Samsung and Google jump on board Qualcomm’s latest mixed reality architecture

The Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 is a single chip architecture that supports 4.3K spatial computing at 90 frames per second and 12 or more concurrent cameras, which is all in the service of delivering ‘crisp, immersive mixed reality (MR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences,’ so goes the release.

 It’s an update on the plain old Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 announced in September last year. The newer '+' version has a 15% higher GPU frequency and 20% higher CPU frequency. Together with an on-device AI, this is supposed to enable devices to better track the user, their movements, and the real world as they navigate VR, MR and AR environments.

“Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 unlocks 4.3K resolution which will take XR productivity and entertainment to the next level by bringing spectacularly clear visuals to use cases such as room-scale screens, life-size overlays and virtual desktops,” said Hugo Swart, vice president and general manager of XR, Qualcomm. “We are advancing our commitment to power the best XR devices and experiences that will supercharge our immersive future.”

Samsung and Google will ‘provide leading XR experiences’ via the chipset, while Qualcomm has also unveiled a new MR and VR reference design developed by Goertek which features eye tracking technology from Tobii, which is supposed to help accelerate time to market for OEMs looking to make use of the tech.

“We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies and Samsung on the future of immersive and spatial XR,” said Shahram Izadi, vice president of AR at Google. “We’re excited for the Android ecosystem to take advantage of Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2’s capabilities and enable new experiences.” 

Inkang Song, vice president and head of technology strategy team at Samsung added: “Samsung is thrilled to collaborate with Qualcomm Technologies and Google in revolutionizing the mobile industry once more. With Samsung's mobile expertise and our joint commitment, we aim to create the best-in-class XR experience for Galaxy users.”

The mass adoption of VR/MR/XR/AR headsets remains relatively modest, but as the tech world ramps up for CES next week there is bound to be a lot of that sort of thing being shown off in the halls of the Las Vegas convention centre, so perhaps something will be unveiled that gets a bit more traction.