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[industry-direct]-snapdragon-spaces-expands-support-for-the-next-generation-of-mr-devices

[Industry Direct] Snapdragon Spaces Expands Support for the Next Generation of MR Devices

Industry Direct by the Snapdragon Spaces Team

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It’s clear that we’re undergoing another massive shift on how we connect, play, work and interact with the world around us. More specifically, a shift on the devices we use every day.

Mixed reality (MR) is taking the world by storm and headworn devices are quickly winning the hearts (and habits) of consumers. Extended Reality (XR) devices are getting lighter, sleeker, and more performant providing unprecedented immersive experiences. New players in the market means a boost for the industry and more options for developers looking to create the next generation of AR, VR and MR apps and experiences.

A New Wave of MR Devices and Experiences

At AWE 2023 (Augmented World Expo), Qualcomm announced that Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform now supports the new generation of MR devices, including Lenovo’s ThinkReality VRX, Oppo’s new MR Glass Developer Edition, all-in-one AR devices from DigiLens, TCL RayNeo, and other prominent headworn devices expected to be released later this year. Powered by Snapdragon chipsets purposefully built for XR, these devices are a game changer for developers looking to combine computer vision, AI, and 5G capabilities to build immersive and ultra-realistic experiences.

By expanding the perception technology stack from AR to MR, Snapdragon Spaces enables more developers to push the boundaries of reality, all thanks to the video passthrough capabilities combined with features that seamlessly understand environments and users.

With the wide variety of devices available and soon to be available in the market, developers can reap the benefits from working with a platform that is based on OpenXR. Snapdragon Spaces enables developers to easily deploy applications across multiple devices while being part of an open and rapidly growing ecosystem.

Strong Momentum for XR Developers

Developers are in the driver’s seat leading, disrupting and creating this new era of spatial computing.

Hugo Swart, VP and GM of XR, highlighted the incredible traction the Snapdragon Spaces ecosystem is getting: thousands of developers have joined the Snapdragon Spaces community, more than 80 members have joined Snapdragon Spaces Pathfinder Program, three new Metaverse Fund venture investments and an inaugural group of 10 companies joining the Niantic Lightship and Snapdragon Spaces developer initiative.

The platform has been a critical building block for developers across productivity, gaming and entertainment, health, education, training and other verticals to deliver innovative apps based on the world’s most popular development engines: Unity and Unreal.

Get Started with Snapdragon Spaces

The XR market is about to experience a huge influx of content, applications, new devices and increased adoption.

Snapdragon Spaces continues to expand and create an open ecosystem that enables developers to pioneer innovative experiences for the next generation of immersive technology. For developers who want to help build this new era of spatial computing, check out Snapdragon Spaces.

[Industry Direct] Snapdragon Spaces Expands Support for the Next Generation of MR Devices Read More »

qualcomm-partners-with-7-major-telecoms-to-advance-smartphone-tethered-ar-glasses

Qualcomm Partners with 7 Major Telecoms to Advance Smartphone-tethered AR Glasses

Qualcomm announced at Mobile World Congress (MWC) today it’s partnering with seven global telecommunication companies in preparation for the next generation of AR glasses which are set to work directly with the user’s smartphone.

Partners include CMCC, Deutsche Telekom, KDDI Corporation, NTT QONOQ, T-Mobile, Telefonica, and Vodafone, which are said to currently be working with Qualcomm on new XR devices, experiences, and developer initiatives, including Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Spaces XR developer platform.

Qualcomm announced Snapdragon Spaces in late 2021, a software tool kit which focuses on performance and low power devices which allows developers to create head-worn AR experiences from the ground-up or by adding head-worn AR to existing smartphone apps.

Qualcomm and Japan’s KDDI Corporation also announced a multi-year collaboration which it says will focus on the expansion of XR use cases and creation of a developer program in Japan.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm says OEMs are designing “a new wave of devices for operators and beyond” such as the newly unveiled Xiaomi Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition, OPPO’s new Mixed Reality device and OnePlus 11 5G smartphone.

At least in Xiaomi’s case, its Wireless AR Glass headset streams data from compatible smartphones. Effectively offloading computation to the smartphone, the company’s 126g headset boasts a wireless latency of as low as 3ms between the smartphone device to the glasses, and a wireless connection with full link latency as low as 50ms which is comparable to wired solution.

Qualcomm Partners with 7 Major Telecoms to Advance Smartphone-tethered AR Glasses Read More »