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From Google Glass to Magic Leap to Oculus Rift, there have been numerous attempts to get wearable computers in front of your eyes. But none have changed how we interact with technology in the way their promoters imagined. Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon has hinted that technology heavyweights aren’t done trying, though. Amon says his firm is working with Samsung and Google on mysterious new mixed reality smart glasses—but don’t expect an Apple Vision Pro competitor.
In an interview with CNBC, Amon noted that the companies had agreed to work together to develop smart glasses that he describes as “mixed reality” as opposed to virtual reality. That suggests it will superimpose data and visuals on top of the real world rather than enclosing users in a virtual environment with optional passthrough video. That’s the approach currently in use at Apple and Meta, which makes the most popular wearable computers.
Meta and Apple have designed their headsets with powerful processors and sharp integrated displays, which make the hardware expensive and heavy but capable of standalone operation. Amon says its unnamed smart glasses project will take a different approach, acting as an accessory for your phone.
“It’s going to be a new product, it’s going to be new experiences,” said Amon. “But what I really expect to come out of this partnership, I want everyone that has a phone to go buy companion glasses to go along with it.”
Those “new experiences” will have to be compelling, though. Truly useful smart glasses have been slow to arrive. It’s difficult to balance performance and battery life in wearable devices, particularly gadgets that are supposed to remain perched on your face all day. The simpler approach hasn’t been great, either. The Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses barely do anything other than play music and take grainy photos—there isn’t even a display.
Qualcomm has already developed chips for smart glasses.
Credit: Qualcomm
Amon says AI will be a key aspect of the glasses, and Google is investing heavily in that technology and developing the Android operating system for phones that the glasses will have to talk to. Samsung, meanwhile, is the largest manufacturer of Android phones and a major producer of OLED panels and similar display tech that will be essential for such a product. And then there’s Qualcomm, which produces some of the most efficient mobile chipsets, including the Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1 for smart glasses.
Neither Google nor Samsung have commented directly on Amon’s statements. Still, Samsung mobile chief TM Roh did mention several months ago his firm would announce a new mixed-reality platform within a year. There’s no guarantee this partnership will bear fruit—we may never hear about it again, or the eventual product could be a mere blip on the radar. However, this group of companies theoretically has the expertise to make a go of it.