Samsung is developing a mixed reality roadmap – Apple and Xiaomi are already further ahead

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• Mixed reality supplements natural perception with an artificially created level
• Samsung has partnered with Google and QUALCOMM
• Apple is said to be releasing a mixed reality headset in 2023

Samsung, Google and QUALCOMM form alliance

South Korean tech giant Samsung is working on a mixed-reality strategy, a senior official told CNBC at the MWC electronics fair in Barcelona. Mixed reality refers, among other things, to technologies such as augmented reality, in which natural perception is supplemented by additional images or animations. This closes the circle for the cooperation between Google, QUALCOMM and Samsung announced at the beginning of February: Representatives of the three companies announced that they are working on a new, immersive experience that will blur the boundaries between reality and the virtual world. What the cooperation announced at the beginning of February is about in detail was not revealed at the fair either, it is known that it will be a joint mixed reality platform. According to speculation, a similar development could be seen here as in the smartphone market: QUALCOMM is developing the computing units, Samsung is developing the hardware and Google is contributing the software.

The competition never sleeps

But not only the Samsung alliance has embraced mixed reality: with its product HoloLens 2, Microsoft has had glasses on the market for several years, which are aimed in particular at companies. According to Microsoft, the mixed reality glasses can be used to increase efficiency and save costs in numerous areas. Areas of application can be found, for example, in construction or education. Meta and HTC are also driving the development of digital glasses, but the most speculation is about Apple’s headset: A device called Reality Pro is to be released this year, the price should be around 3,000 US dollars, according to the US news portal Bloomberg. The system should display the operating system known from the iPhones in a three-dimensional look, and the unique selling point compared to other devices should be the integrated eye and hand tracking, with which you can navigate through the virtual worlds.

Prototype from the Far East

Augmented reality was one of the main topics of this year’s MWC. In connection with the mobile network standard 5G, the technology is seen as a fundamental change in working and social life, according to the organizers of the fair. The Chinese tech giant Xiaomi also developed the prototype of a pair of glasses and provided a closer look at the fair: The glasses are connected to a mobile phone, after which a desktop surface can be used, one can scroll through social media or play games – all this is done via the actual environment projected. The Xiaomi device is also capable of tracking gestures with the help of multiple cameras and allows operation with gestures, similar to what the rumors about the Apple headset claim. However, the Xiaomi glasses were not yet ready for the market in a test by the information portal XDA Developers: the battery was empty after just 30 minutes.

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