At the Augmented World Expo 2021, Qualcomm introduced its headworn Augmented Reality (AR) developer kit to help developers take advantage of upcoming smartphone-tethered AR glasses.
Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform, as Qualcomm calls it, makes it easier for developers to build immersive experiences using familiar tools, such as Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, while taking full advantage of both existing smartphone digital distribution infrastructure and compatible hardware.
The platform integrates with Niantic’s own developer platform, called Lightship, which launched earlier this week, giving developers access to the same AR tools used to power some of Niantic’s most popular games, including Pokémon Go.
“The Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform underscores our commitment to empowering developers to explore bravely and create confidently, paving the way to a new frontier of spatial computing,” said Hugo Swart, vice president and general manager of XR, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
In the official press release, Qualcomm emphasizes its commitment to creating an open ecosystem that will be open to all developers and hardware manufacturers. To support the launch of the platform in 2022, the chipmaker recruited multiple OEMs and telcos as partners, including Lenovo, Motorola, OPPO, Xiaomi, Deutsche Telekom, NTT DOCOMO, INC., and T-Mobile U.S.
In fact, the first commercial application of Qualcomm’s AR developer kit will be the combination of the Lenovo ThinkReality A3 smart glasses paired with a Motorola smartphone.
“Snapdragon Spaces will help the developer community and our customers create even more value in their AR solutions and expand the capabilities on mobile devices coming to market early next year,” said Jon Pershke, Lenovo’s Vice President of Strategy and Emerging Business. “Snapdragon Spaces brings the industry one step closer to bringing game-changing AR content to a broad range of customers, added Jeff Snow, General Manager of Product at Motorola.
Currently, the Snapdragon Spaces platform is in early access, available to select AR developers, namely Felix & Paul Studios, holo|one, Overlay, Scope AR, TRIPP, Tiny Rebel Games, NZXR, forwARdgame, Resolution Games, and Trigger Global.
