Qualcomm's sample headset teases what's next for mobile VR


Ahead of Mobile World Congress, which is taking place in Barcelona next week, Qualcomm has announced a VR headset reference design based on its latest Snapdragon Mobile VR platform. The new system works on the Snapdragon 845, the company's latest premium mobile chipset, and will bring about new features like foveated rendering and room-scale tracking. According to Qualcomm, it'll also be 30 percent faster and use 30 percent less power than the Snapdragon 835 version.

The Snapdragon 835 is already in some notable VR headsets, including the HTC Vive Focus and Lenovo's Mirage Solo. With the 845, devices can support higher-res displays, with "more than twice as much display throughput compared to the Snapdragon 835 mobile platform," according to the company's announcement. That means dual screens, each with 2K resolutions, can be powered by the chip at the same time.

The Snapdragon 845 will also enable what Qualcomm calls Adreno Foveation, which is basically foveated rendering using its Adreno GPU. The reference design headset has four cameras -- two of which are pointing at the user's face to track your pupils. The GPU uses that information to render higher quality graphics where the eyes are paying attention.

The new platform will also support what the company calls Roomscale tracking, using inside-out 6-DoF (degrees of freedom) tracking with SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) to follow your body and the room you're in. This way, it can detect obstacles in front of you so you can avoid them while remaining immersed in VR.

Although we first heard about the Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform in December, seeing the reference design gives us a glimpse of what to expect in the next generation of mobile VR headsets. The reference design is available for both standalone goggles as well as those where you have to slot in a smartphone to power the VR experience. While we've seen examples of foveated rendering and SLAM in other devices, it's likely that Snapdragon-powered headsets will be more widely available.

According to Qualcomm, the Vive Focus was a derivative of its Snapdragon 835 reference design, which is another reason why this is a taste of upcoming VR devices. To date, the company said it has "supported customers in the launch of more than 20 XR (Xtended Reality) devices across standalone head-mounted displays and XR-capable smartphones." We'll be checking out the actual device itself at MWC next week, so stay tuned for our impressions.

via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2FkkT3d"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Evernote cuts staff as user growth stalls

Image
Note-taking app Evernote has fallen on hard times of late, culminating in its latest spate of job cuts impacting 15 percent of its workforce (54 employees). CEO Chris O' Neil -- an ex-Googler who took the reins in 2015 -- announced the firings at an all-hands meeting earlier today, reports TechCrunch . In a message on the Evernote blog , O' Neill admitted he'd set "incredibly aggressive goals" for the company in 2018. He continued: "Going forward, we are streamlining certain functions, like sales, so we can continue to speed up and scale others, like product development and engineering." The layoffs follow an exec exodus just weeks ago and the company's recent brand refresh (complete with a refined logo and wordmark). But critics are more concerned about its product, especially the free tier, which they claim lacks the perks to...
Read more

The best air conditioner

Image
By Liam McCabe This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here . After six summers of researching, testing, and recommending window air conditioners, we've learned that quiet and affordable ACs make most people the happiest—and we think the LG LW8016ER will fit the bill in most rooms. This 8,000 Btu unit cools as efficiently and effectively as any model with an equal Btu rating, and runs at a lower volume and deeper pitch than others at this price. Little extra features like a fresh-air vent, two-axis fan blades, and a removable drain plug help set it apart, too. The LG LW8016ER is a top choice for an office or den, and some people will find it quiet enough for a bedroom, too. If our main pic...
Read more

We won't see a 'universal' vape oil cartridge anytime soon

Image
Pre-loaded cartridges of cannabis concentrate are currently among the most popular means of consumption, and for good reason. They're discreet to use and easy to handle, a far cry from the dark days of 2016 when we had to dribble hash oil or load wax into narrow-mouthed vape pens by hand. But, frustratingly, an ever increasing number of oil cartridge manufacturers employ one-off design standards so that their products won't work with those of their competitors, thereby locking customers into proprietary ecosystems. We've already seen this with nicotine vaporizers -- which has a seen a massive rise in "pod systems" in the last few years, each outfitted with a unique canister and battery built to be incompatible with those of their competition. Is it too late for the burgeoning cannabis industry to set a universal standard for their product designs? ...
Read more