Qualcomm has made several announcements in the virtual reality (VR) space including introducing a new virtual reality development kit (VRDK) for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 mobile platform and the launch of a head mounted display (HMD) reference design.

The VRDK is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2017. It is engineered to help developers attain improved VR performance and power efficiency for upcoming VR OEM devices built with the Snapdragon 835, which are expected to ship in the second half of 2017.

The Snapdragon VRDK also gives developers early access to a VR head mounted display (HMD) built with the Snapdragon 835 mobile platform. The device is supported by an upgraded VR software development kit (SDK) that works with the HMD, Qualcomm stated in a company release.

The HMD included in the Snapdragon 835 VRDK consists of a four megapixel (2560x1440) WQHD AMOLED display (two megapixels per eye), six degrees of freedom (6DoF) motion tracking, two monochromatic, one mega pixel (1280x800) global shutter cameras and an inertial measurement unit with a Snapdragon 835 integrated sensor core. For eye tracking, the HMD features two monochromatic VGA global shutter cameras, and the device provides 4GB LPDDR4 DRAM and 64GB UFS flash memory. Connectivity support includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB3.1 type C (power).

On the hardware side, Qualcomm also announced the launch of its head mounted display (HMD) accelerator program for OEMS of virtual reality hardware for the 835. Makers will receive access to reference designs and choose from a pre-qualified set of components. They have the choice of either building their own HMDs from reference design materials provided, or working with a certified turnkey maker like Goertek or Thundercomm and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 VR HMD to suit the manufacturer's commercial needs.

VR tracking software from companies like Leap Motion and SMI has also been pre-optimized on the Snapdragon 835 VR HMD to accelerate time to market, the company said.

GoerTek and Thundercomm were named as ODMs ready to engage on new OEM designs following the Snapdragon 835 VR HMD, and are working with global manufacturers for commercial designs, Qualcomm added.

Qualcomm also announced a partnership with Leap Motion to produce the natural virtual reality interface using a Snapdragon 835. The companies will demonstrate a combination of Qualcomm's positional tracking with Leap Motion's hand tracking to offer virtual control using a user's bare hands.

The Snapdragon 835 will be manufactured by Samsung using a 10nm FinFET process technology. Qualcomm has announced its 10nm Snapdragon 835-series processors will ship in commercial devices in 2017. While the chips reportedly will draw adoption from Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo; Samsung is rumored to be making sure that it gets first crack at supply for its own smartphones.

By: DocMemory
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