Samsung, Qualcomm, Google to Develop Metaverse Platform

Samsung has enlisted all-star help from the likes of Qualcomm and Google to develop an extended reality (XR) platform encompassing virtual, augmented and mixed reality applications.

The South Korean giant also reportedly is developing an XR device that could compete against Microsoft’s HoloLens and Meta’s Quest 2 and Quest Pro headsets, according to The Washington Post.

The collaboration was announced at the tail end of Samsung’s ‘Unpacked’ event – harkening back to Steve Jobs’ famous ‘one last thing’ at Apple’s product announcement events.

TM Roh, Samsung’s head of mobile eXperience, was joined on stage by Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon and Google platforms senior vice president Hiroshi Lockheimer, to discuss the project.

They said they were building the next XR experience together, but without revealing any details. Lockheimer, however, did reveal that they plan to bring an immersive experience in “brand new form factors.”

Amon said the goal is to create “a new era of highly immersive digital experiences that blur the line between our physical and digital worlds. “With our Snapdragon XR tech, Samsung’s amazing products and Google experiences, we have the foundation to make this opportunity a reality.”

All three companies have made separate strides in terms of their respective metaverse work.

Qualcomm is the chip provider for Meta’s VR headsets, with its Snapdragon XR2 chipset powering both the consumer-focused Quest line and the recently released Pro device.

Notably, Samsung devices, including the S21 handsets, support Qualcomm’s Elite Gaming technology. Google, while busy trying to realign its work on generative AI, also has some thoughts about getting into the metaverse space, having acquired the startup Alter back in November, whose tech creates 3D avatars for VR experiences.

This article first appeared on IoT World Today's sister site AI Business.