Google Possibly Eyeing the AR Headset Market

After getting a bittersweet response to it’s earlier mixed reality projects, the internet giant is working on what seems to be a direct competition to Microsoft HoloLens and Magic Leap, as reported by WinFuture. The headset, called Google A65, overlays the real world with virtual images.

AR is being advocated by the likes of the Apple CEO, Tim Cook as one of the ‘core technologies’ of the future as it sees a major development in the form of standalone devices. Apple is rumored to be working on a similar project as well.

The ability to work without any external computer or phone is achieved by the use of the  Qualcomm QSC603 chipset, which is a quad-core ARM SoC with two cores working at 1.6 and another two at 1.7GHz. The chip can display video content at WQHD resolution, display 3D overlays while supporting all major graphical interfaces like the OpenGL, OpenCL, and Vulcan. It also features Gigabit WLAN, Bluetooth 5.1 and GPS.

According to WinFuture, the SoC also features a neural processing engine to work in conjunction with the Android Neural Networks API.

The device is under development in collaboration with Taiwanese manufacturer Quanta, which has also carried out projects like the Pixel C tablet in the past.

It is still unclear when the technology will be unveiled. While Google is currently working on various related technologies that are under development, there hasn’t been any official product announcement.

“It will take a while for the technologies to mature…”,says Rick Osterloh, Senior Vice President of Hardware at Google, “it will be a few years before that’s the case. We’re going to invest for a long period of time in that area as the technology catches up to where people want it to go.”

With that remark, it is only a matter of time before the technology starts being used by the masses. Meanwhile, the Magic Leap One is all set to take on the current state of the art, the Microsoft HoloLens this year.