Apple Patents a Mixed Reality Sensory System

apple headset

Apple has filed four patents regarding a mixed reality sensory system to be used with a headset, and today the US Patent & Trademark Office published a fifth (via Patently Apple).

Mixed Reality Sensory System

The patents involve using sensors on a headset to help users interact with a virtual environment. Stereoscopic scenes would provide a sense of depth, and the computer could adjust it in real-time so a person feels like they’re moving within the scene. The sensors collect environmental data like video, depth information, lighting, etc.

mixed reality sensory system apple patent
A patent for the MR system. Credit: Patently Apple

As another example, in some embodiments, the MR system may include a computing device coupled to the HMD via a wired or wireless (e.g., Bluetooth) connection that implements at least some of the functionality of the HMD, for example rendering images and image content to be displayed in the 3D virtual view by the HMD.

This part is interesting because it implies that the headset would rely on another device—probably the iPhone—to render heavy computation. Apple Glasses may end up an iPhone-dependent device like the Apple Watch, although the Apple Watch is slowly becoming more independent. Patently Apple‘s article contains various images associated with the patents.

Further Reading:

[Apple Killing AR Glasses and ‘Product Design Troubles’]

[Apple Glasses Could be the Company’s Next Health Device]

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