How we work, how we live, how we learn, how we experience the world. This year everything went online, and for CES 2021—the first virtual CES—Verizon announced the arrival of 5G: a technology that premiered in 2019 and has since been integrated into almost every facet of our daily lives, often without us realizing its existence or its tremendous potential.

As the opening video for Verizon’s keynote, we wanted to show how our 5G network had performed and adapted to the intense changes that had happened throughout a year in which everything had gone digital, while eliciting the powerful feeling that comes from knowing what connects us is stronger than what keeps us apart.

On tech’s biggest stage, we brought 5G data to life for an audience of millions, and showed that the 5G future CES had been waiting for had finally arrived.

The purpose of CES is to connect tech’s most influential people with the latest developments in the field.

The brief was to evoke the wonder and possibility of 5G and to announce the arrival of a new digital world powered by our network, alongside seven partnerships in areas ranging from sports to art, for millions of viewers watching from around the world. All in the middle of a global pandemic.

We created a new visual language for connectivity out of 5G data. We used inputs from our 5G network—from cities, traffic, telemedicine, classroom learning, and live events—and reimagined them. We knew that no one but Verizon could bring this story to life, because we had seen it developed firsthand. And we used this to create a more poetic visualization of data.

Through this new visual language, we were able to peek inside the network for the first time. Coupled with real-life footage, we showed how 5G enabled the brand new way we experienced live sports, concerts, and everything else throughout 2020, helping to build a new imagination for the power of 5G.

The result was a film that kicked off the keynote with the theme of “Arrival” for 5G Ultra Wideband—the idea being that in 2019 we said 5G was the future, and in 2021 that 5G future had finally arrived.

Ultimately, this view of connectivity told a larger story of what had changed in 2020, and what was suddenly possible with our 5G network. And we wanted to share that vision with CES.