Apple has long been known to be working on an AR glass named Apple Glass. The company filed patents related to a 3D display technology and unique privacy features. A recent patent application from related to a “Dual-Axis Hinge Mechanism” designed specifically for eyewear hints that the company is continuing the development of its smart glass. Reportedly, Apple is expanding its visual product team aiming to speed up the development of its smart glass.

The main technical challenge is to maintain a lightweight and portable design all while ensuring a reasonably good AR experience for users. It is important to mention, that the Apple Vision Pro is actually a virtual reality product with great cameras that mimic an AR device but still has some limitations.

Although a launch date for Apple’s smart glass has not been announced yet, industry analysts expect the product to reach the market by 2026 or 2027. Clearly, Apple faces numerous challenges in delivering a significantly better user experience than what is currently available with Meta’s offerings. The company also took the same approach with the Apple Vision Pro.

If Apple manages to come up with a product that looks and feels like an ordinary glass, but integrates AR technology and is connected to the phone, it will be a notable achievement in the product space. People will be able to do many things they do with their phones without having to touch the phone. Two key areas that could benefit from the new development could be navigation and finding information from the web.

Giants like Meta and Google are also investing in AR technology, aiming to capture market share early. We will need to see how successful Apple becomes with its AR smart glass and what the pricing will be for the product.

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Over the last couple of weeks, we have reported on a number of reports regarding the upcoming AR/VR headset from Apple. Now, the company’s open source code has revealed that this new product will be paired with a dedicated software dubbed realityOS.

The reference to ‘realityOS’ was spotted (Via MacRumors) on App Store upload logs and Apple Open source code earlier today (9th February 2022) and is likely built for its rumored AR/VR based headset. For those unaware, the Cupertino based giant is rumored to be working on a mixed reality based wearable product that will reportedly launch sometime in late 2022 or 2023. As per our previous reports, the iPhone maker is believed to be working on at least two AR based gadgets.

One is said to be an AR based Apple Glass, while the second will be a mixed reality headset that supports both augmented reality and virtual reality. In other words, the realityOS might be the platform used for both of these products. Talking about the headset, it will reportedly powered by two Apple Silicon based chips that output Mac like performance to help seamlessly switch between AR and VR modes. The ‘rOS’ will likely be the platform that users interact with, similar to tvOS and watchOS.

Recently Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, also hinted that the App Store might soon be filled with AR based applications. So, we can even expect these products to connect with the Metaverse as well. Unfortunately, the brand has yet to officially reveal any finer details regarding the two wearable products, so stick around for more updates.

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Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, teased that the App Store currently has around 14,000 apps that are based on Augmented Reality (AR) technology. But, he added this figure will only grow even more as the company maintains its investment in the technology.

According to a PhoneArena report, the executive teased the future of App Store earlier this week, when talking about the Cupertino based giant’s plans for augmented reality. For those unaware, AR technology essentially adds a layer on top of the real world rather than bring the user to an entirely virtual world like VR (Virtual Reality). In response to a reporter’s question about the iPhone maker’s plans with the Metaverse, Cook stated that “We see a lot of potential in this space and are investing accordingly.”

This statement is in line with recent rumors that have hinted at Apple working on its first AR/VR mixed reality headset. As per our previous report, the headset was initially planned for a 2022 release, but now, the company has apparently delayed its launch to 2023. In other words, the mixed reality headset may be arriving alongside another one of Apple’s highly anticipated products, the Apple Glass.

For those unaware, this pair of glasses would appear to be no different from a regular one. But it will include AR functionalities. Cook also talked about the company’s research and development team has been working on various aspects like hardware, software, and services. He further added that “That’s where the magic really happens. There’s quite a bit of investment going into things that are not on the market at this point.”

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Apple has just filed a new patent with the USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office) earlier this week. The patent is for a unique new privacy feature that only reveals the content on iPhone through special glasses.

According to a PatentlyApple report (Via 9To5Mac), the patent in question describes a system that can display “vision corrected graphical outputs and standard graphical outputs on an electronic device.” However, a notable aspect of this system was the “Privacy Eyewear,” which can block other people around the user from seeing the content being displayed on the iPhone’s screen. Furthermore, the only way to see what’s on the display is through a special glasses.

Notably, the patent arrives amid rumors of the Cupertino based giant working on a mixed reality based headset and even an AR (Augmented Reality) based glasses. In other words, we might see this feature ship with these wearable products, which could even be a major selling point for the brand. Apart from just the new privacy feature, the iPhone maker is also working on on profiles for Face ID. The patent talks about an additional system that will be capable of differentiating between unique details on the user’s face. This includes aspects like hairstyles, beard, mustache, glasses, sunglasses, and more.

This feature could even make its way to the company’s Mac series of PCs as Touch ID lets users quickly switch accounts simply by scanning their fingerprints. So, it might be another seamless biometric verification system offered to the users. Although, this is still just a patent at the moment, so take this report with a pinch of salt for now.

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The long rumored Apple Glass might arrive with holograms to offer 3D objects in a virtual environment. This technology will be used to make the virtual objects seem more natural.

According an AppleInsider report, the Cupertino based giant has filed another new patent for its upcoming “Apple Glass.” In the patent, it is clear that the company is looking into 3D way of displaying information to the wearer along with realistic audio effects as well. While the brand has filed for various patents over the last couple of months, the latest one places an emphasis for improving the 3D experience offered by the device.

As per the patent, the company aims to make the user feel “as if they were physically in that environment,” through the use of “Scene camera,” by UK-based inventors Richard J. Topliss and Michael David Simmonds. The patent further states that the “virtual reality systems may display stereoscopic scenes to users in order to create an illusion of depth, and a computer may adjust the scene content in real-time to provide the illusion of the user moving within the scene.”

It further adds that “When the user views images through a virtual reality system, the user may thus feel as if they are moving within the scenes from a first-person point of view.” The glasses capture the real world as seen by the user and then presents information based on the scene being observed in the real world. So when the user moves, the scene camera also changes to better adapt its 3D environment. Furthermore, a large part of the patent is also based around solving potential issues caused by having projectors and other devices mounted at the side of the glasses.

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The Apple Glass might be paired with a magnetic glove to interact with the company’s long rumored AR and VR gadget. This product would use magnetic fields to determine the location of the users’ individual fingers.

According to an AppleInsider report, current day VR headsets arrive with a hand held controllers face an issue. While these systems can tell the location of the users’ hand in relation to the headset, these controllers are not able to accurately finding out the position of users’ individual fingers. in other words, hand held controllers might not be a great tool with AR headsets (augmented reality), where one might have to grab onto a physical object or other items necessary for AR applications.

Thus, this magnetic glove might be even more useful for the Apple Glass, which is the Cupertino based giant’s long rumored AR glasses that may be paired with a controller less system for its interaction. This glove was seen in a recent patent that was filed by the US Patent and Trademark Office. The patent was titled “Magnetic sensor based proximity sensing.” This suggests that the iPhone maker could be creating a smart glove gadget that can accurately map the location of the users’ fingertips.

The patent states that this can be achieved through magnetic sensing technology. Apple could be implementing this technology through coil based magnetic field generator with a specific modulation, which would be situated on the back of a hand. These magnetic sensor could then be attached to each fingertip that would enable accurate mapping of the distance between these tips and the source. Unfortunately, it is unknown if the company is actually working on such a product or is just covering all bases, so stay tuned.

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A new report has suggested that Apple is working on a new headset, which will also be the forerunner to the company’s eventual AR Glasses. Sources close to the matter have stated that the company is already working on this AR headset.

According to a Bloomberg report, the new headset will be an expensive and “niche” predecessor to the company’s more ambitious augmented reality products that will arrive in the future. While the Cupertino based giant has been rumored to be working on such a headset, the sources have claimed that the company is facing several hurdles in its development at the moment. This headset would also be the first new major product line since the Apple Watch.

As per the report, Apple is currently facing difficulties in development and only expects modest sales of its new product. The device will lean more towards virtual reality, for the purpose of gaming, watching videos, and even communication. So, we can expect it to only have limited augmented reality capabilities. For those unaware, VR is basically displaying 3D digitally rendered environments, while AR overlays images and information over a view of the real world.

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Unfortunately, the report also mentions that this Apple product might be more expensive than most of the current market competitors. While a headset from is rival can cost between 300 to 900 US Dollars, the sources have claimed that the Apple product will be far more expensive and that the company only expects to sell one headset per day per retail store as its price could reach up to the 5,999 US Dollars Mac Pro desktop computer.

The headset is codenamed N301 and is currently in the late prototype stage in development. So, Apple has no finalized plans for a possible launch. Furthermore, the AR Glasses from the company is codenamed N421 and is in the early stage known as “architecture” at the moment. This implies that the company is working on ironing out the technology that will be used in the product. Thus, it is still too early to provide any concrete statements. So stay tuned for more updates.

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The long rumored Apple Glass has been spotted in yet another patent application. This time we see the company’s AR smart glasses arrive with lenses that are able to adjust to the ambient lighting.

According to a PhoneArena report, the Cupertino based giant has filed a new patent application USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office). The patent is titled “Display System With Localized Optical Adjustments,” which is suggestive of the Apple Glass’ feature. Furthermore, the application also talks about “Localized Optical Adjustments,” which refers to the changes in the lenses in the Apple Glass. In simpler terms, the lens will automatically adjust based on the ambient lighting in the real world around the user.

So, Apple Glass would be able to adjust the lenses as per bright light or night time scenarios. In the patent, Apple states that “An adjustable lens system may be adjusted dynamically to accommodate different users and/or different operating situations. Adjustable light modulators may be used to selectively darken parts of a user’s field of view.”

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Further adding that “a head-mounted display system is being used to display computer-generated content that overlaps real-world objects, the brightness of the real-world objects can be selectively decreased to enhance the visibility of the computer-generated content. In particular, a spatially addressable adjustable light modulator may be used to generate a dark region that overlaps a bright real-world object that is overlapped by computer-generated content in the upper right corner of a user’s field of view.”

This basically implies that Apple is trying to adjust the brightness of the real world, so it can make the information being displayed to the user more visible through the glasses. In other words, the view of the object and its brightness through the glasses is adjusted to match the brightness of the real world, with adjustments for each lens being individual.

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The Apple Glass, an AR headset, may offer a few interesting features. To make the whole experience more immersive it could offer an accurate reproduction of sounds on a 3D plane, according to a report from AppleInsider.

Virtual reality in gaming and augmented reality has become increasingly more popular in recent times, and the people behind such technology are constantly trying to make the world you see more believable. The latter in particular has revolved around bringing more to the mundane world around the user. Thus, the added realism from the accurate audio could make digitally created structures seem more genuine.

This could also help improve interactions with said artificially produced objects in the users’ vision. While most stereo headphones offer basic left and right differentiation, a virtual sound system can reproduce audio positioning on a 3D plane by altering the properties of the sound effects to mimic the distortions caused by different factors.

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The Apple patent titled “Head related transfer function selection for binaural sound reproduction,” points at such a system. In simpler terms, the Cupertino based giant seeks to improve 3D sound positioning by having Head related transfer function (HRTF), which is basically a pair of acoustic filters for each ear. These help in differentiating the transmission of sounds from various positions in the environment around the user.

Unfortunately, the Apple patent does show the company’s interest in this field. Although, it does not provide any guarantee that the company would work on such a system. Rather, it could be their efforts in covering various bases for future possibilities which are again unlikely.

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The rumored and long awaited Apple Glass might have received some interesting features. A new patent has surfaced which reveals that the smart product could be controlled by the user’s eyes.

The eye control feature described has a big role in the device, with inputs varying from eye movements, blinks and even stares. According to the patent, “a user uses his or her eyes to interact with user interface objects displayed on the electronic device. The techniques provide a more natural and efficient interface by, in some exemplary embodiments, allowing a user to operate the device using primarily eye gazes and eye gestures (e.g., eye movement, blinks, and stares).”

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Furthermore, Apple Glasses could also be touch sensitive and take in inputs like taps and swipe. It could even be controlled via voice commands through Siri. Similarly, a user could also zoom into a scene ora subject by starting at it for a few seconds. This might automatically trigger magnification, or a simple voice input would do the trick.

Interestingly, the highly descriptive text also points at this approach being possibly supported on any other device with a camera, although, it would be more ‘advantageous’ for AR gadgets like the Apple Glass. Unfortunately, it is still too early to confirm anything regarding Apple’s upcoming AR product. So take this patent with a pinch of salt for now.

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(Via)

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A new patent from Apple has revealed a pair of glasses that automatically adjust to users’ eyes and make up for any deficiencies. The patent was published earlier today (17th June 2020) with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

In the patent, the technology behind a self correcting lenses is described that may be used on the rumored Apple Glass. This product is said to be an AR eyewear and will work along with a smartphone (resembles an iPhone in the patented images). The smartphone will slide into the frame and will connect to internal connectors, after which, it will act as the display.

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Apple has labeled this patent as “Head-mounted display apparatus for retaining a portable electronic device with display,” on multiple occasions. But the latest iteration of the patent depicts a new system that can change positions and configurations of the gadget’s optical components. In other words, Apple Glass would be able to adjust according to the users’ prescription.

Furthermore, the screen can be adjusted to make the image being displayed clearer. This is achieved by changing the position of images on the lens and resizing the content. Looking at the patented images, the processing power behind this method will be done through an iPhone. This system is similar to the early iterations of the Apple Watch, which also required an iPhone to run many of its features. Unfortunately, we don’t have much to go on over just a patent, but the Apple Glass is expected to arrive sometime next year.

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(Via)

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