With Niantic on its side, Qualcomm might have a real chance at bringing mixed reality AR to consumers
Qualcomm and Niantic Labs, the creator of popular mobile augmented reality games Pokemon Go and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, are partnering to develop mixed reality AR glasses. The collaboration will combine Qualcomm’s dedicated mixed reality chipset Snapdragon XR2 mobile platform with Niantic’s Real World Platform to enable world-scale AR games.
According to the chipmaker, the recently announced Snapdragon XR2 mobile platform offers twice the CPU and GPU performance of the 835, over 11 times faster artificial intelligence processing, six times the video resolution support, and four times the video bandwidth that the previous model, the Snapdragon XR1. It also supports up to seven concurrent cameras, which could be used for traditional head tracking, but also eye and facial tracking, as well.
In addition, the new version supports 5G connectivity and allows for voice-based interaction, eye tracking, and passthrough camera capabilities.
While Qualcomm’s chips already power headsets like Microsoft’s HoloLens and the industry has been interested in the concept for some time, no consumer AR headset has achieved mainstream popularity. AR is taking its time coming to fruition, and even when it does, it tends to be in specialized enterprise hardware rather than consumer products.
However, with Niantic, the developer of a multi-billion-dollar AR consumer product, on its side, Qualcomm might have a real chance at bringing AR to consumers on a large scale.
Niantic has been impressively successful in this field, and last month, the company Niantic established its own Creator Program and Beyond Reality Fund to help spread that success to third-party developers. The $10 million fund will be used to invest in promising location-based and augmented reality projects that use its platform.
Kellee Santiago, head of developer relations at Niantic said that developers can apply for funding, and if selected, they will receive funding, tools, and other help from Niantic. The company also stated that access to the Qualcomm-Niantic hardware will be included in the Creator Program “when available.”
Niantic co-founder and CTO Phil Keslin commented that he hopes the partnership with Qualcomm will help “move the entire AR industry forward.”
