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movidius-machine-intelligence

Rumors are swirling that Google is developing a truly-standalone VR headset — 1 that doesn't require either a smartphone like Cardboard and Gear VR, or a tethered PC, like Oculus and Vive. If it succeeds, the device will bemore alike to Microsoft's upcoming HoloLens AR headset in providing an integrated, untethered solution for enthusiasts willing to spend the money on a separate, consummate device.

Google certainly has as much or more feel equally whatever of its competitors with all the pieces needed to make this happen. The troubled Google Glass projection provided valuable experience in what works and what doesn't in head-mounted wearables, every bit well equally in how to minimize power, weight, and size of a mobile computer. Google Cardboard's v one thousand thousand units shipped dwarfs the sum total of every other VR device ever — giving Google a natural advantage in getting content developers on board, and a user base that may exist interested in trading upward. Google's Tango project demonstrates real-time SLAM (simultaneous location and mapping) in a mobile grade factor, and it is working with Lenovo and Qualcomm to bring that to market in a consumer phone.

Breaking through the ability clogging

1 of the biggest remaining bug for Google or anyone else looking to build a mobile solution for AR, VR, or vision-intensive applications is power consumption. GPUs are much meliorate than CPUs at chewing through the computations required, but usually at the expense of consuming peachy amounts of power. So, for now, custom silicon looks to be role of the solution. Google has already announced that information technology will exist partnering with startup Movidius to comprise its custom vision processing and machine learning chips in future phones. So it would brand perfect sense that Google would also use those chips in a VR headset — although so far both companies aren't willing to commentpublicly on the speculation. Microsoft is addressing this consequence on its own so far, with what it calls a custom Holographic Processing Unit in its HoloLens.

Better Android integration than Gear VR or HTC Vive

I advantage that Google has over Samsung and HTC is its command of the Android operating system. As a Gear VR user, 1 weakness of electric current devices is clumsy integration with the native device OS. A Google-branded, standalone device could benefit from a more-seamless integration with Android. I'd expect it to run existing Cardboard applications, but it might add a consummate VR interface to Google Play — then that content and apps could be managed straight from the device, unless the user is expected to manage the headset'due south applications from their smartphone.

Separately, information technology is likely that Google will follow-upwardly the mass-market success of Cardboard with a slightly higher-end version, perhaps to exist announced (or even given abroad) at its I/O conference this May. I'd await that product to look more similar a Gear VR — with lenses, sensors, and mayhap even audio — only be dependent on your smartphone for virtually of its processing and its display. Of course, it would also back up a wider variety of smartphone models than the few the Gear VR does.