In General XR News
June 1, 2022 – Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a global provider of semiconductors and a key enabler of the metaverse through its continued investments and research in extended reality (XR) technology, has announced today at AWE USA 2022 that it has opened its Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform for global developers to download.
First introduced back in November 2021, Snapdragon Spaces offers proven technology and an open, cross-device horizontal platform and ecosystem to bring developers’ ideas to life and revolutionize the possibilities of headworn augmented reality (AR).
In addition to downloading Snapdragon Spaces, developers can now purchase a hardware development kit to begin creating headworn augmented reality (AR) experiences on commercial hardware. Qualcomm stated that these efforts demonstrate the company’s commitment to fuel XR innovations as the world journeys towards the metaverse.
Developers can begin creating new experiences using Snapdragon Spaces at spaces.qualcomm.com. Downloading the Snapdragon Spaces platform will unlock the foundational tools to create 3D applications for AR glasses from the ground-up, add headworn AR features to existing 2D Android smartphone applications and more. Some early access developers are already building on Snapdragon Spaces and providing real-time feedback.
“We worked with many AR systems for Unity and we were so happy to see, that with Snapdragon Spaces, we needed to make very little changes in the standard ARFoundation setup to start building Active AR games, such as FlinkAAR, to bring a new way to game to players around the world,” said Tim Friedland, CEO of forwARdgame.
“Snapdragon Spaces enables us at Overlay with easy-to-use tools to bring our augmented reality applications to more consumers on more platforms,” said Javier Davalos, Overlay XR lead. “We are excited to see what our fellow developers will create with this platform.”
Qualcomm also added that the Snapdragon Spaces Pathfinder Program, designed to support AR innovators on their spatial computing journeys, has funded its first cohort of developer projects. As part of the program, developers will get early access platform technology, project funding, co-marketing opportunities and hardware development kits. Pathfinder recipients include Arvizio, Beatshapers, CareAR, Cognition Labs, Designium, Digital Dream Labs, eyecandylab, Flow Immersive, Hololight, homeAR, Inception XR, Interwoven Worlds, Merge Labs, MSM.digital, NeuroLab, SYMMETRICAL, Syncreality, Trace 3d, VictoryXR, Volucap, WE/AR Studio, WilcoxMedia and Zoe Immersive.
The first devices to support Snapdragon Spaces are now available in a hardware development kit that includes the Lenovo ThinkReality A3 smart glasses coupled with a motorola edge+ (2022). The ThinkReality A3 smart glasses are powered by the Snapdragon XR1 Platform and feature an 8MP RGB camera to provide 1080p high-quality video and dual fish-eye cameras for room-scale tracking. The motorola edge+ (2022) features the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Mobile Platform. The two devices pair seamlessly to give developers full access to Snapdragon Spaces, according to Qualcomm. Starting today, developers and companies can place their order at https://spaces.qualcomm.com/.
Finally, Qualcomm also noted that it has further solidified its commitment to the metaverse, and has made investments in Tripp, Inc., a company building mindful metaverse, and echo3D, Inc., a cloud platform for 3D and XR content management and distribution. Qualcomm stated that these investments highlight the company’s interest in supporting transformative companies that are helping to build next generation experiences in immersive XR mediums.
For more information on Qualcomm and its Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform, as well as its other XR offerings, please visit the company’s website.
Image credit: Qualcomm
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About the author
Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.