Qualcomm’s Debra Cassidy Marich On Why India Is Ready For XR, AR Glasses And Spatial Tech | Gadgets

Qualcomm’s Debra Cassidy Marich On Why India Is Ready For XR, AR Glasses And Spatial Tech

US-based chipset maker Qualcomm recently hosted its Snapdragon for India XR Day event in New Delhi, where the company showcased the future of XR (extended reality), smart glasses and spatial computing. At the event, Qualcomm highlighted how it plans to power next-gen smart glasses in India using its latest Snapdragon chipsets. These AI-backed glasses are being developed in partnership with Indian eyewear brand Lenskart.

The company also showcased immersive demos focused on content creation, entertainment, fitness and education.

On the sidelines of the event, Debra Cassidy Marich, Vice President of Product Marketing at Qualcomm, spoke to Times Now Tech and explained why the company believes India is now ready for XR, AR glasses and the future of spatial computing.

“From a timing perspective, there’s no better time to talk about XR in India because it’s getting ready to take off. You recently launched the Meta Ray-Ban here and the way AR is working with consumers — it’s a really good time.

The Meta Ray-Ban glasses were initially launched in the US and a few other markets last year and were recently introduced in India. They are powered by the Snapdragon AR1 chip. Now, the company has made further enhancements to the chipset by introducing the ZR1 Plus Gen 1 chipset which not only enables bigger battery within glasses but also supports on-device AI, capable of running small language models.

With such a strong push in this segment, Qualcomm sees huge potential in the market.

More than 100 Mixed Reality (MR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR) devices around the world use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR chips. This includes popular products like Meta Quest 2 and Quest 3, Lenovo ThinkReality A3 smart glasses and the Ray-Ban Meta smart eyewear. These Snapdragon-powered devices are used in many areas — from gaming and entertainment to remote training and enterprise work.

“If you think about our history here (Snapdragon), we talk a lot about mobile, cameras and probably even automotive. But XR has been something we’ve been in for a really long time and it needed to evolve. We really needed the thin and light glasses that people could start to explore. So I think it’s the perfect time to be here and help bring spatial computing to India.

When asked if these products like Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses can become popular in a price-sensitive market like India, she replied:

“You know Snapdragon pretty well. We are a leadership brand. And we also feel it’s really important not to leave anyone behind. There are products out there that are in the $3,000 range — those just aren’t affordable. Qualcomm is working to make smart glasses much more affordable.”

With over 300 million Gen Z users in India, Debra believes that smart glasses can easily fit into their lifestyle and become mainstream in the future.

To support this shift, Qualcomm is actively partnering with Indian companies and developers. The company showcased its collaboration with Lenskart for AI-powered eyewear and hinted at more local partnerships coming soon.

According to Debra, building the XR ecosystem in India means ensuring that not just the technology, but also consumers and developers are ready. And that, she said, is already happening.

“We’ve been working on that ecosystem. We have tools like Snapdragon Spaces, which help developers get started and build content-rich user experiences. There’s a lot already happening,” she said.

“Can you imagine wearing a pair of glasses and doing your UPI payments with a look and a click? The growth is just going to continue as developers get excited and figure out what they can do with the technology.”

When asked how Qualcomm is planning to grow in the mid-premium smartphone segment in India, Debra said: “The mid-to-high-tier segment is very important. Last year, we launched a product to bring 5G under $100 — that’s what we mean when we say we don’t want to leave anyone behind from a technology platform perspective. “

She also talked about how Qualcomm is using AI not just to make devices faster but smarter.

“We’ve been working on AI for over 10 years. We often talk about making it faster because that’s an easy way for people to understand its evolution. But if you look at the technology Qualcomm has already deployed especially in areas like cameras — what you’re seeing is smart AI in action.”

The same goes for gaming, where AI helps make experiences more efficient. A lot of this AI work has been happening behind the scenes, Debra said.

“Now, we are making it faster, low latency, and more power-efficient so it’s ready to deliver the kind of performance future AI applications will demand. And behind it all is the intelligence we’ve been building for over a decade,” she explained.

Beyond XR and smartphones, Qualcomm is also expanding in India across many sectors.

“We’re involved in all areas — whether it is mobile technology, wearables, smartwatches, glasses, or even automobiles. But Qualcomm as a whole has much more to offer. There’s also AIoT, which I believe is a space where I think we really have a lot to offer as a company — where we can kind of revolutionise industry and make things smarter.”

Apart from this, enterprise remains to be a key growth area for Qualcomm along with wireless connectivity.

“We have so much to offer there, and we’re going to continue growing that in India with the amazing regional team and strong collaborations we have in place,” she noted.

(Note: This interview was conducted by Bharat Upadhyay From Times Now Tech)

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