Qualcomm's new AR2 Gen 1, the big HTC headset leak

New silicon, a hardware leak, Apple speculation, and Meta news. I've seen weeks like this before, but not since starting Virtual Vector. Let's dive in, shall we?

Chips ahoy

Qualcomm made a new hardware platform announcement today, though it's not the one I think many hoped to see. Today at the annual Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii, the chipmaker revealed the AR2 Gen 1. It's not one chip, but a processor, co-processor, and Wi-Fi 7 system combo that's purpose-built for AR glasses and designed around distributed processing.

To put it more plainly, AR2 Gen 1 is a set of smaller, more power efficient chips that should fit better in glasses, with a 40% smaller PCB compared to Qualcomm's earlier wireless XR2-powered glasses reference design. The idea behind the platform is to aid glasses makers in delivering more capable and independent AR devices with better battery life.

AR2 ties into Qualcomm's broader ecosystem through the Snapdragon Spaces developer platform and boasts optimizations with the newly announced Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile chip–the idea being to squeeze distributed processing advantages both within a pair of glasses and wirelessly between glasses and a phone. With most of AR's top and rising OEM names on Qualcomm's list for Gen 1 development–including Pico, Nreal, Tencent, and Vuzix to name just a few–it seems like we're in for a parade of glasses using AR2 over the next few years.

Note also that the long-simmering collaboration between Niantic and Qualcomm on AR reference hardware is continuing with AR2 on the way. Niantic is also pledging to make its Lightship Visual Positioning system compatible with Snapdragon Spaces next year.

Between all this, the ongoing collaboration with Microsoft, and deepening ties with Adobe on XR, it looks like Qualcomm isn't missing a step in pushing toward smaller, faster designs and AR partnerships with potential. Still, better silicon is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to AR glasses–great performance won't shine in a pair that's too heavy, has mediocre displays, etcetera–and the ongoing feud between Qualcomm and Arm could yet boil over into a problem that derails the development of more than just AR glasses. AR2 Gen 1 could represent a step forward for manufacturers that embrace it, but we're at a stage with enough uncertainty that steps backward are not unfathomable.

Hi there, HTC headset

HTC may have just been taught a lesson: the more time it devotes to hyping up a new headset, the more likely it is that someone like Brad Lynch will come along and reveal it for you.

On Monday, Lynch–whose reputation for hardware leaks reached its apex earlier this year with the info he obtained on the Quest Pro–released a new video detailing what his sources point to as being HTC's next headset, a sleek device that appears to be a design lineage successor to the Vive Flow. The most intriguing aspect of the alleged headset is the ability to decouple the battery in the back, letting users swap between standalone use and tethered use with a more glasses-like form factor quite similar to the Flow.

A day later, Lynch gave an update with additional details, saying that more sources "reached out after [his] video went live." The headset will allegedly cost more than $1,000, include a depth sensor coupled with an RGB camera, run on an XR2 Gen 1 chip, and support an optional face and eye tracking module.

Sound familiar? All of this, plus Lynch's claim that the headset will come with the same controllers sold with HTC's $1,300 enterprise Vive Focus 3 standalone, suggests that this would be a device in competition with the Quest Pro and similar higher-end mixed reality devices. That would still leave HTC without a standalone at a consumer targeted price point, with the phone-tethered Flow still today's cheapest Vive device at $499.

As it stands, I think the somewhat lukewarm response to the Quest Pro amongst VR enthusiasts should invite doubt as to whether this supposed headset would be all that attractive to a similar crowd–and that's if they're given a shot at purchasing it. I could easily see HTC branding this alleged device under the Focus line, limiting sales to enterprise customers only.

Once again I'm reminded of the brief stir caused by the Vive Air fitness-focused VR standalone that turned out to only be a design concept. An optimistic way of looking at that episode is that it's the kind of device HTC would like to make someday, and that odd devices like the Flow that do make it to market demonstrate a willingness to take risks at affordable price points. Given the specs Lynch reports, though, and that HTC would be hard pressed to price a device like this as aggressively as Pico or Meta might, I think the reasonable assumption is to lump this leak in with the rest of the new business-oriented mixed reality bunch.

What's in the word "world?"

With anything related to Apple's mixed reality headset, I try to be very careful with my speculation. Why? Well, for one, there's no shortage of Apple fanatics who jump to conclusions (always a horrible idea) based on this or that shred of info. If you try to account for everything we actually do know about the project, and if you assume Apple might not want to risk its design reputation too much on a first-time headset, then you end up with more conservative guesses.

Maybe that makes me seem overly cautious, but hopefully my reasoning at least serves as food for thought. In that spirit, let's look at the past week's two big Apple stories.

One: DigiTimes reports that the headset is expected to enter mass production at the end of 2023's first quarter, with Pegatron as the sole assembler. This tracks with previous reliable reporting on the headset and could see it ready for a launch by WWDC in late Spring.

Earlier this year, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple would likely announce its headset in January, at the same time predicting that Meta would soon scale back its investment in headset hardware. Meta is indeed making cuts–more on that below–but seemingly not in the ways Kuo anticipated. There's still a sound argument for why Apple might announce the headset months in advance of its release: it'd create time to get more developers on the platform for launch day. Now that Apple has been able to see how other recent headset launches are fairing, I could see the announcement pushed closer to release. If Apple's confident in what it's developed internally, especially compared to the state of Meta's offerings, why show its hand early?

Two: Well, just what is being developed internally? In his latest issue of Power On, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman looks at some Apple job listings and management changes that may give us a few clues. One sticks out above the rest: Apple wants an AR/VR network engineer to work on "tools and frameworks to enable connected experiences in a 3D mixed-reality world."

Gurman's reasonable take that this could be Apple building "a virtual environment that is similar to the metaverse" has, of course, been aggregated and regurgitated across the web as a sure sign of Apple developing its own metaverse-like platform. I agree with Wagner James Au that that's a pretty broad interpretation–with wording as vague as what's in the listing, the argument that this is a metaverse play really hinges on two words, "world" and "connected."

When Apple says it's looking to build experiences for "a 3D mixed-reality world," instead of referring to a "world" like VRChat, Horizon Worlds, or Rec Room, it could be referring to the medium of mixed reality itself. Would that be a terribly inelegant way of saying "we need engineers to build connected immersive experiences?" Yes! Might it be fair to say that anything Apple's building in this ballpark could be considered part of a broadly defined metaverse, a la Parisi's seven rules? Sure. But there's not quite enough here pointing to the idea of Apple building a platform like those mentioned above for me to bet on it.

Meta minus 11,000

11,000 employees. 13% of staff. A week later, I still find the scale of the layoffs at Meta to be shocking–and with Amazon reportedly looking to lay off 10,000 of its employees (though a much smaller percentage of its workforce), it's understandable that employees at companies yet-untouched by the tech layoff wave are anxious.

While it quickly became obvious that some areas were hit hard by these cuts–roles related to news and publishing, for instance–at this time I don't know if anyone outside the company has a great sense of the effect on Meta's efforts in VR, AR, and so on. Mark Zuckerberg said upfront that cuts were coming to both Reality Labs and Meta's app division. Over the weekend, Palmer Luckey weighed in to say he was "really bummed to learn that the VR team lost a lot of great people, including most of the few remaining Oculus OGs." A few people from Reality Labs teams took to Twitter to say they had been laid off. Bernie Yee formed a private, Reality Labs-specific alumni group that now includes over 200 members, though the group notes that it's also open to those who left prior to the layoffs.

The most concrete news we have about changes to Reality Labs project priorities comes from Reuters, which reported that CTO Andrew Bosworth announced that work on Portal smart home devices and unannounced smartwatches is over and done with. Bosworth reportedly went on to say that the smartwatch unit will transition to work on AR glasses, with AR development accounting for more than half of Reality Labs total investment.

That just raises more questions. The moment that Alex Heath reported on the existence of Meta's smartwatch plans, the product line's potential for a build up to wrist-based neural interfaces for AR glasses was obvious. When Bloomberg reported earlier this year that plans for the first watch in the line had been shelved, it still left open the possibility that Meta could try to have a watch on the market by the time it's ready to sell AR glasses. In the space of a year, Meta has either substantially reworked or shredded up a planned path to getting AR glasses and watches in consumer hands in the near future. Depending on how much talent was shed here through the layoffs, it could be a while before we get any solid read on what the next few years for Meta's glasses and input tech will look like.

Setting aside these projects–layoffs suck, simple as that. During my time working in media I've seen too many brilliant, hard working people have their lives upended because of missteps made higher up the chain. I felt miserable when it happened to me, and that experience makes pro-layoff stock movements and talk of a due comeuppance for big tech hard to sit with. I sincerely hope that those who lost their jobs land on their feet quickly.

Programming Notes

On Monday, November 21, I'll be joining the monthly New York Augmented Reality Meetup to talk about the latest AR news and say a little bit about this newsletter. I hope to see some of you there (and that I don't have any more apartment mishaps day-of).

Also–while I want to avoid scheduling anything too soon with Thanksgiving coming up–I want to make good on my promise of hosting some fun, social happenings for Virtual Vector readers. So, I'd like to propose a game night later this month or early December. The pick? Among Us VR.

Personally, I've been enjoying all the highlight clips that have been passed around and would love to get a group together for some rounds. If you'd like to join, be sure you're in the Discord or following Virtual Vector on Twitter for updates on timing–if there's enough interest, we can also expand the session out to include some chat time without all the finger-pointing and impostor antics in the mix.

More news:

• We now know what the holiday deal on Quest 2 looks like: a $349/$429 bundle with Resident Evil 4 VR and Beat Saber. This might be the best official deal on the Quest 2 until Meta's next headset is ready. [Oculus Blog post]
• Epic v. Apple is back underway in the 9th circuit appeals court. Nick Statt, formerly of Protocol (sadly being shut down) wrote up a great thread on Monday's arguments.
• MediaTek announced that it has developed the chips for the PlayStation VR2 and its controllers. With no details on specs it's too early to start making those sorts of comparisons between PS VR2 and other headsets, and as for MediaTek doing more in VR, well, I guess we'll see. [Michael L Hicks / Android Central]
• Engage XR launched Link, its new "business-focused metaverse platform." Lenovo, KIA, and musician Fatboy Slim are on the list of early Link partners. [Press release]
• Pimax launched a Kickstarter campaign for the Portal, a new device it envisions as a hybrid gaming handheld and standalone or PC VR headset. That's… ambitious, but it has already cleared a modest $200,000 fundraising goal. [Hope Corrigan / PC Gamer]
• Manhattan VR "club" VR World NYC is now using Varjo Aero headsets for its attractions, a push from Varjo to appeal to more LBE and VR arcade companies. [Press release]
• Varjo will also host a webinar on Friday November 18 covering the addition of Unity and Unreal support for its Reality Cloud platform.
• Vertical Robot's Red Matter 2 makes for an interesting performance comparison case between Quest 2 and Pico 4. [UploadVR / David Heaney]
• If you've seen memes about a "Goth Target" in the metaverse, know this: yes, it's a real thing Target made in Horizon Worlds to promote a line of tacky items like Oujia serving trays and snake-print pillows. You be the judge of whether this is actually a good way to capitalize on the TikTok fascination around Chicago's actual dark and brooding Target.
• This year's Game Awards nominees for Best VR / AR title include After the Fall, Among Us VR, Bonelab, Moss Book: II, and Red Matter 2.