Qualcomm has unveiled the latest version of its pair of augmented reality glasses, the awkwardly named Wireless AR Smart Viewer Reference Design.
This name will probably change when the glasses are officially launched as the Smart Viewer is currently still in the prototype stage. Previous iterations glasses had to be connected to a smartphone via a USB cable. Over time, the design has been refined so that Smart Viewer is now wireless thanks to the FastConnect 6900 system.
It’s unclear how far the old software or user interface will arrive on the new Smart Viewer. An old trailer showed that the Smart Viewer UI has floating menus decorated with popular apps and category tabs on the left side. But Qualcomm has shared some of the new Smart Viewer hardware.
Hardware specifications
The glasses were designed by Chinese tech company Goertek, the same company working on the PSVR 2. Qualcomm claims Goertek’s new design is 40% thinner than previous models and has a better balance of weight for a better fit. comfortable.
The lens itself is a pair of micro-OLED displays that output Full HD with a 90Hz frame rate. Qualcomm specifically mentions that the Smart Viewer lacks motion blur for “a seamless AR experience”. On the outside are three cameras, two monochrome with one color, which can track head and hand movements.
And it’s all powered by the Snapdragon XR2 platform. Hardware aside, Qualcomm doesn’t say how much of the XR2 chipset will feature on the Smart Viewer. The curiosity is justified. considering all the XR2 can do: 5G connectivity, 8K video and context awareness to name a few.
New chipsets
The aforementioned FastConnect 6900 is a chipset that enables Wi-Fi 6/6E and supports Bluetooth 5.3. Qualcomm says the 6900 system can handle internet speeds of up to 3.6 Gbps.
In the Smart Viewer, the 6900 will be paired with the FastConnect XR software suite. Together they are supposed to reduce latency and interference between the glasses and their connection.
No launch date or battery life information was provided. Although with so much going on, it’s hard to imagine the Smart Viewer’s battery life being that long. It will be interesting to see the Smart Viewer in action when the time comes.
Alongside the Smart Viewer, Qualcomm also revealed an upgrade to its smartphone chipset, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 mobile platform which the company claims has a 10% faster processor.
Curious to know what other VR headset manufacturers are doing? Check out this update on Meta’s Cambria project.