Samsung's Mystery Mixed-Reality Project Is Still Happening. We Still Don't Know When
Samsung gave the briefest of updates about its XR project with Qualcomm and Google at Galaxy Unpacked in Paris.
Samsung has been playing around with the idea of VR/XR for many years.
Samsung showed us a whole slew of new products during its Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event in Paris on Wednesday, but a mixed reality headset was not among them. It did give us a tiny update on what we can expect from its mystery XR project, though, which we know has been in the works for a while.
"We've been working closely to develop in partnership with Samsung and Qualcomm for next generation devices, and you'll want to stay tuned for that," said Rick Osterloh, Senior Vice President, Platforms & Devices for Google speaking on stage at the event. "It's an exciting new era in mobile computing, and we're thrilled to take our partnership with Samsung to the next level."
It's been well over a year since Samsung first announced it was partnering with Google and Qualcomm to work on a mixed reality project. Since then, the company has largely been working in secret to bring it to life. Last year, Samsung's T.M. Roh, the president and head of Samsung's mobile experience business, told CNET Senior Editor Lisa Eadicicco that the mobile phone would be deeply connected to its XR experience. It's something that could give Samsung a unique edge against rivals like Apple and Meta, says CNET's XR and VR expert Scott Stein.
More from Samsung Unpacked
We were hoping Samsung might use its Unpacked event in Paris to finally show us something concrete. Sadly, that wasn't the case. But we did at least get an update on the project.
Patrick Chomet, Samsung's executive vice president and head of customer experience, couldn't share specific details about future plans for a mixed reality product when speaking with CNET's Lisa Eadicicco ahead of Unpacked. But he did say that qualities such as ergonomics and the quality of the optics are important for such devices. And of course, AI is expected to play a big role in the technology's development.
"But I believe the whole thing, what will make it really, really useful for people is actually AI," he said, also adding that the company is "diligently working on these things."
As Osterloh says, we'll just have to stay tuned!
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