Qualcomm Announces XR1 AR Smart Viewer Reference Design

Chipmaker Qualcomm has introduced a new augmented reality glasses reference design: an AR ‘smart viewer’ that you can connect to a phone or computer via USB-C. Called the XR1 Smart Viewer, the system is meant to be lightweight and looks like sunglasses, while also enabling features such as hand tracking and spatial awareness. The first glasses, based on the design, will be issued in mid-2021.

The XR1 is designed as a consumer-oriented “must-have accessory” for phones and computers, rather than a standalone product. It uses two 1920 x 1080 OLED screens with a 90Hz refresh rate, plus a variety of cameras, to add virtual real-world coverage. The camera system can also support manual detection as a control scheme, and it can detect planes in the area so you can do things like attach a virtual window to a wall for multiple computer screens – or a virtual object on a table can place with it through gesture controls. However, like most AR glasses, they have a relatively limited field of view of 45 degrees, which is about the same as the Microsoft HoloLens 2.

Qualcomm

Lenovo has already announced a product based on the XR1 Smart Viewer reference design: the ThinkReality A3 glasses that were introduced at CES earlier this year. ThinkReality A3 glasses are available by mid-2021 at an unlisted price, and they follow on the lending agent A6 headphones from Lenovo from 2019.

The XR1 Smart Viewer is different from the Snapdragon XR1 or XR2 platforms – a few slides optimized for virtual and augmented reality glasses, including last year’s XR2-based Oculus Quest 2. Designed to perform tasks using built-in electronics, but it downloads other tasks to an external computer device, enabling a lighter design.

Qualcomm has been campaigning for AR glasses for the past few years, which it says could boost the emerging 5G cellular market by popularizing high-bandwidth mixed-reality apps. It was previously a partnership with Chinese company Nreal on the Nreal Light, one of the only consumer-oriented AR viewers – which connects to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 or 865-powered phone. The Nreal Light was launched in Korea and Japan late last year, and yesterday Nreal announced that it will arrive in the European Union and the US later this year.

So far, AR glasses have struggled to reach the mainstream. However, the ThinkReality A3 and any other XR1 Smart Viewer-based products may eventually compete with some big companies. Facebook announced its impending entry into AR hardware last year and plans to release a set of Ray-Ban glasses with limited AR-like features later in 2021. According to Apple, high-end AR / VR headphones are also made for this purpose. in building a developer ecosystem.