uniting, there is also concern at government level that their country not fall behind rivals when it comes to the latest tech. That holds true for AI and robotics, where multinationals and militaries are scrambling to gain an edge, as it does for 6G where significant early rollouts are expected in China and the Gulf states, as well as Japan, South Korea, the US and India. 

It means there is additional pressure on national carriers to invest in spectrum and kit out their infrastructure.

The key question is not whether 6G will arrive, because it most certainly will, but whether it will solve problems that genuinely matter. The lesson from 5G is not that generational shifts fail. It is that expectations can run ahead of commercial reality.