Wrapping up our Qualcomm HQ Editor’s Week Tour

After yesterday’s series of talks, we spent most of the day today listening to panel discussions from more Qualcomm reps, subsidiary companies, 3rd party partners and app developers on how some of the technologies are being harnessed for commercial use.

The panel discussions tapped on diverse industries and commercial applications but one of the more interesting ones include AR (augmented reality). A couple of developers were there to tell stories about AR projects they’ve done with Walmart (to increase foot traffic) and Nike (to showcase the interior of a shoe). The whole idea is to make the “experience” better and more immersive.

Another area of focus is in medical development — creating remote monitoring and data gathering devices in aide of healthcare.

One device shown to us is heart monitor and blood-oxygen monitor that send data via Bluetooth to an internet-connected station which then transmits those data to Qualcomm, interprets it and sends them to the doctor for follow-up.

Most of these devices are being used in developed countries but Qualcomm homes they’d find their way into emerging markets as well.

We then headed off to the Qualcomm Museum to the how the chips and the wireless devices have developed in the last two decades. Some of the devices here are very familiar and I have actually used before.

In our next story, we’ll show you all those interesting devices we saw at the museum.