Meta , parent company of Facebook , and Qualcomm will manufacture processors for virtual reality devices powered by Snapdragon platforms.
Meta , parent company of Facebook , and Qualcomm have announced a new collaboration to make chips focused on virtual reality (VR) . Both technology firms have signed an agreement to produce custom processor sets for devices that use this technology such as the Quest , the company’s VR glasses.
As revealed at a consumer electronics conference in Berlin today, Friday, September 2, engineering teams from both companies will work together to produce these VR -specific chips powered by Qualcomm ‘s Snapdragon platforms.
Meta and the Qualcomm dependency
This new agreement between the processor manufacturer and Mark Zuckerberg ‘s company demonstrates Meta ‘s dependence on Qualcomm technology when it comes to the development of silicon chips for its virtual, augmented and mixed reality devices. “Unlike mobile phones, the construction of VR poses new multidimensional challenges in terms of space computing, cost and form factor,” Zuckerberg said in a video message during the event.
In addition, the firm noted the following: “We are still in the early stages of the metaverse and this type of deep technical integration will help virtual reality become a multifunctional computing platform . “
The interest of the parent company of Facebook to develop more VR headsets and distribute them in the market seeks to make Zuckerberg ‘s vision of the metaverse a reality , the concept of immersive virtual worlds in which the company has been working since it changed its name a few months ago. The firm has been using Qualcomm chips for years for its virtual reality headsets, including its latest Quest2 headset .
The deal between Meta and Qualcomm
It is important to point out that the deal between these two technology giants does not have an exclusivity clause, but that the chips that are developed as part of it will be specifically optimized for the characteristics of Quest , according to Meta spokesman Tyler Tee . the Reuters agency . However, the financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
The report mentions that the deal only covers VR headsets and that Meta will continue to work on making its own chips in the future. “There could be situations where we use off-the-shelf silicon or work with industry partners on customizations, while also exploring our own novel silicon solutions. There could also be situations where we use both partner and custom solutions in the same product ,” explained Yee .