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Qualcomm's Next Generation Wireless VR Headsets Will Be Able to Connect to PCs, Consoles

Qualcomm's Next Generation Wireless VR Headsets Will Be Able to Connect to PCs, Consoles

By Harpreet Singh | Updated: 19 March 2019 16:01 IST

Qualcomm's next-generation Snapdragon-powered VR headsets could arrive later this year

Highlights

Qualcomm's new VR headset will be powered by the Snapdragon 845 chip
The company will show it off at Game Developers Conference 2019
The wireless VR headset will work with compatible PCs, and consoles

Qualcomm's vision for its next-generation VR headsets includes wireless head-mounted, PC-connected displays. The move could entice more consumers into using VR helmets and goggles. The existing market is filled with a number of VR headsets, but very few of them are consumer-friendly. Qualcomm's next-generation VR headsets will arrive later this year, but the company will reveal them at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Titled, 'Boundless XR for PC', Qualcomm's next-generation VR headsets will be powered by the company's Snapdragon 845 SoC, paired with a Wi-Fi 802.11ad chip to enable seamless wireless connections. Qualcomm's standalone VR headset will also work with a PC or a console that's compatible with it.

As of now, portable VR headsets don't let users connect their headset to a PC. Qualcomm is looking to change all that. The company claims its new headset will offer a low latency of just 16ms. The headset will also be able to handle some of the VR processing, freeing up your PC's CPU in the process.

Qualcomm's next-generation VR headset will be compatible with PCs and consoles that support the 802.11ad Wi-Fi standard. In addition, these devices will also need to run custom Qualcomm software for compatibility.

This isn't the first time Qualcomm has worked on a VR reference design. So far, HTC, Lenovo, and Facebook have adopted Qualcomm's designs. A Chinese company called Pico VR will be making the first headset based on the new reference design. The headset will be called Pico Neo2 VR headset.

HTC Vive is also working with Qualcomm to support and adopt the new reference design. Since this is still a reference design, you shouldn't keep your hopes up. It's likely that such a VR headset may never reach consumers. But if it does, it could change the way people use VR headsets.

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Further reading: Qualcomm, Virtual Reality, VR headset, Game Developers Conference 2019

Harpreet Singh

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Harpreet is the community manager at Gadgets 360. He loves all things tech, and can be found hunting for good deals when he is not shopping online. He has written about deals and e-commerce in India for many years, as well as covering social media and breaking technology news. More