Everyone desires a bit of the metaverse. Since Facebook rebranded and christened itself Meta, curiosity in VR and AR has surged once more. We’ve already seen firms like , , and attempt to fail to make VR headsets for the mainstream, and at present gadgets from Oculus (oops, Meta), Valve, HTC and Sony are left standing because of the enchantment of immersive gaming.
But Motorola and Verizon imagine they’ve the reply to the largest drawback slowing down mainstream VR headset uptake: they’re usually weighed down by a slew of parts. The firms are asserting a “5G Neckband” at the moment that they imagine can permit headset makers to depart issues like connectivity, processing and battery to the collar and give attention to making their heads up shows light-weight and cozy.
In the images and diagrams the businesses offered to Engadget, the neckband is paired with a ThinkReality A3 headset (from Motorola’s guardian firm Lenovo), however it’s meant to work with different glasses as effectively. The concept is that the collar and pendant can present the brains of the operation for heads up shows transferring ahead. But it’s additionally supposed to assist make these experiences rather more transportable, because of a bevy of 5G antenna embedded throughout. “We’re making 5G wearable,” vice chairman of know-how at Verizon Brian Mecum instructed Engadget.
I have not seen the 5G Neckband in individual, however based mostly on the pictures, it appears to be like like a cross between a chunky necklace and a lanyard. There’s what appears to be like like a rope-sized cable encircling your neck, which the businesses say attaches magnetically, and a card-sized module that dangles from its center. The present iteration is black with a pink barrel on the best to hook up with headsets, which is suitable with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon VR platform and Microsoft’s Remote Network Driver Interface (RNDIS). It additionally affords USB-C and DP1.4 connections.
The firms stated the entrance pendant measures 2.1 x 3.8 inches (54 x 97mm), weighs 3.5 ounces (100 grams), and comprises a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, 5,000mAh battery, touchpad, SIM card slot and charging gentle indicator. It additionally homes a slew of sensors like a gyroscope, accelerometer, barometer and GPS, along with antennae for 5G, that are additionally embedded alongside the remainder of the neckband. At the again sits a trapezoid-shaped module weighing 2.6 ounces (75 grams) that additionally comprises antenna and stereo loudspeakers. Connecting the 2 are coaxes and sign traces, in response to firm reps.
“We wanted to make it so it’s pretty indistinguishable to the user,” stated Jeff Snow, Motorola’s normal supervisor of product innovation. “They’ve got a smartphone always on them that’s always connected to these glasses.”
Motorola and Verizon aren’t able to share particulars round pricing and availability but, however did tease that they have been in talks with main companions together with “already in place retail channels that are doing things in AR and VR,” Mecum stated. He additionally talked about that they are working with “some sports leagues” and “something pretty big with education.”
“We took a smartphone and exploded it around your neck,” Mecum stated. He’s very excited concerning the new product, “We don’t introduce new form factors or new compute platforms very often in the industry,” he stated. “If we can make it easier for kids to learn and we can make it easier for people in sports leagues to learn,” he stated, “without the complexity and friction of big heavy things around their head, it’ll change.”
The concept of lightening the load in your neck and transferring it to your shoulders whilst you’re spending hours in VR does appear sound. Other firms have additionally experimented with making belts or fanny packs to accommodate heavier compute parts. But the 5G neckband could be very clearly nonetheless in its early phases, with Motorola saying that we must always “stay tuned for more information.” We’ll must a minimum of try a pattern in individual to evaluate the load, latency, efficiency, warmth generated and general consolation of this gadget earlier than we will decide if it is possible. For now, the neckband is a minimum of an indicator that some firms within the business are conscious of a few of the obstacles round VR and AR headsets and are engaged on options. And if it would not get sleeker and better-looking in its subsequent few iterations, then we might all be doomed to look goofy once we don the gear we have to enter the metaverse.
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