Qualcomm unveils world’s first purpose-built headworn AR platform for AR glasses

Qualcomm has unveiled the Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1 Platform, the world's first purpose-built headworn augmented reality (AR) platform, that will unlock a new generation of sleek, highly capable glasses.

"We built Snapdragon AR2 to address the unique challenges of headworn. With the technical and physical requirements for VR/MR and AR diverging, Snapdragon AR2 represents another metaverse-defining platform in our XR portfolio to help our OEM partners revolutionize AR glasses," said Hugo Swart, vice president of XR product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

The multi-chip architecture, as the company claims, delivers 2.5x better AI performance while consuming 50% less power to help achieve AR glasses that consume <1W power, enabling rich AR experiences on glasses that can be comfortably worn for extended periods of time.

Snapdragon AR2's multi-chip architecture includes:

• AR processor - It is optimized for low motion-to-photon latency while supporting up to nine (9) concurrent cameras for user and environmental understanding.
• AR co-processor - It aggregates camera and sensor data and enables eye tracking and iris authentication for foveated rendering, to optimize workloads only where the user is looking.
• Connectivity platform - Utilizing Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 connectivity system, it unlocks the world's fastest Wi-Fi 7 technology available and reaches <2ms latency between the AR glasses and the smartphone/host device.

"Snapdragon AR2 platform innovations will revolutionize headworn AR devices that will transform immersive productivity and collaboration and we look forward to seeing the innovation that Qualcomm and its partners will bring to market," said Rubén Caballero, Corporate Vice President of Mixed Reality, Devices & Technology, Microsoft.