Qualcomm unveils next-gen MR, VR devices based on Snapdragon platform - ComputerWeekly.com

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New premium-tier extended world level is said to present 50% higher sustained powerfulness and 30% improved thermal performance to alteration much immersive metaverse experiences successful smaller, lighter signifier factors

Joe O’Halloran

Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Published: 12 Oct 2022 13:19

Just arsenic Meta was announcing products, services and partnerships that it hopes volition physique the ground of the brave caller immersive satellite of the future, wireless exertion elephantine Qualcomm has announced its latest premium-tier extended world (XR) platform, Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 1, which it says volition substance the adjacent procreation of mixed and virtual world (MR and VR) devices, boasting caller powerfulness and thermal improvements and that are attributed with allowing OEMs to present richer metaverse experiences packed into a lighter signifier factor.

With a caller level configuration enabling amended vigor dissipation, Qualcomm says “significant” show headroom has been created to execute 50% higher sustained powerfulness and 30% improved thermal performance. This, says the company, allows much concurrent multimedia and cognition technologies to beryllium utilised simultaneously, enabling full-sensory interactions, specified arsenic creating life-like quality expressions successful the metaverse, without compromising signifier factor.

In presumption of mixed world experiences, the Snapdragon XR2+ level introduces a caller representation processing pipeline which Qualcomm has measured arsenic achieving little than 10ms latency to unlock superior full-colour video pass-through MR experiences. The level enables concurrent cognition technologies, including head, manus and controller tracking, 3D reconstruction, arsenic good arsenic low-latency video pass-through.

Seven concurrent cameras let the carnal and virtual worlds to blend into an all-encompassing MR experience done video pass-through alongside precise question tracking and automatic country mapping. Qualcomm besides claims that the platform’s precocious pixel density brings PC-quality virtual landscapes to life, portion providing enactment for aggregate sensors and cameras that springiness nuanced facial expressions to much realistic avatars.

Multiple OEMs person committed to commercialising devices powered by Snapdragon XR2+ and these volition beryllium announced by the extremity of 2022.

The announcement of supporting the metaverse comes after Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon gave a keynote astatine IFA 2022 noting that exertion show changes successful the Snapdragon were seen arsenic the bedrock successful supporting applications specified arsenic augmented and mixed reality, which helium said would beryllium the adjacent computing platform, yet increasing to beryllium arsenic almighty and arsenic large arsenic the smartphone market.

Aiming to pat into the maturation accidental successful this area, Amon announced that Qualcomm had entered into a multi-year strategical concern with Meta to make premium and customized experiences with customized products that volition leverage Snapdragon and XR.

The announcement came conscionable aft Meta revealed it was striking a concern with Microsoft to present immersive experiences for the aboriginal of the workplace. The companies said that arsenic firms and employees settee into caller enactment norms post-pandemic, they are surviving done a once-in-a-lifetime displacement successful enactment patterns.

With this successful mind, Microsoft said it was announcing respective ways successful which it was partnering with Meta to supply customers with much prime and information arsenic they task into the metaverse. The archetypal portion of this was bringing Mesh for Microsoft Teams to Meta Quest devices. This is designed to assistance radical stitchery virtually successful the spot wherever enactment happens connected immoderate device, including smartphones, laptops and mixed-reality headsets. Mesh for Teams with Meta Quest Pro and Meta Quest 2 devices volition alteration radical to link and collaborate arsenic though they are unneurotic successful person.

Bola Rotibi, main of endeavor probe astatine CCS Insight, commented: “This is hugely important fixed however pervasive Microsoft products are successful the workplace. We expect this volition beryllium a catalyst for galore companies to dip a toed successful the h2o connected however virtual and augmented world exertion tin beryllium utilized successful mundane business.

“These announcements underline Mark Zuckerberg’s determination to marque the metaverse a credible domain for the enterprise. It’s an important adjacent step, fixed astir of the colonisation automatically subordinate virtual world with gaming and user applications.”