Intel enlists Total Immersion to develop augmented reality features

CHIPMAKER Intel is working with Total Immersion to bring augmented reality (AR) features to its chips.

Total Immersion has been in the augmented reality business for some time and now Intel has enlisted the company to build its technology into Intel's chips. Antoine Brachet, marketing chief at Total Immersion announced the collaboration but was coy on when products will appear.

Intel invested in Total Immersion earlier this year, however Brachet said consumer acceptance of augmented reality will determine when products tip up. Brachet believes that could be two or three years away.

Brachet told Reuters, "What we are doing together with Intel is working on their chipset [...] so inside the chipset you can have some AR features, like gesture recognition that can be transferred from software to hardware."

Augmented reality, the overlaying of relevant information to location data, has been a big growth area in the mobile market. Although it is useful to users, the real driving force is the ability to target advertising based on users' real time locations.

With Intel keen to get into the smartphone and tablet markets it is no surprise to see Chipzilla make a move in this market, though it won't be contending with just other chip vendors such as Qualcomm but also with software outfits such as Apple and Google. µ