At the Snapdragon Summit event today, the Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1 chip was announced as the first chip designed entirely for augmented reality (AR) headsets. Unlike the previously launched Snapdragon XR series of chips, the Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1 targets use in lightweight headsets for all-day wear.
Therefore it has a physical size that is 40% smaller and a reduction in energy consumption of up to 50% with it being under 1W when in use. At the same time it still offers 2.5x better artificial intelligence (AI) performance than the Snapdragon XR2.
More interesting is that it consists of several network chip components and a co-processor chip is used with the main chip. Through this feature a thinner headset can be produced because the components are not only focused on the stem of smart glasses for example.
Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1 supports up to nine cameras for location, hand and face detection of the wearer. 6DoF position detection is also supported to immerse yourself in the AR world more thoroughly.
It can also transfer more complex processing needs to other devices using Snapdragon chips in the form of smartphones, tablets and PCs. Another interesting feature is the foveated rendering support which only focuses on the direction of the user's eye view to reduce the need to process high graphics all the time.
Like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the AR2 Gen 1 also supports the Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 system which allows it to be tethered to a WiFi 7 network to reduce lag and provide the fast internet experience required for AR needs.
The chip is currently being used in several AR glasses products developed by Lenovo, LG, Nreal, Oppo, Pico, QONOQ, Rokid, Sharp, TCL, Tencent, Vuzix and Xiaomi.