Qualcomm and Meta are teaming up to develop chips specifically for VR applications.
Qualcomm and Meta are teaming up to take our virtual reality experiences to the next level, by developing bespoke chipsets to power the next generation of VR headsets, the two tech giants have announced at IFA 2022 Berlin.
In a speech that covered a lot of familiar ground and highlighted Qualcomm’s work with multiple companies, including Bose and Samsung, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon saved the best for essentially last.
Meta – parent company to both Facebook and Oculus Quest VR – and Qualcomm are not strangers. The companies previously partnered on customizing Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR platform (‘extended reality’) to create the Snapdragon XR2 for the Meta Quest 2. This new announcement, however, represents a deepening of the now seven-year-long relationship, with Meta and Qualcomm working to develop platform experiences specifically designed for VR operations.
“I’m proud to announce the next phase of our partnership, a deeper engineering collaboration. We will collaborate on customized VR chipsets,” said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who joined the keynote via video.
Snapdragon’s XR chipset is already powering 50 VR-related devices, according to Amon, but this will be the first time Qualcomm will be on the ground floor, which could mean good things for Meta’s upcoming Quest 3 and Project Cambria headsets.
