Qualcomm Unveils XR1 Reference Platform For Futuristic Smart AR Glasses
Rather than spending money on multiple monitors or even a whole PC, enterprise and private consumers could invest in mobile or PC-powered augmented reality (AR). This would allow for more data to be viewed and utilized while working wherever someone finds themselves. While Lenovo unveiled the ThinkReality A3 glasses, it sadly seems the overall mass market growth and adoption of AR has been slow. Thankfully, Qualcomm is stepping in to give the market a boost with a new AR viewer reference design.
The new Qualcomm XR1 AR Smart Viewer reference design is Qualcomm’s way to “deliver high-performance, immersive experiences, and lower power consumption” in an AR platform. The design was created with connectivity in mind, with the capability to connect to a compatible smartphone, Windows PC, or processing puck made for the AR viewer. Moreover, the AR viewer was designed with processing in mind and allowed a “30% reduction in overall power consumption on the system,” compared to a simple AR viewer with no processing done onboard.
Besides the connectivity and horsepower inside, the reference design features dual monochrome cameras, which provide six-degrees of freedom (6DoF) head tracking and hand tracking with “gesture recognition.” As for other specs, this is the minimum one could expect from a company that uses the design:
Ultimately, Qualcomm’s big push for AR viewers could help mass adoption by reducing research and development costs for companies, thus lowering the barrier to entry. It will be exciting to see which companies in Qualcomm’s repertoire of partners take the design and run with it, so keep an eye on HotHardware for updates on the future of AR.
