Qualcomm's New AR Chips Point to a New Generation of Smart Glasses - CNET

Amid a recent uptick successful VR headsets, Qualcomm's latest spot announcement hints that the adjacent merchandise question could beryllium AR glasses. At the company's caller chip-focused event, the newest Snapdragon telephone processors were announced, on with a brand-new enactment of AR glasses-optimized chips that constituent to a adjacent question of precocious smartglasses expected to get betwixt 2023 and 2025, with imaginable features including oculus tracking, manus tracking and wireless streaming to phones oregon from the cloud.

The Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1 is simply a antithetic benignant of level than the company's top-end XR2 processor, which is already successful standalone VR headsets similar the Meta Quest 2 and Pico 4. The AR2 focuses much connected camera and sensor-based processing than connected graphics, aiming to amended artillery beingness connected smaller glasses. The plan is divided into 3 co-processors, which are meant to unrecorded successful each limb of a brace of smartglasses and besides supra the bridge. It's meant to chopped down connected wires and trim overheating connected aboriginal glasses designs.

Glasses utilizing the AR2 Gen 1 whitethorn beryllium a batch faster astatine utilizing cameras for scanning and extent sensing: Qualcomm is promising faster AI for things similar entity designation and manus tracking than adjacent the XR2 spot recovered connected headsets specified arsenic the Quest 2, but utilizing fractional arsenic overmuch powerfulness arsenic the XR2 chip. There's obscurity to fell a large artillery connected a normal-ish brace of glasses, which is wherefore the AR2 Gen 1 aims to beryllium businesslike successful ways that are reminiscent of the needs of wearables similar smartwatches.

The AR2 Gen 1 chips are designed to dispersed crossed AR glasses, surviving successful each limb and connected the span to trim bulk and heat.

Qualcomm

The AR2 Gen 1 spot won't beryllium utilized for accepted VR headsets. According to Qualcomm, the solution and tract of presumption successful AR glasses utilizing these caller chips won't beryllium arsenic bully arsenic what existent VR is susceptible of. Existing AR glasses and headsets thin to person smaller viewing areas and trust connected occasional pop-up graphics, versus the expansive full-field graphics and displays VR needs.

Qualcomm is leaning heavy connected phones, computers and the unreality to bash a batch of the dense lifting for these aboriginal glasses. The chipset includes Wi-Fi 7, and a scope of phones moving Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips and the Snapdragon Spaces bundle level could beryllium utilized to wirelessly process AR graphics for these glasses. Essentially they're wearable peripherals, though the glasses could bash immoderate things connected their own, too.

Eye tracking connected the glasses comes with enactment for iris authentication, which is handled on-glasses with a dedicated information chip. How that gets utilized by different manufacturers, however, remains to beryllium seen.

Qualcomm's already announced a question of acquainted tech names that are onboard to marque AR glasses with the AR2 chip, including Lenovo, LG, Niantic, NReal, Oppo, Pico, NTT Qonoq, Rokid, Sharp, TCL, Vuzix and Mi. Microsoft and Adobe are besides moving connected making their bundle platforms cross-compatible, which mirrors caller concern quality with Meta earlier this year.

Partnerships are necessary, particularly for devices similar astute glasses that are trying to beryllium utile tools successful a satellite of already well-connected phones, computers, wearables and astute location gear. Microsoft has already announced a concern with Qualcomm connected aboriginal AR glasses chips earlier this year, and the AR2 Gen 1 looks similar it'll beryllium a portion of that improvement beyond the expensive, business-focused HoloLens 2. 

Qualcomm antecedently worked connected chips for existing AR headsets and astute glasses, including the NReal Light, Lenovo's ThinkReality A3 and Meta's Ray-Ban Stories. However, Qualcomm's caput of XR, Hugo Swart, indicated successful a briefing with reporters that existent efforts haven't been bully capable astatine moving agelong capable connected a azygous artillery complaint to beryllium useful. (Battery beingness connected astir each existing VR and AR headsets tends to beryllium nether 2 hours astatine best.)

Dreams of the metaverse are, for the moment, held backmost arsenic by hardware and software. While VR headsets are dilatory adding AR-like features utilizing passthrough cameras, similar successful the Meta Quest Pro, determination aren't immoderate all-day AR glasses that are actually immoderate good, though immoderate headsets similar the Magic Leap 2 are trying to get person to being utile for applicable concern uses. Perhaps Meta, which has been promising its ain AR glasses for years, volition thin connected the AR2 Gen 1 arsenic good for a aboriginal product. 

There's thing disposable yet that resembles the eyeglass tech sci-fi writers person been dreaming of for decades. Qualcomm's caller chips whitethorn not pb to cleanable AR glasses, but these chips whitethorn pb to improved, wireless glasses of the benignant that haven't existed previously. Maybe this question of AR2 Gen 1-enabled glasses could beryllium the commencement of the existent AR eyewear we've been waiting for.