---
markdown_generated_at: "2026-10-14"
title: "VR is meant to be mobile."
url: "https://www.qualcomm.com/research/extended-reality/virtual-reality"
description: "Learn how Qualcomm has built the virtual reality ecosystem and makes VR experiences a reality. Virtual Reality documents, webinars, and demo videos."
canonicalUrl: "https://www.qualcomm.com/research/extended-reality/virtual-reality"
---

# VR is meant to be mobile.

![](https://s7d1.scene7.com/is/image/dmqualcommprod/vr-01-1col-hero-vr-badge-blue_pngbg?$QC_Responsive$&fmt=png-alpha)

Virtual reality (VR) provides the ultimate level of immersion, creating a sense of physical presence in real or imagined worlds. VR accomplishes this by focusing on the three pillars of immersion—visual quality, sound quality, and intuitive interactions—to stimulate our human senses with realistic feedback. Making this happen seamlessly in a mobile wearable device is not easy, but Qualcomm is making immersive mobile VR a reality.

[Download the mobile VR presentation](https://www.qualcomm.com/content/dam/qcomm-martech/dm-assets/documents/presentation_-_virtual_reality_-_web.pdf)

## Unprecedented experiences. Unlimited possibilities.

VR is a new paradigm for how we interact with the world, offering unprecedented experiences and unlimited possibilities that enhance our lives in many ways. We’re able to be virtually anywhere, do anything, and be with anyone at any time. Imagine being virtually transported to the best seat in the arena at the World Cup finals, to a classroom where you can learn from the best professors across the world, or to a special family event. Our imagination is the only limit to what’s possible with VR.

[Learn how VR works](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2016/06/keeping-virtual-world-stable-vr)

## Mobile technologies are accelerating VR adoption.

The same mobile technologies that power our smartphones are also powering VR. The mobile industry drives continuous technology advancements in multimedia, displays and sensors, and power and thermal efficiency. The characteristics of the mobile industry—specifically scale, rapid design cycles, and mass adoption—is accelerating VR adoption.

![](https://s7d1.scene7.com/is/image/dmqualcommprod/vr-03-2col-2third-mobile-technologies-are-accelerating?$QC_Responsive$&fmt=png-alpha)

## Immersive mobile VR has extreme requirements.

Fully immersive VR can only be achieved by simultaneously focusing on the extreme requirements of visual quality, sound quality, and intuitive interactions. Adding to this complexity, fully immersive mobile VR must be achieved at low power and thermals so the VR headset can be sleek, lightweight, stylish, and of course, free from wires.

![](https://s7d1.scene7.com/is/image/dmqualcommprod/vr-04a-fb1-visual-quality?$QC_Responsive$&fmt=png-alpha)

#### Visual quality

VR visual quality requires pixels so realistic that they are eventually indistinguishable from the real world. To accomplish this, we need extreme pixel quantity and quality, a 360° spherical view of the virtual world, and a stereoscopic display.

[Download our immersive mobile VR whitepaper](https://www.qualcomm.com/content/dam/qcomm-martech/dm-assets/documents/whitepaper-makingimmersivevirtualrealitypossibleinmobile.pdf)

![](https://s7d1.scene7.com/is/image/dmqualcommprod/vr-04b-fb1-sound-quality?$QC_Responsive$&fmt=png-alpha)

#### Sound quality

VR sound quality needs audio so accurate that it is true to life and completely in sync with the visuals. To accomplish this, we need high-resolution audio on par with human hearing capabilities and realistic 3D positional audio.

[Learn more about scene-based audio](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2016/08/scene-based-audio-adoption-accelerating)

![](https://s7d1.scene7.com/is/image/dmqualcommprod/vr-04c-fb1-intuitive-interaction?$QC_Responsive$&fmt=png-alpha)

#### Intuitive interactions

VR interactions need to be so intuitive and responsive that you forget that you are even dealing with an interface. To accomplish this, we need natural user interfaces, precise motion tracking, and minimal "motion to photon” latency.

[Learn about inside-out motion tracking](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2017/08/advancing-inside-out-motion-tracking-immersive-mobile-vr)

## We are making mobile VR a reality.

Qualcomm Technologies is uniquely positioned to deliver superior VR experiences by designing for the extreme requirements of fully immersive mobile VR. By taking a system approach and custom designing specialized engines across the system-on-chip (SoC), Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ XR1 Platforms are engineered to provide an efficient heterogeneous computing solution that is optimized end-to-end for VR. Our solutions power many leading mobile VR solutions today, and we are working with the VR ecosystem to make our vision of truly immersive mobile VR a reality.

## The latest

- OnQ Blog — [Advancing 5G to power the Connected Intelligent Edge: Watch Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon’s keynote address at 5G Summit 2022 [video]](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2022/05/advancing-5g-power-connected-intelligent-edge-watch-qualcomm-ceo-cristiano-amons) — May 10, 2022 — Tags: [5G](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=5G), [Connectivity](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Connectivity), [Internet of Things](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Internet%20of%20Things)
- OnQ Blog — [Qualcomm FastConnect innovation delivers freedom of movement with all-wireless XR](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2022/04/qualcomm-fastconnect-innovation-delivers-freedom-movement-all-wireless-xr) — Apr 17, 2022 — Tags: [Snapdragon](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Snapdragon), [Networking](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Networking), [Wi-Fi](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Wi-Fi)
- OnQ Blog — [From smartphones to laptops to smart glasses — Snapdragon is at the center of seamless premium experiences](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2022/04/smartphones-laptops-smart-glasses-snapdragon-center-seamless-premium-experiences) — Apr 12, 2022 — Tags: [Snapdragon](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Snapdragon), [Smartphones](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Smartphones), [Augmented Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Augmented%20Reality)
- OnQ Blog — [MWC 2022: Snapdragon Connect delivers the connected experiences your devices deserve [video]](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2022/02/mwc-2022-snapdragon-connect-delivers-connected-experiences-your-devices-deserve) — Feb 27, 2022 — Tags: [Snapdragon](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Snapdragon), [5G](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=5G), [Virtual Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Virtual%20Reality)
- OnQ Blog — [Meet Ananth Kandhadai, the Qualcomm inventor whose expertise in signal processing and computer vision is pioneering a new era of smart devices](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2022/02/meet-ananth-kandhadai-qualcomm-inventor-whose-expertise-signal-processing-and) — Feb 6, 2022 — Tags: [Computer Vision](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Computer%20Vision), [Research](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Research), [Augmented Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Augmented%20Reality)
- OnQ Blog — [A Q&A with Qualcomm Technologies’ Hugo Swart on Snapdragon Spaces and the future of AR](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2022/01/qa-qualcomm-technologies-hugo-swart-snapdragon-spaces-and-future-ar) — Jan 26, 2022 — Tags: [Snapdragon](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Snapdragon), [Augmented Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Augmented%20Reality), [Developer](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Developer)
- OnQ Blog — [Resident Evil 4 out now on Quest 2 – powered by innovations from Snapdragon XR2 5G Platform](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2022/01/resident-evil-4-out-now-quest-2-powered-innovations-snapdragon-xr2-5g-platform) — Jan 11, 2022 — Tags: [Gaming](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Gaming), [Virtual Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Virtual%20Reality), [Snapdragon](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Snapdragon)
- OnQ Blog — [The Future of the Smartphone: Advanced AI, elite gaming, new form factors, and professional photographic capabilities [video]](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2021/12/future-smartphone-advanced-ai-elite-gaming-new-form-factors-and-professional) — Dec 15, 2021 — Tags: [Snapdragon](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Snapdragon), [AI](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=AI), [Gaming](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Gaming)
- OnQ Blog — [Setting off the 5G Advanced evolution](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2021/12/setting-5g-advanced-evolution) — Dec 9, 2021 — Tags: [5G](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=5G), [Augmented Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Augmented%20Reality), [Virtual Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Virtual%20Reality)
- OnQ Blog — [How Snapdragon XR1-powers the Lenovo ThinkReality A3 smart glasses and moto g100 smartphone to deliver premium enterprise AR experiences](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2021/08/how-snapdragon-xr1-powers-lenovo-thinkreality-a3-smart-glasses-and-moto-g100) — Aug 15, 2021 — Tags: [Augmented Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Augmented%20Reality)
- OnQ Blog — [Optimizing 5G for a new class of low-latency experiences [video]](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2021/07/optimizing-5g-new-class-low-latency-experiences) — Jul 19, 2021 — Tags: [5G](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=5G), [Augmented Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Augmented%20Reality), [Virtual Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Virtual%20Reality)
- OnQ Blog — [Developers: The evolution of high performance foveated rendering on Adreno](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2021/07/evolution-high-performance-foveated-rendering-adreno) — Jul 7, 2021 — Tags: [Developer](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Developer), [Augmented Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Augmented%20Reality), [Snapdragon](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Snapdragon)
- OnQ Blog — [Demonstrating advanced 5G innovations [video]](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2021/06/demonstrating-advanced-5g-innovations) — Jun 26, 2021 — Tags: [5G](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=5G), [Cellular-V2X](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Cellular-V2X), [Augmented Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Augmented%20Reality)
- OnQ Blog — [Developers: The psychology and benefits of gamifying apps](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2021/06/psychology-and-benefits-gamifying-apps) — Jun 15, 2021 — Tags: [Developer](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Developer), [AI](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=AI), [Augmented Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Augmented%20Reality)
- OnQ Blog — [Developers: Creating a new reality with spatial computing](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2021/05/creating-new-reality-spatial-computing) — May 23, 2021 — Tags: [5G](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=5G), [AI](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=AI), [Augmented Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Augmented%20Reality)
- OnQ Blog — [Developers: Riding the wave of 5G, a millimeter at a time](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2021/05/riding-wave-5g-millimeter-time) — May 3, 2021 — Tags: [Developer](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Developer), [5G](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=5G), [4G LTE](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=4G%20LTE)
- OnQ Blog — [Qualcomm and VictoryXR collaborate on game-changing VR education program](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2021/04/qualcomm-and-victoryxr-collaborate-game-changing-vr-education-program) — Apr 28, 2021 — Tags: [Virtual Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Virtual%20Reality)
- OnQ Blog — [How Qualcomm is building the future of XR: A conversation with Hugo Swart](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2021/02/how-qualcomm-building-future-xr-conversation-hugo-swart) — Feb 24, 2021 — Tags: [Virtual Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Virtual%20Reality)
- OnQ Blog — [Advancing 5G for the new decade [video]](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2021/02/advancing-5g-new-decade) — Feb 21, 2021 — Tags: [5G](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=5G), [Research](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Research), [Virtual Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Virtual%20Reality)
- OnQ Blog — [Improving VR performance using motion estimation OpenGL Extensions](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2021/02/improving-vr-performance-using-motion-estimation-opengl-extensions) — Feb 15, 2021 — Tags: [Developer](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Developer), [Augmented Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Augmented%20Reality), [Virtual Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Virtual%20Reality)
- OnQ Blog — [XR Viewers – a new level of development opportunities](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2021/01/xr-viewers-new-level-development-opportunities) — Jan 11, 2021 — Tags: [Augmented Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Augmented%20Reality), [Virtual Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Virtual%20Reality), [Developer](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Developer)
- OnQ Blog — [OpenXR and an Introduction to the Khronos Group](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2020/11/openxr-and-introduction-khronos-group) — Nov 2, 2020 — Tags: [Virtual Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Virtual%20Reality), [Augmented Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Augmented%20Reality)
- OnQ Blog — [Oculus Quest 2: How Snapdragon XR2 powers the next generation of VR](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2020/10/oculus-quest-2-how-snapdragon-xr2-powers-next-generation-vr) — Oct 28, 2020 — Tags: [Virtual Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Virtual%20Reality), [Gaming](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Gaming)
- OnQ Blog — [Developers: Optimized XR tools and hardware highlighted at Facebook Connect](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2020/09/optimized-xr-tools-and-hardware-highlighted-facebook-connect) — Sep 22, 2020 — Tags: [Virtual Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Virtual%20Reality), [Augmented Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Augmented%20Reality)
- OnQ Blog — [Looking for rapid development in AR? Take a page from Youbiquo’s book.](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2020/08/looking-rapid-development-ar-take-page-youbiquos-book) — Aug 17, 2020 — Tags: [Developer](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Developer), [Augmented Reality](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq?tags=Augmented%20Reality)

## Videos

## Documents

| Document | Format | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Boundless XR and cloud gaming over 5G | Download (PDF) | Aug 4, 2021 |
| On-device motion tracking for immersive VR | Download (PDF) | Sep 13, 2017 |
| VR and AR Pushing Connectivity Limits | Download (PDF) | Mar 29, 2017 |
| Augmented and Virtual Reality: The First Wave of 5G Killer Apps | Download (PDF) | Jan 20, 2017 |
| Whitepaper: Making Immersive Virtual Reality Possible in Mobile | Download (PDF) | Mar 8, 2016 |
| Making Immersive Virtual Reality Possible in Mobile | Download (PDF) | Dec 23, 2015 |

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