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| Qualcomm launches Snapdragon Spaces mixed reality platform |
At the Augmented World Expo, Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon Spaces mixed reality development platform, which helps developers extend existing apps and create new ones to take full advantage of the augmented reality device they're using.
While most discussions on the Metaverse have focused on using VR headsets to put people into virtual reality in a digital environment, other methods use mixed reality AR or XR to combine digital and physical elements.
However, the announcement made no mention of the new hardware, and Qualcomm has been working with key partners to plan for the future of mixed reality over the past decade.
Partners include Niantic and the recently launched Lightship platform for real-world Metaverse applications. In addition to manufacturers, this also includes Lenovo, Motorola, Oppo and Xiaomi.
Based on a standard Qualcomm XR1 Smart Viewer design, the Lenovo ThinkReality A3 glasses will be the first to launch Snapdragon Spaces next year.
Snapdragon Spaces aims to support an open ecosystem with multiple devices. APIs are not hardware dependent, so developers can run them on many types of platforms. Including augmented reality glasses or full head augmented reality glasses. This is very similar to Microsoft's HoloLens.
It is the first AR platform optimized for AR glasses with respect to smartphones with an OpenXR compatible runtime. It also supports the well-known development tools Unreal Engine 4 and Unity.
Create an augmented reality experience
According to the company, the platform is now available to some developers such as Holo One and NZXT. A full suite of tools for manual tracking, image recognition, tracking, and on-site tracking will be available early next year.
Qualcomm also announced that it has acquired hand-tracking and gesture recognition assets from HINS SAS and its subsidiary Clay AIR. Collaboration with Wikitude has opened the AR development platform to 150,000 registered developers.
With 5G networks becoming available on more and more mobile devices. The idea is that augmented reality should be ubiquitous as a second screen feature for the app.
This includes an augmented reality track that covers your living room for an Anki Drive-like experience, or a smartwatch user interface that only you can see.
There is a mobile augmented reality experience that you can use to purchase and visualize furniture in your living space. But our idea is to make these experiments easier, to take them from one platform to another and to make them ready for use in helmets.