Apple's work on AR glasses and a VR headset is now known through countless leaks and reports - but what could the headset or glasses of the future look like? Two new patents could provide a partial answer.
Will the camera be visible? Will the glasses and headset have integrated earphones? These and other questions are being asked by some fans. Two newly discovered patents could provide answers.
The Camera Patent
The first patent, titled "Electronic Devices Having Electrically Adjustable Optical Layers," provides an idea for how the camera and important sensors of AR or VR headsets could be concealed without being visible to everyone in public. However, certain openings are necessary to ensure functionality. The patent description states:
An electronic device has an electrically adjustable optical layer. Displays and other optical components may be supported by a housing structure. The structure may form a handset housing, a head housing, or other enclosure for the electronic device. The electrically adjustable optical layer may be adjusted by a control circuit in the electronic device. The control circuit may reduce the light transmittance for the electrically adjustable optical layer to conceal the optical components, may increase the light transmittance to expose the optical components while the optical components are used to receive or emit light, and may otherwise adjust the electrically adjustable optical layer to have a desired set of optical properties depending on the operating mode of the electronic device.
The cover could therefore hide components or make them visible when necessary. The interesting thing is that the technology could also be used for lenses or cameras on phones.
The Headphone Patent
The second patent, titled "Display System Having An Audio Output Device," deals with headphones that can be removed from a headset if necessary. This isn't really anything new, as previous VR headsets have similar functionality. However, Apple's technology appears to respond to movement. The patent states:
A display system consists of a head-mounted display unit and a detachable speaker unit. The head-mounted display unit outputs visual content to the user and provides the user with a visual feed-through of a real-world environment. The detachable speaker unit is detachably connected to the head-mounted display unit to provide audio content to the user. At least one of the visual or audio content is changed according to the position of the detachable speaker unit relative to the head-mounted display unit.
According to the document, Apple describes a system that can automatically adjust playback based on the position of the headphones. The result would be a more realistic visual and acoustic reproduction. Apple's work in this area is indeed very exciting. However, since this is "only" a patent and not a leak, the information should be treated with a grain of salt. As always, I don't want to leave one thing unmentioned – it's just an idea, and it could end up remaining just that. (Photo by monsitj / Bigstockphoto)
