Qualcomm and Google to enable Daydream standalone virtual reality headsets

— Collaboration enables powerful Snapdragon 835 VR platform support for untethered headsets featuring positional head-tracking—

MAY 17, 2017 - SAN FRANCISCO

At Google I/O 2017, it was announced that Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM), collaborated with Google to develop a Daydream standalone VR headset reference design powered by the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 835 VR platform. This advancement in Daydream builds on the earlier work Qualcomm Technologies and Google collaborated on to enable Daydream on smartphone devices.

“We are thrilled to once again work with Google and offer a powerful premium Snapdragon experience for devices on the Daydream platform,” said Keith Kressin, senior vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Our companies share the same vision: to make it possible for everyone to enjoy rich and immersive VR experiences on a smartphone device or a dedicated VR head-mounted display while being fully mobile, rather than being restricted by cables or limited to predefined rooms setup for outside-in tracking.”

This is in addition to the Fall 2016 announcement of the Snapdragon 821 and 820 processors supporting Daydream-ready devices. The fruits of this multi-year effort with Google now offer customers choice in Daydream headsets - from smartphone VR to standalone VR.

“The Daydream standalone headset reference design created in close partnership with Qualcomm will enable manufacturers to build a whole new category of VR devices,” said Clay Bavor, vice president, virtual reality, Google. “These headsets have everything needed for VR, built right into the headset itself and are as easy to use as picking them up. They'll feature WorldSense for positional tracking right out of the box without any external equipment. We're thrilled that headsets will begin to hit shelves later this year.”

The new Daydream standalone headset reference design includes custom specifications for tracking cameras and other sensors that make the best use of the Tango-based tracking technology Google has placed in the headset. The first of these headsets are expected to hit shelves later this year.