Google is allegedly developing a standalone augmented reality headset that aims to offer users a tethereless AR experience, German tech publication WinFuture reports.
WinFuture maintains they’ve obtained documents proving the existence of the Google AR headset project, which internally carries the code name ‘A65’. The headsets is said to rely on processors built by Qualcomm, and much like Microsoft’s HoloLens headset, Google A65 is said to function without a tether to a PC, and pack several camera sensors a microphones, offer vocal input.
According to WinFuture, the project is still at a very early stage of development, as both Qualcomm QSC603 and Qualcomm QSC605 are still currently under consideration as potential chips to drive the AR headset.
Google A65 is reportedly a collaboration between Google and the Taiwanese contract manufacturer Quanta, who built Google devices in the past, including the Pixel C Tablet. WinFuture maintains the developers were busy prototyping the hardware design, and that “there are still several stages of hardware development to go through.”
Google has done extensive work in AR, both through the now retired AR platform Project Tango, and the subsequently released ARCore dev kit, a software developer kit that brings basic AR functions to several flagship Android smartphones.
The company has also implemented what it calls ‘WorldSense’ tracking in its first 6DOF entry into the Daydream platform, the Lenovo Mirage Solo, which launched earlier this month. Google’s WorldSense employs two front-facing camera sensors to place Mirage Solo users in an hypothetically unlimited tracking volume—something a potential Google AR headset would need if it were to be a truly standalone experience.
