Qualcomm is also involved in the partnership.
Last week Samsung held its half-annual Galaxy Unpacked event, during which the company revealed several updates regarding its lineup of Galaxy S23 hardware. That said, the most exciting news came towards the end of the presentation when Qualcomm CEO, Cristiano Amon, and Google SVP of Android, Hiroshi Lockheimer, joined Samsung’s TM Roh on stage to announce that all three companies are partnering to develop new XR experiences.
“An exciting space where Google has been investing in for a long time across both experiences and technology is AR and VR,” said Hiroshi in an official release. “These technologies are integral to the new phase of computing as it can change the way we interact with people and information to get things done in the real world.”
Speaking to The Washington Post, Samsung confirmed its interest in the development of “extended reality” devices. Recently, we’ve seen various hardware manufacturers use passthrough technology to provide immersive mixed reality experiences on headsets such as Meta Quest Pro and Pico 4. It’s unclear whether or not Samsung’s upcoming XR devices will make use of such technology.
Samsung was careful not to reveal any information regarding specific products or launch windows during the event; all we know at the moment is that a partnership between Samsung, Google, and Qualcomm exists. That said, we can speculate as to what the companies are up to.
Qualcomm has been a leading provider of mobile processors among VR hardware manufacturers for years, therefore it makes sense that Samsung would seek the company’s help in developing its own line of standalone XR devices. On top of that, Samsung already has a considerable amount of experience developing VR hardware. Back in 2015, the company launched the Samsung Gear VR, a head-mounted VR display powered by a compatible Android smartphone, followed by the Odyssey+, a PC VR headset, in 2018.
For more information check out Samsung’s official Unpacked recap here.
Feature Image Credit: Samsung