Qualcomm announce new Snapdragon XR2 5G Mixed Reality Reference Design

Today Qualcomm unveiled a new Mixed Reality reference design headset based on the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ XR2 Platform, making it the world’s first 5G-enabled XR reference design.

Qualcomm says it offers superior performance, immersion and interactivity by simplifying complex technologies and enabling customers to bring the next generation of premium-quality augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) devices to consumers and the enterprise in 2020.

Powered by the Snapdragon XR2 Platform, the reference design has 2x the CPU and GPU performance, 4x more video bandwidth, 6x higher resolution and 11x AI improvement compared to their current widely adopted XR platform.

The reference design supports up to seven cameras and features two internal cameras, one for each eye to support eye tracking. It also includes four external cameras, two RGB cameras for MR experiences and two for head tracking which can also be used to generate accurate depth maps. This reference design allows partners to assemble different configurations with an additional camera for facial and lip tracking or a second monochrome camera for controller tracking.

The Snapdragon XR2 reference design also delivers 5G connectivity via the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X55 5G Modem-RF System to allow OEMs to rapidly develop 5G XR devices for global networks. It offers native support for 5G mmWave and sub-6 GHz, and has been tested and validated over Ericsson’s 5G infrastructure providing low latency connection.

Ericsson’s 5G platform includes dual mode 5G Core in a distributed cloud and radio networks catering to the needs of the low latency applications and supporting many business models such as private networks and public mobile networks over a specific network slice. With the distributed compute framework that unlocks boundless XR, on-device processing can now be augmented with compute at the Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) via a 5G connection, or on a nearby PC using a 60-GHz wireless connection, in order to achieve a new level of immersion and never-seen-before experiences.

In addition to components, the reference design includes an IR emitter for hand tracking and head tracking with simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) to coexist. Other feature enablements include 3D audio and voice commands and 2Kx2K per eye dual panel LCD support. The reference design has embedded technology partners including the Atraxa electromagnetic tracking technology from Northern Digital Inc. (NDI) that enables accurate, low latency 6DoF controller and peripheral device tracking without line-of-sight restrictions. Compatibility with embedded eye tracking from Tobii includes Tobii Spotlight Technology™ for foveated rendering which helps optimize system resources.

Goertek developed this VR form factor of the reference design to enable global manufacturers to quickly scale and build AR, VR and MR devices for commercial use. The Snapdragon XR2 reference design helps OEMs bring futuristic experiences to consumers and the enterprise and is expected to be available for select partners in the coming months.

For more information, please visit The Snapdragon XR2 5G Platform Product Page.