Qualcomm to launch new Snapdragon processor for VR headsets

Qualcomm is expected to launch a new processor at the Augmented World Expo next week. The new chip dubbed Snapdragon XR1 will power stand-alone VR headsets. The all-in-one chip will comprise CPU cores, a graphics processor, a security-dedicated component, and a dedicated AI tech.

The chip will have support for voice control and head-tracking interaction. This isn't the first time we have heard of the Snapdragon XR. The company itself mentioned XR while launching the Snapdragon 845-based VR headset. XR is short for "extended reality," an "umbrella term" that covers augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality.

"XR is an emerging umbrella term that is already being used to encapsulate AR, VR, and everything in between," Qualcomm said in January. "XR is a mobile market that's gaining momentum as VR and AR markets may combine to create a $108 billion market by 2021."
The latest headset reference design supports room-scale six degrees of freedom. This means users can move left, right, up, down, forward, and backward without any external sensors. The "slam" component keeps track of user's physical environment and also tracks where the user is located within that environment.

However, the Snapdragon 845 isn't really an XR-first chip but it certainly supports "immersive XR experiences." It has eight Kyro processor cores, Adreno GPU supporting XR, camera and audio components, inbuilt Wi-Fi, and LTE connectivity, and a dedicated security unit. Besides, it packs a co-processor, the Hexagon 685 DSP, tuned for artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Sources close to Qualcomm's upcoming XR1 launch claim that the company is currently working with HTC, Vuzix, and several other headset manufacturers to incorporate the chip into future headsets. HTC has its own VR headset, Facebook recently went live with its Oculus GO, all rely on Qualcomm's older Snapdragon 821 chip.

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Recently Qualcomm also announced the Snapdragon 710 octa-core, which sits comfortably between the Snapdragon 600 and 800 series of chipsets. The chipset has an X15 LTE modem which offers faster cellular download and upload speeds. For the image processing, the chipset uses a spectra 250 image processor which offers better image processing. In terms of videos, the chipset supports native 4K video recording along with 4K video playback without consuming a lot of power.