Direct from Hawaii – On Wednesday (16), Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1, a set of chips intended for augmented reality glasses. According to the company, this platform will be used by Xiaomi, Lenovo, LG and more manufacturers.
Chances are you can’t take a metaverse or plan to buy a virtual reality headset anymore. Even so, the subject remains in the mouths of companies and had its place at the Snapdragon Summit.
Before proceeding, it is worth explaining (or remembering, for those who already know) the difference between virtual reality and augmented reality. The first “creates” an entirely new scenario around the user, on the headset display; the second just overlaps some elements to the real world, using the lenses of a glasses.
As you can imagine, augmented reality requires less processing than virtual reality. And that’s exactly where the AR2 Gen 1 comes in: it’s a platform that uses less energy and is lighter than the XR2 Gen 1, to be worn in glasses, not headsets.
It is manufactured with 4 nm process, as well as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Compared to the XR2 Gen 1, it has 2.5 times better artificial intelligence performance, expends half the energy and occupies a 40% smaller area.
A chip for comfortable glasses
The AR2 Gen 1 consists of three chips: an augmented reality processor, a coprocessor, and a connectivity chip. Two are on the rods of the glasses, and one is in the connection between the lenses.
Thus, the weight is distributed, and it is possible to create comfortable and beautiful frames. Qualcomm says the idea is that accessories can be used for long periods without tires.
Part of the task is left to a host device, which can be a smartphone or a PC, for example.