Cupertino based tech giant Apple is reportedly working on smart glasses. The company has been granted a patent for smart glasses that was filed in February last year with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). Spotted by 91mobiles, the patent contains information on the design and hardware of the wearable device. It also mentions applications of the Apple smart glass that includes AR/VR/MR experiences, health tracking and content consumption. Apple has also been granted a patent that could enable users to authenticate themselves with multiple devices.
According to the patent filing, Apple’s smart glasses will have a design similar to regular spectacles. As seen in the image, the top-view will be boxy and thick as it would house necessary components. The smart glasses may feature any one of the various types of displays i.e. OLED, LCD, LCoS or plasma. The thick frame is expected to accommodate components like HDD, RAM, processor, cellular and Wi-Fi transceivers. The wearable device will also come equipped with microprocessors, microcontrollers, audio chips, GPUs, sensors like accelerometer, gyroscope and compasses. To interact with the smart glasses, it will offer haptic feedback, LEDs and speakers etc.
Apple’s smart glasses could adjust itself to fit different users. It would use lens positioners to detect and adjust relative positions between the left and right lens modules. This may help adjust interpupillary distances among different users. The smart glasses are expected to be light and comfortable enough to wear all the time. To ensure that the wearable device doesn’t put excessive pressure on the user’s nose, the control circuitry will adjust the lens modules using interpupillary distance information and the sensing circuitry. In simple terms, the technology could measure the distance between the user’s eyes and automatically adjust the lenses of the headset ensuring proper viewing and a comfortable fit.
Apple’s smart glasses will feature integrated cameras allowing users to capture images of the surrounding. The patent suggests that the wearable device will offer health tracking-related applications. The glasses will reportedly collect user’s personal data like date of birth, facial information, location, telephone number, email address etc. The patent filing mentions that Apple will not sell personal data to third parties.
Apple users often own more than one device. The company already allows a MacBook user to automatically unlock the laptop using an Apple Watch. A recent patent revealed the ability to unlock multiple Apple devices through a ‘head-mounted device’ that acts as a means of authentication.
Apple is rumoured to launch an AR headset in 2022 followed by a pair of smart glasses in 2023. This is just a patent so there’s no guarantee that the product will ever see the light of day.