Qualcomm unveils a new Smart Viewer Reference Design

Qualcomm has a presence at the currently ongoing Augmented World Expo (AWE). The company has also already unveiled its new Snapdragon Smart Viewer Reference Design at this expo. It is a VR headset based on the Snapdragon XR1 Platform that, as Qualcomm suggests, will help OEMs to build their own next-gen virtual- or augmented reality (VR or AR) headsets faster and more efficiently.

The Snapdragon Smart Viewer Reference Design is equipped with a DJI display that has a 72-hertz refresh rate and a per-eye resolution of 2K. It also has controllers with 6 degrees of freedom (6DoF), and can also support vision-based controllers for productivity and gaming with more natural, intuitive fields of vision. 6DoF is also carried into the Smart Viewer Reference Design's movement-tracking, which is facilitated via 2 dedicated cameras.

The reference device also supports up-to-date hand- and gesture-tracking, as well as eye-tracking developed in conjunction with the company Tobii. The Snapdragon Smart Viewer Reference Design also supports wired VR via  USB type C. However, it also has a Standalone (or effectively wireless) Mode, in which the experience is generated by the XR1 platform itself. This solution incorporates a Qualcomm Kryo CPU, Adreno graphics, a Hexagon DSP and AI Engine to do so.

Therefore, the new Snapdragon Smart Viewer Reference Design may form the basis of increasingly untethered, fluid and immersive VR/AR, through the medium of the upcoming headsets of the near future. Those attending AWE and who would like more background on the new device could attend Qualcomm's keynote, scheduled for tomorrow (May 30, 2019).