Technology giant Microsoft and chipset leader Qualcomm have worked together for custom chips for Windows PC and now, during Qualcomm’s keynote at CES 2022, it has been announced that both the companies will be collaborating again for AR chips.

Qualcomm and Microsoft together will develop a new, customized version of Snapdragon chipset for augmented reality and the same will be powering the future AR glasses coming from Microsoft.

Cristiano Amon, Chief Executive Officer at Qualcomm, said: “We’re announcing that we’re developing a custom augmented reality Snapdragon chip for next-generation, power-efficient, very lightweight AR glasses for the Microsoft ecosystem.”

He further added that the company is integrating into the chip platform software from both companies: the Microsoft Mesh platform, and the recently announced Qualcomm Snapdragon Spaces XR development platform. The Snapdragon Spaces will be fully integrated into Microsoft Mesh and will be available for next-generation glasses.

Earlier, Microsoft partnered with Qualcomm to develop custom SQ1 and SQ2 chips for its ARM-based Surface Pro X devices. The Microsoft HoloLens 2 is also powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips. So, the development of both these brands partnering for new chips isn’t surprising.

For those who are unaware, Microsoft Mesh is the company’s mixed-reality platform powered by Azure and is meant to create a sense of shared presence on a variety of devices. Recently, the company announced its plans to bring Mesh to its Teams group collaboration platform.

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Currently, the tech world is abuzz with Metaverse and its applications. But while AR (augmented reality) is the next step towards the Metaverse, products that support it have yet to be fully matured. And now, Qualcomm seeks on boosting the development of these AR related products through its new software platform, Snapdragon Spaces.

With Snapdragon Spaces, the chipmaking giant seeks to bridge the gap between smartphones and AR glasses. This, in turn, also implies that various smartphone brands are likely to launch their own AR glasses as well. So to put things simply, your AR glass will work with your smartphone through the new Snapdragon Spaces software. Qualcomm further added that it has made the “Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform” to help developers improve their existing apps while also creating new ones to better utilize the wearable AR products.

Furthermore, the software will also include machine perception technology which will be geared towards both performance and low powered AR glasses from the next generation. Spaces is basically a software that connects your handset to the AR headset/glasses, but the entire process involves a few more details. Apart from just connecting the two devices, the glasses will also become an extension of the compatible smartphone, with the AR device using processing power and telecom connection.

Notably, Snapdragon Spaces would also let developers build 3D applications for AR glasses. As of right now, companies like Lenovo, Xiaomi, and Oppo are the initial partners for the Snapdragon Spaces platform while other app developers like Epic Games are also in collaboration as well. XueZhong Zeng, SVP of Xiaomi stated that “We are looking forward to enabling headworn AR application developers to reach maximum audiences through the open platform of Snapdragon Spaces and our future Snapdragon Space enabled devices.”

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