Qualcomm Vuforia Enables Mobile Applications to Read Using Text Recognition

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and Qualcomm Austria Research Center GmbH, will enhance the Qualcomm Vuforia™ software platform to support real-time text recognition using smartphone and tablet cameras. When released in the spring, Vuforia's text recognition capability will allow developers to build a new class of educational experiences that incorporate interactivity with real world objects. Additionally, developers can use Vuforia's text recognition to enable a new form of data entry in addition to on-screen keyboards and speech-to-text.

As an example of this capability, Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, has unveiled its Big Bird's Words application as the first app built using the Vuforia text recognition feature. In the Big Bird's Words app, children are guided to search for and find new words in their environment, making vocabulary building a fun and interactive experience. Big Bird's 'wordoscope' will enable children to use a smartphone or tablet camera as a digital eye into their real-world environments to find and identify words, bringing a deeper understanding of what these words mean by exposing children to them in familiar contexts.

"Sesame Street has a long history of using cutting-edge technology to address children's developmental needs," said Scott Chambers, senior vice president of Worldwide Media Distribution at Sesame Workshop. "In collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, we've developed an innovative application designed to help children build early literacy skills using the Qualcomm Vuforia platform. Early formative research on the application has received positive feedback from both parents and children. Parents viewed this app as being a unique educational experience for their child and that it would help extend learning into the real world."

"Qualcomm Technologies is thrilled to collaborate with Sesame Workshop to create experiences that are both fun and educational for children," said Jay Wright, vice president of business development, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "As Qualcomm has always been on the cutting edge of creating new mobile experiences, Sesame Workshop has always taken a pioneering approach to helping children learn in new and creative ways. By enabling apps to 'read' using the Qualcomm Vuforia platform, we believe a whole new generation of educational experiences will now be possible."

Qualcomm Vuforia enables developers, creative agencies, brand, and content owners to create mobile apps that can "see" and now "read" using smartphone and tablet cameras on iOS or Android devices. Qualcomm Vuforia utilizes industry-leading computer vision technology to enable rich and reliable augmented reality experiences that drive customer engagement with print media and advertising, consumer products and packaging, and educational materials. Vuforia is supported by a global ecosystem of more than 40,000 developers in 130 countries and has powered more than 2,500 apps for iOS and Android devices. Additional information is available at www.vuforia.com.

About Qualcomm Incorporated

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is the world leader in 3G, 4G and next-generation wireless technologies. Qualcomm Incorporated includes Qualcomm's licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of its patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of Qualcomm's engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of its products and services businesses, including its semiconductor business, QCT. For more than 25 years, Qualcomm ideas and inventions have driven the evolution of digital communications, linking people everywhere more closely to information, entertainment and each other. For more information, visit Qualcomm's website, OnQ blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.

Qualcomm is a registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. Vuforia is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Qualcomm Contacts:
Tina Asmar, Corporate Communications
Phone: 1-858-845-5959
Email: [email protected]

Warren Kneeshaw, Investor Relations
Phone: 1-858-658-4813
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Qualcomm Incorporated