Qualcomm Wireless AR Smart Viewer Reference Design launches to provide the basis for the next generation of smartphone-linked headsets

Qualcomm has patently decided that it's time the type of extended-reality (XR) headset that works with mobile devices went wireless. To this end, it has announced a new reference design for these gadgets alongside the latest Snapdragon 7 and 8 Gen 1 chipsets today (May 20, 2022).

As a contrast to this new or refreshed processors, however, the latest Wireless AR Smart Viewer Reference Design is based on the existing Snapdragon XR2 Platform for immersive or metaverse-like use-cases. Then again, it is paired to the FastConnect 6900 solution for the speedy and reliable cable-free connections required.

Qualcomm asserts that their combination imbues the new Smart Viewer with a latency of 3 millisecond (ms) or less, and is rated to deploy its channels to prioritize XR-specific traffic. This should (ideally) decrease motion-to-render-to-photon (M2R2P) latency and enhance smoothness while preventing interference.

These internals are housed in an updated, markedly slim and (according to Qualcomm) more ergonomic smart-glass shell designed by Goertek. It features an RGB camera, along with dual monochrome cameras, for head- and hand-tracking with 6 degrees of freedom and support for gesture-based controls.

Its binocular displays are per-eye FHD micro-OLEDs supplied by SeeYA with a refresh rate of up to 90Hz. Therefore, Qualcomm is confident that this latest model, with support for the latest version of the FastConnect XR Software Suite for development and integration purposes out of the box, is the perfect basis for the next round of smartphone-linked headsets from a variety of OEMs.

The Wireless AR Smart Viewer Reference Design is available to some of them right now, with more to gain access to the new reference over the next few months.