Qualcomm Introduces All-New Wireless Smart Viewer AR Glasses

Qualcomm has just introduced an update to its earlier smart glasses, the Wireless AR Smart Viewer, featuring a higher-powered chipset and a tethering system that uses Wi-Fi 6 / 6E and Bluetooth to replace the USB-C cable (via The Verge).

The new Smart Viewer’s thinner reference design could be used by manufacturers to develop their own commercial headsets, although it may potentially offer a much shorter battery life. The new Smart Viewer is currently available to a few manufacturers with more partners expected to join in the near future.

The Wireless AR Smart Viewer connects to a phone or computer and delivers mixed reality experiences with full head and hand tracking, using tracking cameras and projections powered by micro-OLED displays. 

Qualcomm has maintained the previous 1920×1080 resolution and 90Hz refresh rate, but it’s slightly narrowing the field of view, dropping it from 45 degrees to 40 degrees diagonal.

The Smart Viewer has a slimmer profile than either the wired Smart Viewer or most competitors. Its frames are 15.6mm deep compared to around 25mm for the wired version, softening AR glasses’ typical bug-eyed look. The wireless viewer uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 chipset compared to the previous model’s XR1.

Complete technical specifications of the new Qualcomm AR Smart Viewer glasses can be found in the following graphic.