IT Home reported on January 4 that it has been a year since Qualcomm, Samsung and Google announced last year that they would jointly build a VR project, and now one of the cornerstones of the project has been released - the second-generation Snapdragon XR2+ platform. The chip is an upgraded version of the XR2 Gen 2 used in the Meta Quest 3 and can render high-resolution images comparable to Apple's upcoming Vision Pro headset.
The biggest highlight of the XR2 Plus Gen 2 is that it supports 4.3K resolution and 90fps refresh rate per eye, which is far more than the XR2 Gen 2's 3K per eye resolution. Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 devices are capable of supporting 12 or more parallel cameras and powerful device-side AI, making it easy to track the user's movements and surroundings for convenient navigation and an unmatched experience that blends physical and digital spaces.
Qualcomm says that compared to the XR2 Gen 2, the chip's GPU frequency is 15% higher and the CPU frequency is 20% higher, all for "4K spatial computing".
In addition, to help OEMs get to market faster, Qualcomm Technologies has introduced new MR and VR reference designs developed by Goertek and featuring Tobii's eye tracking technology. The reference design supports both monocular 3K (with Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2) and Monocular 4K (with Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2) configurations.
IT Home noted that Qualcomm also said that it is working with at least five hardware manufacturers, including HTC, and also highlighted the above-mentioned partnerships with Samsung and Google, but the specific launch date of the new product is still unknown. Google's internal AR team is rumored to have experienced some turmoil, Samsung's hardware development has also been delayed, and Apple's Vision Pro may be just a few weeks away from launch.
Perhaps we'll soon find out more about the new products from Samsung, Google and Qualcomm, with Samsung's Unpacked event taking place in San Jose, Calif., two weeks away, just a stone's throw from Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, which seems like a perfect fit to showcase a Vision Pro competitor.