Qualcomm on Wednesday introduced a new chip which the company says will help evolve the augmented reality ecosystem and expand the market for smart glasses. Announced at a media event in Hawaii, the Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1 is a processor specifically designed for AR glasses that will bring information from your phone to your face. The Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1 uses a multi-chip architecture that includes an AR processor, AR co-processor and connectivity all rolled into one chip. The chip titan says the processor has a dedicated hardware acceleration engine that improves user motion tracking and localisation. Specifically made for the headworn glass form factor, the AR glasses powered by the new chip will work in tandem with a Snapdragon-powered smartphone and PC. The Snapdragon AR2 platform will be used by companies like Lenovo and Xiaomi in their upcoming AR glasses. Tech companies like Qualcomm and Meta are promising a revolution in Extended reality (XR), an emerging technology that will play a key role in the metaverse. A “metaverse” is a shared, open, virtual and augmented-reality version of the internet. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg changed the name of its company from “Facebook” to “Meta” to reflect the direction the social media giant is taking. Despite a lot of backlash, Zuckerberg is committed to investing billions of dollars in the metaverse. Extended reality (XR) consists of virtual reality (VR), Augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR). Out of all three categories, AR is seen as the most promising. Augmented reality is the technology that expands our physical world, adding layers of digital information on top of it. AR glasses, unlike VR headsets, are lightweight and can be worn all day. Experts say AR glasses will likely replace smartphones and will become a central role in our digital lives in the next decade. Apple says AR is the future, but we are yet to see Augmented reality glasses from the Cupertino giant. Insiders predict the true metaverse will start to shape in 2024 when major brands start releasing stylish and comfortable AR wear.
