Samsung, Google and Qualcomm are joining hands to create a mixed reality platform. Executives from the companies, namely Samsung’s TM Roh, Qualcomm’s Cristiano Amon, and Google’s Hiroshi Lockheimer took the stage at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event to make the announcement.
These companies only announced the partnership—they didn’t have any future devices or hardware products to show.
“We’re working to create a new era of highly immersive digital experiences that blur the line between our physical and digital worlds. Our Snapdragon XR tech, amazing products from Samsung, and experiences from Google With , we have the foundation to make this opportunity a reality,” Amon said on stage.
Lockheimer noted that Google is investing “through experiences and technology” in both AR and VR. The partnership will provide “state-of-the-art hardware and software” to “deliver next-generation technology,” he added.
The project by the three giants looks like a form of partnership to fend off competition from Meta and Apple. Metta has been thinking about investing in the Metaverse and immersive experiences for the past few years. The company also unveiled the $1,499 Quest Pro headset last year. While Apple has remained silent on this front, reports suggest that the company may soon launch a mixed reality headset.
In an interview with CNET, Roh, who heads Samsung’s mobile division, said the announcement is tentative at this time, but each company will bring its expertise to building mixed reality platforms.
“Each player is leading in each category, and then we will work together in different categories,” Roh told the publication.
Of the three organizations, Qualcomm is the most active in this space, supplying chips to a number of headset makers, including Meta.
Samsung had a ton of mobile-powered VR headsets with Oculus back in the day under the Gear VR moniker, which was eventually discontinued. Oculus CTO John Cormack said in 2019 that the lineup was a “missed opportunity”. Google started the Daydream VR project in 2016 but shut it down in 2019. On the AR side, the search giant debuted Project Tango in 2014, a combination of hardware and software to scan 3D space, only dropping it in 2019. .
The three companies have worked together on a number of projects. In addition to hardware, Samsung and Google have partnered to release a version of Wear OS and enable cross-platform compatibility for Matter-enabled smart home products.
