Opinion: The XR Headset Reference Design could be better and here is how
Qualcomm’s Current Reference Design for an all in one XR headset is a good start but I think they can do a lot better to inspire…
Qualcomm’s Current Reference Design for an all in one XR headset is a good start but I think they can do a lot better to inspire manufacturers to take advantage of their exciting and powerful Qualcomm 845 chipset.
(XR is an industry term that indicates a headset that can do AR and/or VR, a similar term would be Mixed Reality)
Article by Micah Blumberg, (References: MicrodoseVR.com DeathStarRobot.com Neurohaxor.com SFVR360.com sfvr.net vrma.io vrma.work facebook.com/groups/neomindcycle facebook.com/groups/iflneuro facebook.com/groups/neurohaxor facebook.com/groups/neurosf, svgn.io twitter @worksalt facebook.com/worksalt )
The Qualcomm 845 XR headset reference design has 4 cameras but only 2 cameras are for roomscale position tracking, (the other 2 are for eye tracking) but they would do a lot better to include 4 cameras for position, controller, hand and body tracking. Two cameras should be on the front, and two on the rear and or the sides of the headset to track the users controllers as they reach behind themselves to grab virtual items placed on their back or from their waist when the user is looking up.
The reference XR headset design includes eye tracking, but it should also include pupil dilation tracking, heart rate tracking with an inexpensive EKG sensor, inexpensive shock mounted EEG sensors for brainwave tracking, and faceplate mounted EMG sensors to predict the user’s facial expression for AR/VR avatars.
There are a lot of other headsets that are including various combinations of sensors like the previously mentioned, because potentially we can begin to predict the users intention, emotion, likes, dislikes, and even predict what the user is seeing or hearing enough to create a better user interface that is more responsive to users, and is more fun to use.
The front facing cameras should go beyond just roomscale tracking and include a depth sensor based camera for Augmented Reality applications, or applications that go back and forth between AR and VR.
If there are depth sensors on the front and sides then developers can use neural networks to track hand and body positions so the hand and body can be an avatar in Virtual Reality.
Foveated rendering is included in the reference design, which is a good step, but I would like to see the reference design include the lightest weight materials, with a minimalist use of materials so that the headsets are as light weight as possible.
Many existing AR VR headsets have needless chunks of extra plastic and other materials that make headsets heavier. The headset should feature a strap that accomodates both larger and smaller heads, not just average size heads, and the eye tracking should include an automatic adjustment for IPD Interpupillary distance. Make sure to include room for glasses.
Another recent article:
These three exciting new medical scanning technologies have neuroscientists dreaming about the prospects of next generation of medical imaging that is cheaper, more affordable, and more accessible to researchers world wide.
3 New Medical Imagining Technologies that have Neuroscientists salivating like Pavlov’s dogs.
These three exciting new medical scanning technologies have neuroscientists dreaming about the prospects of next generation of medical…medium.com