Qualcomm, a leader in low-power chips for smartphones, is focused on a new market for growth: smart glasses.
On Tuesday at the Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, Calif., Qualcomm demonstrated a generative AI assistant running completely on smart glasses, without the aid of a mobile phone or internet cloud.
At AWE, Qualcomm introduced its Snapdragon AR1+ platform to enable augmented reality applications on smart glasses. For the demonstration, Qualcomm used a pair of RayNeo X3 Pro smart glasses.
The demo showed how a wearer could have a verbal conversation with an AI assistant on the headset to complete tasks. It offered a glimpse into how Qualcomm intends to turn smart glasses into a stand-alone device, Ziad Asghar, Qualcomm's senior vice president and general manager of XR and spatial computing, said in a blog post.
On the stock market today, Qualcomm stock rose 2.4% to close at 159.13.
The Snapdragon AR1+ Gen 1 processor is 26% smaller than previous generations and brings improved power efficiency. It also provides enhanced image quality for the cameras on smart glasses. Most importantly, it has the ability to run small language models, or SLMs, with up to 1 billion parameters for AI applications.
"While smart glasses will be able to run SLMs on their own, that doesn't mean they won't work in tandem with a constellation of devices around you, whether it's your smartphone or PC," Asghar said.
Qualcomm Stock Rises On AI Acquisition
In December, Qualcomm collaborated with Alphabet's Google and Samsung to launch Android XR, an operating system designed with AI at the core of the XR experience.
The smart glasses market is just starting to emerge, with Meta Ray-Ban Glasses an early leader in the category. Smaller players include RayNeo, Rokid and XReal.
On Monday, Qualcomm stock rose 4.1% to close at 155.41. Earlier in the day, it announced a $2.4 billion all-cash deal to acquire U.K.-based Alphawave Semi to strengthen its artificial intelligence technology portfolio.
Follow Patrick Seitz on X, formerly Twitter, at @IBD_PSeitz for more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor stocks.
