Former Apple and Meta engineers have unveiled a coprocessor that handles sensor data processing for passthrough, spatial tracking, and gaze and gesture recognition with low latency and low power consumption. This would allow the main processor to be moved to a wired pocket computer, reports UploadVR. If the battery is also outsourced, this would enable mixed reality glasses that are significantly more compact and lighter. Even lighter than the world’s smallest VR headset to date.
To demonstrate the concept, the Chinese start-up GravityXR presented the M1 mixed reality glasses, a reference design that weighs …
Former Apple and Meta engineers have unveiled a coprocessor that handles sensor data processing for passthrough, spatial tracking, and gaze and gesture recognition with low latency and low power consumption. This would allow the main processor to be moved to a wired pocket computer, reports UploadVR. If the battery is also outsourced, this would enable mixed reality glasses that are significantly more compact and lighter. Even lighter than the world’s smallest VR headset to date.
To demonstrate the concept, the Chinese start-up GravityXR presented the M1 mixed reality glasses, a reference design that weighs under 100 grams and is intended to serve as a blueprint for third-party manufacturers. For comparison: Meta Quest 3 integrates all components and weighs over 500 grams, while Apple Vision Pro weighs over 600 grams and is powered by an external battery. The M1 reference design features two 2.5K OLED microdisplays and pancake lenses with a 90-degree field of view. It also includes four tracking cameras and two passthrough cameras.
The G-X100 coprocessor supports up to two 4K displays at 120 Hertz, two color passthrough cameras with up to 16 megapixels, reverse passthrough (the same display principle underlying Apple’s EyeSight), as well as gaze and gesture recognition. This is achieved with a power consumption starting at 3 watts, which allows for passive cooling without a heavy heatsink or fan. The chip processes sensor data with a latency of 9 milliseconds. The previous record holder, Apple Vision Pro, has a latency of 12 milliseconds.
Meta and Pico are working on ultra-lightweight headsets
Former Apple engineers, who previously developed the R1 chip for the Apple Vision Pro specializing in sensor data processing, were involved in the G-X100 chip. No products based on the new chip were announced at the presentation of the G-X100, but that could change in the coming years. Especially as ultra-lightweight split designs with pocket computers gain increasing importance.
After conventional standalone headsets did not achieve the desired breakthrough, manufacturers are now trying new form factors. According to reports, Meta is planning a particularly light mixed reality glasses with a wired pocket computer for next year. Competitor Pico is also working on a lightweight device that could be released as early as the first half of the year and has developed a coprocessor for this purpose that is similar to the G-X100 and Apple’s R1 chip. Pico owner ByteDance is among the investors in the start-up GravityXR.
In addition to the G-X100, the company has also introduced a chip for smart glasses that delivers 16-megapixel photos and 4K video recordings at 30 frames per second, reports the Chinese website VR Tuoluo. This means it can, at least on paper, shoot better photos and videos than the second generation of Ray-Ban Meta glasses.
(mack)
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This article was originally published in German. It was translated with technical assistance and editorially reviewed before publication.