Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1 platform, a custom chipset design for AR (Augmented Reality) glasses.
The latest chipset is part of the company’s XR (extended reality) family and was introduced alongside the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 flagship chipset and Qualcomm S3 and S5 Gen 2 chipsets at Snapdragon Summit 2022.
Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1
The Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1 uses a multi-chip architecture that includes an AR processor, an AR co-processor, and a connectivity platform. This is to help AR glasses maintain better balance and weight as well as decrease the arm width on either side of the glasses.
- AR processor handles perception and display ouput. This includes 6DoF and hand tracking with support for up to 9 cameras and an AI accelerator to reduce latency.
- AR co-processor takes care of sensor aggregation, iris authentication for rendering, and AI and computer vision.
- The Connectivity platform offers low latency of as low as 2ms, lower power, and support for Wi-Fi 7 thanks to the FastConnect 7800 system.
The company has managed to keep power usage under control and is said to power AR glasses while using less than 1W power.
Latency-sensitive tasks are handled on the glasses, while performance-heavy tasks are passed on to a Snapdragon-powered device or a PC.
Qualcomm worked closely with Microsoft while developing the Snapdragon AR2 platform. Among the companies that were mentioned to be developing glasses powered by the new chipset include Lenovo, LG, OPPO, QONOQ, Sharp, TCL, and Xiaomi.
Ram found his love and appreciation for writing in 2015 having started in the gaming and esports sphere for GG Network. He would then transition to focus more on the world of tech which has also began his journey into learning more about this world. That said though, he still has the mentality of "as long as it works" for his personal gadgets.
