Qualcomm cuts the AR cord

Qualcomm announced another milestone in making extended reality (XR) the next computing platform with the Wireless AR Smart Viewer reference design, powered by the Snapdragon XR2 Platform. The cord-free reference design helps OEMs and ODMs more seamlessly and cost-efficiently prototype and bring to market lightweight, premium AR glasses to enable immersive experiences that unlock the metaverse. 

Greater Performance, Sleeker Device: The purpose-built, premium Snapdragon XR2 Platform now packs powerful performance into a slim, smaller AR glass form factor. The AR reference design hardware, developed by Goertek, has a 40% thinner profile and a more ergonomically balanced weight distribution for increased comfort. SeeYA provides the dual micro-OLED binocular display enabling 1920 x 1080 per eye and frame rates up to 90Hz and a no-motion-blur feature to deliver a seamless AR experience. Dual monochrome cameras and one RGB camera on the smart viewer enable six degrees of freedom (6DoF) head tracking and hand tracking with gesture recognition to achieve AR precision.

Wireless Without Compromise: Taking a system-level approach, the reference design enables a wireless split processing architecture to distribute computing workloads between the smartphone and the AR glass. To achieve truly immersive AR experiences, the device obtains < 3ms latency between the smartphone and AR glass. With the FastConnect 6900 solution, the reference design offers uncompromising Wi-Fi 6 / 6E and Bluetooth connectivity, allowing users to receive the fastest commercially available speeds and increased range. Paired with the new FastConnect XR Software Suite system integrators and application developers obtain optimised features that:

• Allow better control and preferential channel access for XR traffic to improve M2R2P (motion to-render-to-photon) latency, reduce jitter, and avoid unwanted interference.
• Include purpose-built power modes for low power operation, without impacting latency performance for longer, sustained XR experiences. Through the pairing of premium technology and form factor innovation, Qualcomm Technologies will continue to enable the diverse consumer and enterprise needs to help scale AR to the masses. The Wireless AR Smart Viewer reference design is available for select partners, with wider availability expected in the coming months.