Qualcomm wants to expand your reality.

Qualcomm is going to popularize AR (augmented reality), for which it released its own SDK for Android, as well as announced a competition for $ 200 thousand. Why such interest? It's simple - Qualcomm supports the development of AR-applications for mobile phones, especially nodding in the direction of those models that work on their Snapdragon chips. Today, in fact, the whale was released for Android developers. The authors of the three best applications will receive the most announced $ 200 thousand (125/50/25). The competition will be held in January 2011, and the best apps will be shown at the next Mobile World Congress.

Applications that work with augmented reality are especially popular with developers for the wonderful opportunity to add a new digital layer to the surrounding space, having only an accessible smartphone. There are various AR-applications, such as video games, triggered by tags from QR codes, informants for sports events, product catalogs, with the output of a reference for a product in the field of view of the camera and other interesting whistles, which often turn out to be more advertising gimmick. But we do not leave hopes for the emergence of a true masterpiece among AR-applications.

The new Qualcomm SDK may or may not contribute to this. However, it is clear that the company seeks to encourage the development of augmented reality applications, as such will fully demonstrate the advantage of qualcomm graphics chips. And if AR-apps become an integral part of modern smartphones, this will allow Qualcomm to sell a larger number of its chips.

via techcrunch.com