At the Augmented World Expo (AWE) 2025, Qualcomm’s Vice President of XR, Ziad Asghar, revealed an innovative on-device AI showcase, demonstrating the forthcoming advancements in smart glasses technology. Qualcomm presented the Snapdragon AR1 Plus Gen 1 chip, crafted to power smart and augmented reality (AR) eyewear with sophisticated AI functionalities. This chip accommodates a Meta Llama AI model featuring one billion parameters and a 128K token context, signifying a notable advancement in on-device AI processing.
The Snapdragon AR1 Plus Gen 1 chip is designed with efficiency in mind, providing enhanced power management and superior imaging capabilities. It allows smart glasses to function autonomously, eliminating the dependency on a smartphone connection by executing AI models directly on the device. This innovation minimizes latency, achieving a 1.2-second time to first token (TTFT) that improves user experience by removing the usual delays linked to cloud-based AI interactions.
At the event, Asghar showcased the features of the TCL RayNeo X3 Pro AR glasses, which utilize the Snapdragon AR1 Plus Gen 1 chip. These glasses enable users to engage with AI using a small language model (SLM) without needing an internet connection. The cameras integrated into the glasses can analyze the surroundings and deliver contextual information, further augmenting their functionality.
Despite these innovations, smart glasses still need additional features such as cellular connectivity and on-device applications to evolve into completely standalone devices. Nevertheless, the incorporation of the Llama 3.2 model signifies a vital progression towards transforming smart glasses into more than mere smartphone accessories.
Qualcomm’s latest chipset also decreases the height of the temples on smart glasses by 20%, rendering them more subtle and akin to traditional eyewear. The chip is optimized for tasks like computer vision, voice activation, and video streaming, while also enhancing image quality through improved stabilization and multi-frame processing.
Beyond the chip, Qualcomm is investigating the potential of smart rings as controllers for AR glasses. These rings may provide gesture control, motion tracking, health monitoring, and 3DoF control, introducing new input methods when paired with smart glasses.
The Snapdragon AR1 Plus Gen 1 chip is anticipated to be implemented in various devices, including the RayNeo X3 Pro and possibly Google’s AR reference glasses as well as Meta’s rumored Ray-Ban Hypernova. Qualcomm also declared that Snapdragon Spaces is now compatible with Android XR and Samsung Project Moohan, fostering the creation of spatial applications for XR devices.
As AWE 2025 progresses, Qualcomm’s breakthroughs underline the capacity of smart glasses to revolutionize our interactions with technology, setting the stage for more engaging and intuitive user experiences.
