Lenovo has announced a Motorola “neckband” intended to power lightweight VR and AR headsets. The neckband looks like a lanyard and contains a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 soc with a 5G modem.
Motorola parent company Lenovo showcases the Motorola 5G-XR neckband on its website. It is a kind of chain with a small rectangular module, in which hardware is incorporated. That module can be connected to VR or AR glasses and then control them. This means that the hardware no longer has to be incorporated into the glasses, so that the glasses can be made lighter.
Lenovo reports to Engadget that the neckband includes a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 soc, 5000mAh battery, touchpad, SIM card slot and several sensors, including a gyroscope, accelerometer and GPS sensors. The module would weigh about 100 grams. At the back is another module with speakers and an antenna. The company is working with Verizon in the US on the neckband, which can connect to the provider’s 5G network.
Promotional images show the neckband being used with Lenovo ThinkReality A3 smartglasses, but the company tells Engadget that the neckband should work with other devices as well. The device is said to work with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon VR platform and also support USB-C and DisplayPort 1.4.
It is unknown when the device will be released or what it will cost. Lenovo does report that the neckband will be aimed at enterprise customers. Verizon tells Engadget it is in talks with “partners in retail, sports and education.”
Image via Lenovo