Snapdragon Spaces
| Snapdragon Spaces | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Type | Augmented reality software development kit |
| Industry | Extended reality |
| Developer | Qualcomm |
| Operating System | Android |
| Supported Devices | Tethered AR glasses and standalone XR headsets powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon platforms |
| Release Date | November 9, 2021 (early access); June 1, 2022 (general availability) |
| Website | https://spaces.qualcomm.com |
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Snapdragon Spaces (full name the Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform) is an augmented reality software development kit (SDK) created by Qualcomm for building headworn AR experiences on smart glasses and extended reality (XR) headsets powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon processors. Announced on November 9, 2021, it gives developers a common set of perception and rendering tools, with software development kits for the Unity and Unreal Engine game engines, and is built on the Khronos Group's OpenXR standard so that applications can port across compatible devices.[1][2]
The platform represented a move by Qualcomm "up the stack" from supplying XR silicon into shipping the developer software that runs on it, letting the company tie its tools tightly to its chips.[3] Qualcomm described Snapdragon Spaces as "the first headworn AR platform optimized for AR Glasses tethered to smartphones with an OpenXR conformant runtime."[2] The first commercial hardware target was the Lenovo ThinkReality A3 smart glasses tethered to a Motorola smartphone.[4]
Beginning in 2025, Qualcomm steered developers away from Snapdragon Spaces and toward Google's Android XR platform, publishing migration guidance and a compatibility plugin rather than continuing to position Snapdragon Spaces as its primary XR runtime.[5]
History
Qualcomm unveiled Snapdragon Spaces on November 9, 2021, initially as an early-access release available to selected developers, with general availability targeted for spring 2022.[1][4] Hugo Swart, Qualcomm's vice president and general manager of XR at the time, said the platform "is designed to support the democratization of XR by taking a horizontal, open channel approach."[4] The company also named Lenovo, Motorola, OPPO and Xiaomi as initial OEM partners committed to supporting Snapdragon Spaces in 2022.[4]
The platform built on technology from two companies Qualcomm had acquired: Clay AIR, which supplied hand tracking and gesture recognition, and Wikitude, a maker of AR SDKs.[4]
Snapdragon Spaces reached general availability on June 1, 2022 at the Augmented World Expo (AWE) USA 2022, when Qualcomm opened the SDK for global developers to download. The reference development kit at launch paired the Lenovo ThinkReality A3 smart glasses, which use an 8 MP RGB camera for 1080p video plus dual fisheye cameras for room-scale tracking, with a Motorola edge+ (2022) smartphone based on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Mobile Platform.[6]
Architecture and OpenXR
Snapdragon Spaces is based on the Khronos Group's OpenXR specification, a royalty-free open standard whose APIs let game engines write portable code that accesses native XR hardware features. Because the SDK targets OpenXR, applications written against it are intended to run on any OpenXR-conformant Snapdragon Spaces device with minimal porting.[2][1] The runtime is delivered as the Snapdragon Spaces Services application, an OpenXR-compliant runtime that is accompanied by a set of OpenXR extensions and sample applications. Developers build for the platform using OpenXR plugins for the Unity and Unreal Engine SDKs, and capabilities such as hand tracking, controllers and other features are exposed as extensions that an application can query at runtime.[7]
A central design goal was "AR as a Feature," meaning developers could add AR functionality to existing 2D Android smartphone apps and let users move an experience between a phone screen and a pair of AR glasses, with the apps distributed through existing app stores.[3]
Features
At launch Snapdragon Spaces offered a baseline set of perception capabilities, which Qualcomm grouped into environmental understanding and user understanding.[4][3]
| Category | Capabilities |
|---|---|
| Environmental understanding | Spatial mapping and meshing; occlusion; plane detection; object and image recognition and tracking; local anchors and persistence; scene understanding |
| User understanding | Positional (6DoF) tracking; hand tracking |
For development, Snapdragon Spaces shipped SDKs for Unreal Engine and Unity, and supported app portability and unified workflows with Unity AR Foundation and Unity MARS, as well as integration with Niantic's Lightship developer platform.[4][1]
Dual Render Fusion
At AWE 2023 on June 23, 2023, Qualcomm introduced Dual Render Fusion, a feature of the Snapdragon Spaces Unity SDK that renders simultaneously to both a smartphone screen and a connected AR glasses display within the same Android activity. It lets the phone act as the primary input and controller while the glasses show additional 3D content, so developers can extend a 2D mobile app into a spatial experience without building a separate spatial user interface; Qualcomm said "little to no AR knowledge is required" and that adding it takes only a few extra lines of code.[8]
Supported devices
Snapdragon Spaces was designed for AR glasses tethered to and powered by a Snapdragon-based host smartphone, as well as for standalone XR headsets, all running Android.[2][9] The platform's officially supported and committed devices grew over time.
| Device | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Lenovo ThinkReality A3 | Tethered AR glasses | First commercial Snapdragon Spaces device; paired with a Motorola edge smartphone over a wired connection[6][9] |
| Lenovo ThinkReality VRX | Standalone VR headset | All-in-one enterprise headset added to the supported list in 2023[10] |
| OPPO MR Glasses Developer Edition | Mixed reality glasses | Binocular video pass-through device given committed support in 2023[10] |
| TCL RayNeo X2 | AR glasses | True AR glasses given committed support in 2023[10] |
| DigiLens ARGO | Standalone AR device | All-in-one device for enterprise and industrial workers given committed support in 2023[10] |
Among host smartphones, the Motorola edge 30 Pro / edge+ was the reference handset, and the OnePlus 11 was certified as "Snapdragon Spaces ready" for use with wireless glasses (not wired connections).[9] Later coverage noted the SDK's relevance to newer Snapdragon XR and AR silicon, including the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 and Snapdragon AR1 platforms.[11]
Pathfinder Program
To grow an application ecosystem, Qualcomm ran the Snapdragon Spaces Pathfinder Program, which gave qualifying developers early access to platform technology, project funding, co-marketing and promotion, and hardware development kits.[6][12] The program funded its first cohort of developer projects around the platform's 2022 general availability.[6] In the United States and Europe it was supported by the T-Mobile Accelerator and Deutsche Telekom's hubraum incubator, which each launched XR programs around the Snapdragon Spaces platform.[13] By AWE 2023 the Pathfinder Program had grown to more than 80 member companies.[14]
Transition to Android XR
Qualcomm's XR software strategy shifted after Google announced the Android XR platform in December 2024. On June 10, 2025 Qualcomm published developer guidance to start migrating from Snapdragon Spaces to Android XR, providing migration guides and a Snapdragon Spaces Compatibility Plugin that lets existing Snapdragon Spaces Unity projects target the Android XR ecosystem with reduced effort.[5][15] In practice this directed Qualcomm's developer effort toward Android XR rather than its own runtime. The precise long-term support status of the original Snapdragon Spaces SDK after this transition is not clearly stated in the sources reviewed here; what is verifiable is that, as of mid-2025, Qualcomm was actively recommending migration to Android XR.[5]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform Launches to Create Headworn AR Experiences that Adapt to the Spaces Around Us". 2021-11-09. https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2021/11/snapdragon-spaces-xr-developer-platform-launches-create-headworn-ar.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Qualcomm Introduces Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform Using OpenXR". 2021-11-09. https://www.khronos.org/news/permalink/qualcomm-introduces-snapdragon-spaces-xr-developer-platform-using-openxr.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Qualcomm Moves Up the Stack with Snapdragon Spaces". 2021-11-09. https://arinsider.co/2021/11/09/qualcomm-moves-up-the-stack-with-snapdragon-spaces/.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 "Qualcomm announces Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform for creation of headworn AR experiences". 2021-11-09. https://www.auganix.org/qualcomm-announces-snapdragon-spaces-xr-developer-platform-for-creation-of-headworn-ar-experiences/.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Start migrating from Snapdragon Spaces to Android XR". 2025-06-10. https://www.qualcomm.com/developer/blog/2025/06/start-migrating-from-snapdragon-spaces-to-android-xr.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Qualcomm announces global availability of its Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform". 2022-06-01. https://www.auganix.org/qualcomm-announces-global-availability-of-its-snapdragon-spaces-xr-developer-platform/.
- ↑ "OpenXR for Snapdragon Spaces". Qualcomm. https://docs.spaces.qualcomm.com/platform/architecture/openxr-for-snapdragon-spaces.
- ↑ "Introducing Dual Render Fusion, a new feature of Snapdragon Spaces". 2023-06-23. https://www.thevrara.com/news2/2023/6/23/introducing-dual-render-fusion-a-new-feature-of-snapdragon-spaces.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Which devices support Snapdragon Spaces?". Qualcomm. https://support.spaces.qualcomm.com/support/solutions/articles/72000543202-which-devices-support-snapdragon-spaces-.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "Qualcomm beefs up Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform for immersive future". 2023-06-01. https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366538975/Qualcomm-beefs-up-Snapdragon-Space-XR-Developer-Platform-for-immersive-future.
- ↑ "Qualcomm Snapdragon Spaces Pathfinder Program". https://thearea.org/ar-news/qualcomm-snapdragon-spaces-pathfinder-program/.
- ↑ "hubraum and T-Mobile Accelerator support Qualcomm Technologies' new Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform". 2021-11-09. https://www.telekom.com/en/media/media-information/archive/paving-the-way-for-xr-hubraum-t-mobile-accelerator-and-qualcomm-640080.
- ↑ "Exciting Snapdragon Spaces Announcements at AWE 2023". 2023-06-01. https://www.qualcomm.com/blog/exciting-snapdragon-spaces-announcements-awe-2023.
- ↑ "Snapdragon Spaces Compatibility Plugin for Android XR". https://www.qualcomm.com/developer/software/snapdragon-spaces-compatibility-plugin-for-android-xr.