Qualcomm is unveiling an upgraded VR/AR chip at CES 2024 – the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2. This is an enhanced version of the standard XR2 Gen 2 chip launched last September, intended for virtual reality headsets, mixed reality glasses, and other wearable displays.
The key upgrades are higher resolution and more robust cameras. The XR2+ Gen 2 supports up to 4.3K resolution per eye, a step up from 3K per eye before. It can also handle feeds from 12 cameras at once, up from 10, enabling quicker, fuller color passthrough AR along with better body tracking. Qualcomm promises passthrough latency under 12 milliseconds with the new chip.
On standard specs, the XR2+ Gen 2 enables up to 90 frames per second content, with around a 20% faster CPU and 15% faster GPU versus its predecessor. Importantly, it packs everything onto a single chip to save precious space inside cramped VR headsets.
Qualcomm is unveiling the chip itself at CES 2024, although no headsets using it have been announced yet. However, the company says it’s collaborating with Samsung and Google on an unnamed XR2+ Gen 2 product. The earlier XR2 Gen 2 powers Meta’s new Quest 3 headset – so this upgrade paves the way for even more advanced standalone VR devices moving forward.
