The chip manufacturer Qualcomm presented its first augmented reality device — Snapdragon XR1 AR Smart Viewer — glasses that can be connected to our mobile or computer to offer real-time graphics that we see directly in the lenses.
These glasses show monochrome graphics on both lenses, thanks to micro-OLED screens capable of displaying texts, three-dimensional graphics, and data that seem to ‘float’ before our eyes.
The effect should be similar to that of holograms in science fiction movies, with the difference that we can only see them with glasses on; Plus, it should be smooth, as the refresh rate is 90 Hz and includes technology to eliminate motion blur.
The glasses are based on the Snapdragon XR1 platform, a chip with low energy consumption and therefore ideal for glasses since it is not necessary to integrate a large battery to achieve an acceptable duration.
Indeed, one of the strengths of the XR1 is the split processing, which means that the glasses do not do all the work. The processes can be distributed between the XR1 and the processor of a mobile phone associated with the glasses; Thus, it is possible to reduce the energy consumption of the glasses by 30% in total, obtaining at the same time a higher processing speed.
This project is a reference design, and therefore, it will not reach the market, and we will not be able to buy it. Instead, it is intended so that other manufacturers can use it as a basis for creating their own devices.
The glasses have been designed by Goertek with the purpose of offering manufacturers a way to develop and scale their own devices without having to start from scratch.
In fact, Qualcomm boasts that this design is already in the hands of some “selected partners”, implying that there are already devices in development based on it.
