Qualcomm has introduced the Snapdragon XR1, a chip designed for XR headsets. The manufacturer is concerned with the announcement of the features of the platform and what is feasible, less technical details of the SoCs. Therefore, Qualcomm says only that Kryo cores and an Adreno graphics unit are installed and Snapdragon XR1 has less power than the Snapdragon 845 – but the new is cheaper.
This is important because most previous VR headsets are comparatively expensive. Only models such as Facebook’s Oculus Go (test) for 220 euros or the available in China HTC Vive Focus have such a low price point with the good user experience. The Snapdragon XR1 is designed for Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, Virtual Reality or short Extended Reality – it, therefore, integrates a variety of functions.
In short, it seems to be an optimized Snapdragon 820/821 successor, a SoC without a modem. Key features include support for higher-resolution OLED panels, 60-fps 4K content playback, three-dimensional HRTF sound, voice input, headset positional tracking support, and 3DoF / 6DoF controller support. Also included is artificial intelligence, so Qualcomm calls at least the running on CPU, DSP, and GPU Algoritmen to help detect objects or to predict movements.
The Snapdragon XR1 is addressed via the XR SDK. Partners such as HTC, Meta, Pico, and Vuzix already have initial system-on-a-chip patterns and are working on matching eyewear for extended reality or head-mounted displays for virtual reality. Some of them are due to appear in 2018. Citing IDC’s research, the company expects the base for installing standalone headsets like the HTC Vive Focus and Oculus will reach 186 million by 2023.
On paper all really very interesting, especially because with this versatility the platform focuses on entertainment as well as in areas such as training, customer care, and manufacturing. For now, however, hardware details are scarce. We will see in the coming months what producers will be convinced by Snapdragon XR1 for VR and AR future generation.
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