Qualcomm’s new AR glasses are thinner and wireless

Qualcomm is introducing a wireless variation of its augmented truth Sensible Viewer, a reference style and design that makers could adapt into professional headsets. The Wireless AR Smart Viewer updates Qualcomm’s previously clever eyeglasses structure with a better-powered chipset, in addition a tethering technique that uses Wi-Fi 6 / 6E and Bluetooth instead of a USB-C cable. That will come with the tradeoff of a perhaps extremely brief battery existence — although Qualcomm says customer-ready variations may be developed in different ways.

The new Sensible Viewer was created by Goertek. It’s at present offered to a couple of production associates with ideas to increase entry in the coming months. Like its predecessor, it connects to a cellular phone or laptop or computer and delivers combined reality activities with entire head and hand tracking, employing monitoring cameras and projections run by micro-OLED displays. Qualcomm has taken care of the preceding 1920×1080 resolution and 90Hz refresh fee, but it is slightly narrowing the field of look at, dropping it from 45 degrees to 40 degrees diagonal.

That is considerably more compact than the non-customer-centered Magic Leap 2, which delivers nearer to 70 degrees. But in its favor, the Clever Viewer has a slimmer profile than possibly the wired Intelligent Viewer or most opponents. Its frames are 15.6mm deep in contrast to about 25mm for the wired model, softening AR glasses’ regular bug-eyed seem. (This shallower design and style, which uses freeform optics, might be much more durable to obtain with a broader FOV.) At 115 grams, it is a tiny heftier than the 106-gram Nreal Gentle glasses, a bit lighter than the rumored 150 grams of Apple’s AR / VR headset, and much svelter than VR headsets like the 503-gram Meta Quest 2.

The wireless viewer utilizes Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 chipset in contrast to the past model’s XR1 — something Qualcomm states offers much more electrical power for personal computer eyesight processing and other tasks. Qualcomm guarantees a brisk 3ms latency among the eyeglasses and the related telephone or Laptop, as extended as your cell phone or Laptop incorporates Qualcomm’s FastConnect 6900 chip. (Which is not a offered for lots of machines.) Qualcomm AR / VR head Hugo Swart claims the real “motion to photon” latency is underneath 20ms, just clearing the threshold for a comfy blended reality knowledge.

A wi-fi headset has been on Qualcomm’s roadmap for a long time, but the Wise Viewer still highlights just one of AR’s enduring worries: producing superior-run glasses that really don’t run out of juice practically right away. Swart instructed reporters that the most demanding virtual ordeals could drain the headset’s 650mAh battery in 30 minutes, while he emphasised that a mild, straightforward virtual overlay could use considerably significantly less power. Customers can also plug in an attachable battery with a cable, and Swart mentioned makers could choose to prioritize a for a longer period-long lasting headset in their individual types. But the current tech possibly cannot support some of AR’s most obvious purposes, like developing a established of digital screens you can use all day at operate.

We weren’t capable to consider the new Clever Viewer ourselves, and consumers may well never ever acquire hardware that appears specifically like the reference style since makers could tweak the technique to their very own technical specs. Whilst Swart reported Qualcomm was doing work with “at the very least four” producers, he did not name them or say how extensive it may possibly acquire to commercialize the headset. But Qualcomm’s previously designs have anchored goods like the Nreal Gentle and Lenovo ThinkReality A3 glasses — so it’s a superior illustration of what wireless headsets could appear like in the coming months and years.