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Qualcomm decides to call it quits with augmented reality

Julie Campbell | October 16, 2015

Though the company had been working hard to create its own smartglasses, it has now dropped the tech.

With a number of new players in the augmented reality glasses sector – greatly pushed forward by the HoloLens by Microsoft – there have been some companies that have decided to step back or completely step out of this wearable technology space, and Qualcomm has now included itself among them.

Qualcomm has now decided to sell its AR technology business to PTC, an Internet of Things (IoT) firm.

The sale of the augmented reality business has occurred for an undisclosed sum, at the time of the writing of this article. It will include the Vuforia platform and SDK which makes it possible for partners and developers to be able to create their own AR experiences. Vuforia has been operational for about five years and has already been used for a number of sizeable projects, such as the Sesame Street mobile app, a miniaturized TARDIS, as well as the unique driving goggles that were created for Mini.

It isn’t entirely clear whether PTC intends to maintain the Vuforia augmented reality platform as it is.

Augmented Reality Quit by Qualcomm The company may also be interested in the underlying AR technology but it could alter it into something of a different nature. What is known is that the company has purchased the entire business, outright.

The purchase includes everything right down to the “developer ecosystem”, which means that it is more than likely that the projects that are currently in development will be able to progress forward as they have been, at least for the moment. Anything that should come of those projects will now be the property of the new owner.

From the side of Qualcomm, though it is evident that they are stepping out of the augmented reality space, it has still said that it intends to “continue to drive computer vision technology that will unlock a wide variety of applications for consumers and businesses around the world.” No additional specifics were provided with regards to precisely what that would entail, but that is not abnormal when it comes to this type of announcement.

Augmented reality goggles are being created for drivers by Mini

Julie Campbell | April 15, 2015

The auto manufacturer is now developing a new type of product and it isn’t another form of small car.

Recently, at the Auto Shanghai event, Mini revealed that it is going to be rolling out a new product in the form of a pair of augmented reality goggles that are meant to help to improve the experience of drivers.

The devices are going to be called Mini Augmented Vision and are a pair of high tech glasses.

These augmented reality goggles are meant to be worn by drivers so that they will be able to obtain more information about their vehicles and where they are going, available within the field of vision but without getting in the way of the view of the actual road. While behind the wheel of the Mini vehicle, a wearer will be able to view a number of different kinds of information. These include: destination points that a driver can choose before leaving, a navigation display of the first and the last mile of the route, reminders and notifications of factors such as current traveling speed and speed limits.

The augmented reality goggles also help to guide a driver from one point to another along the route.

This wearable technology provides navigation arrows to give directions and suggest lane changes and turns when traveling from one place to another. It can also signal certain points of interest along the way. The goggles can alert the driver with regards to incoming messages from a connected smartphone. Moreover, it can provide a type of X-ray vision of the Mini in order to be able to see where it is in relation to objects and obstacles around it.

These AR glasses can also use the external cameras of the vehicle in order to obtain a clearer image of where the curb and other obstacles are, in order to make it easier to park.

The view through these augmented reality glasses make it much easier to see through the vehicle so that the road ahead will be easier to understand and to navigate. As of yet, Mini has not released any details with regards to its availability or how much they are going to cost.