Qualcomm has introduced a new virtual reality (VR) software development kit (SDK). The new Snapdragon VR SDK is designed to abstract the complexity of virtual reality and provide developers with access to optimized, advanced VR features, to simplify development and to help them attain improved VR performance and power efficiency with the Snapdragon 820 processor for Android smartphones and upcoming VR headsets.

Technologies that will be supported in the Snapdragon VR SDKinclude:

• DSP sensor fusion: The SDK enables developers to easily access the right combination of high frequency inertial data from gyroscopes and accelerometers via the Snapdragon Sensor Core and predictive head position processing with the Qualcomm Hexagon DSP
• Fast motion to photon: Supports asynchronous time warp with single buffer rendering for fast transformation of rendered images in 3D space, which helps reduce latency by up to 50% compared with not using the SDK
• Stereoscopic rendering with lens correction: Supports 3D binocular vision with color correction and barrel distortion for improved visual quality of graphics and video
• VR layering: Generation of menus, text, and other overlays so that they render correctly in a virtual world
• Power management: Integration with the Qualcomm Symphony System Manager SDK to provide cohesive CPU, GPU, and DSP power and performance management to help achieve stable frame rates for VR applications running in low-power devices
• The SDK is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2016 through the Qualcomm Developer Network.