Qualcomm Technologies Inc. revealed Today announced a new chipset platform for augmented reality glasses, the Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1 Platform, to power the next generation of wearables and make them lighter and less powered.
The chipmaker unveiled the new platform during this year’s Snapdragon Summit after announcing its next flagship mobile chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which focuses on performance for AI-related tasks and adds new connectivity capabilities.
Qualcomm said the new AR2 chipset is specifically designed for augmented reality and is designed to help create the thinnest wearable technology. As a result, it is a multi-chip distributed technology, not a single-chip chipset. As a result, the entire platform can be placed all around the glass, distributing processing, dissipating heat, and reducing the face-worn form factor.
This allows for better weight distribution and reduces the width of the eyeglass arms on either side of the face. The various chips are optimized for co-processing and include an AR coprocessor for perception and display output, and an AR co-processor that handles sensor assembly, artificial intelligence and computer vision. There’s also a low-power Wi-Fi 7 connectivity chip, providing low-latency connectivity in smartphones and other host devices.
“We designed Snapdragon AR2 to address the unique challenges of insidious augmented reality and deliver industry-leading processing, AI and connectivity that can fit into a sleek form factor,” said Hugo Swart, vice president of XR Product Management at Qualcomm Corporation.
The chipset combines the Hexagon Tensor processor for 2.5 times higher performance in AI processing than the XR2 chipset, designed for mixed reality and virtual reality headsets. AR2 also has the ability to reduce power by 50%, and its circuit boards are 40% smaller, allowing for the production of smaller and sleeker augmented reality wearables.
Since the technical needs of augmented reality differ from virtual reality, Swart explained, Qualcomm wants to stay ahead of the curve for device makers and that Snapdragon AR2 is the platform that will give them the foundation they need to build on in the future.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 unveiled
Qualcomm has also pulled back the curtain again Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile chipset late Tuesday. It is an updated Hexagon processor with better AI processing performance for better image processing and support for 5G and Wi-Fi 7 networks.
The Gen 2 Kyro 2 CPU of the new chipset is claimed to have 35% faster performance and 40% better power efficiency. Thanks to improvements in multithreading performance improvements it can reach speeds of up to 3.2GHz. New GPU capable of 25% faster graphics rendering. The processor is built on the same four-nanometer chip production process as the Gen 1.
Qualcomm also said it has improved its Hexagon processor overall to boost AI performance up to 4.35 times faster than the previous generation. This should help with common AI tasks like translating between languages in real time.
For connectivity, Gen 2 features Wi-Fi 7 capability, which will provide ultra-low latency for wearables and other systems like VR and AR headsets — more than twice the speeds of Wi-Fi 6. It also has AI-powered Snapdragon X70 modem, announced in February, which includes an AI processor for greatly improved 5G network speeds. In addition, the modem allows the use of two active 5G SIM cards, allowing users to connect to two 5G networks at the same time.
The chipset allows for spatial audio with dynamic head tracking as well. This means that wherever users move their heads, sound follows, allowing for immersive listening experiences. Audio streaming can support lossless music streaming up to 48kHz. The microphone latency can be up to 48ms.
Qualcomm said the new chipsets will start arriving in devices sometime before the end of 2022, and its list of partners includes Oppo, Motorola and Republic of Gamers.
Originally posted 2022-11-17 09:45:44.