Qualcomm Unveils New Processor for AI Smart Glasses

According to a report by Bloomberg on June 11 (local time), US semiconductor company Qualcomm has unveiled a smart glasses processor capable of running its own artificial intelligence (AI) software.

According to the report, Qualcomm demonstrated smart glasses equipped with its new Snapdragon AR1+ Gen 1 processor at AWE, the world's largest extended reality (XR) exhibition held in Long Beach, California. Qualcomm's vision is for smart glasses to run AI without needing to connect to the internet or rely on a smartphone.

Qualcomm Senior Vice President Ziad Asghar stated that it was possible to converse with an AI assistant based on the Llama 1B model, powered by the company's chip embedded in the smart glasses.

In a blog post published for the event, he explained, "There is no phone, no cloud. The processor alone is powering the glasses."

Qualcomm, a leading provider of application processors (APs) for smartphones, has been focusing on developing smaller and more energy-efficient components that can enhance the capabilities of smart glasses, which are currently regarded as little more than smartphone accessories.

Qualcomm envisions smart glasses becoming fully independent devices capable of handling tasks such as running software on their own. Until now, rapid power consumption and battery issues have been obstacles.

Qualcomm supplies chips for smart glasses and head-mounted displays (HMDs), including Meta Platforms' Ray-Ban AI glasses, Lenovo's A3, and Microsoft's HoloLens 2.

Apple, a major customer of Qualcomm and now also a competitor, has released its own mixed reality (MR) headset, the Vision Pro, which runs on its proprietary operating system, visionOS.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.