Gateway to Metaverse: Qualcomm to design AR chips with Microsoft

The companies will collaborate on designing custom AR chips and integrating software platforms.

At the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Qualcomm Technologies announced their collaboration with Microsoft to expand and accelerate the adoption of augmented reality in both the consumer and enterprise sector. Qualcomm Technologies is working with Microsoft to develop custom AR chips to enable a new wave of power efficient, lightweight AR glasses to deliver rich and immersive experiences, and plans to integrate software like Microsoft Mesh and Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform.

“This collaboration reflects the next step in both companies’ shared commitment to XR and the metaverse,” said Hugo Swart, vice president and general manager of XR, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Qualcomm Technologies’ core XR strategy has always been delivering the most cutting-edge technology, purpose-built XR chipsets and enabling the ecosystem with our software platforms and hardware reference designs. We are thrilled to work with Microsoft to help expand and scale the adoption of AR hardware and software across the entire industry.”

“Our goal is to inspire and empower others to collectively work to develop the metaverse future – a future that is grounded in trust and innovation,” said Rubén Caballero, corporate vice president Mixed Reality, Microsoft. “With services like Microsoft Mesh, we are committed to delivering the safest and most comprehensive set of capabilities to power metaverses that blend the physical and digital worlds, ultimately delivering a shared sense of presence across devices. We look forward to working with Qualcomm Technologies to help the entire ecosystem unlock the promise of the metaverse.”