Qualcomm XR1 is the company's first AR and VR focussed chipset not meant for smartphones

tech2 News StaffMay 31, 2018 09:46:07 IST

Qualcomm is widely known for its Snapdragon series of general purpose chipsets which power most of the smartphones in the world. But apart from making smartphone chips, Qualcomm also designs task specific platforms. For instance you have the 5G oriented X50 5G modem. Qualcomm has now released another task specific chipset called the XR1 which will focus on augmented reality and virtual reality tasks.

Qualcomm XR1 chipset. Image: Qualcomm

The Qualcomm XR1 is a chipset that has been designed for AR and VR headsets specifically and is the first one dedicated to the eXtended Reality platforms. The idea behind the XR1 chip is to deliver good AR and VR experiences to low-cost devices. The Snapdragon 845 chipset will still retain the high end chipset mantel.

The Qualcomm XR1 chipset will be focussing on driving 4K displays at 60 fps, will come with support for voice activation and simple controllers. While it will support 360-degree viewing and a 'lean back' experience which has to do with passively consuming content, the XR1 isn't powerful enough to support hand tracking and room-scale tracking.

It will also support vision processing capabilities which would be needed for technologies such as Visual Intertial Odometry (VIO) which will help users in an AR environment to move around in a virtual world or interact with augmented objects.

Devices sporting the XR1 chipset will be seen entering the market later this year as well as in early 2019.