The smartphone industry is buzzing with exciting news about a groundbreaking partnership between Samsung, Qualcomm, and Google. Last year, these tech giants announced a collaboration aimed at developing a pair of mixed reality smart glasses designed to seamlessly connect with your smartphone. This innovative project, revealed by Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, is set to transform how we interact with technology.
In a recent CNBC interview, Amon shared his vision for the upcoming product. He envisions a future where mixed reality glasses become as commonplace as regular eyewear. “I want everyone that has a phone to go buy companion glasses to go along with it,” Amon stated. He believes that achieving this level of integration will help the glasses achieve mass appeal and widespread adoption.
Amon says:
It’s going to be a new product, new experiences. 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.
Since the announcement of the XR partnership in February 2023, details about the project have been scarce. However, speculation suggests that the device could be a Samsung mixed reality headset designed as an affordable alternative to Apple’s high-end $3,500 Vision Pro. Additionally, Google has teased its own pair of augmented reality (AR) glasses featuring the upcoming Project Astra multimodal AI assistant during the Google I/O event in May.
Amon expressed his enthusiasm for the recent Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, which were released last year and powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chip. He highlighted the role of generative AI in driving the future of mixed reality.
“AI is going to run on the device. It’s going to run on the cloud,” Amon explained. “It’s going to run some in the glass, some in the phone, but at the end of the day, there’s going to be whole new experiences.”
As the mixed reality market evolves, this partnership aims to push the boundaries of what’s possible, offering consumers new and immersive experiences that blend the digital and physical worlds seamlessly. Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting development in the tech world.