Smart glasses with the Apple symbol are about to arrive and could have really interesting functions. Indeed Apple deposited a few patents on an AR viewer which even has the option of interact with external devices, for example by having a check Apple TV touching holograms. With a few gestures in the air with your hands, you can soon relive the second season of Ted Lasso.
Apple patents an AR viewer with holograms to touch
In recent months there has been a lot of talk about the Apple AR viewer, which could be called Apple Glasses. Just last week we reported an analysis by Ming-chi Kuo, which explains that the device could arrive next year and be as powerful as a Mac with an M1 processor. And the confirmations that Apple is aiming for the best with this AR viewer are confirmed by a new series of patents.
In fact, Patently Apple, a newspaper specialized in analyzing the many patents that Cupertino engineers file with the United States Patent Office, has discovered two new truly unique projects. Which allow you to make the “Mixed reality” on which Apple (and not only) is working with a lot of diligence. In fact, they would allow the wearer of the Apple headset to control other devices such as Apple TV, using their hands as a remote control.
A holographic touchscreen
According to the filed patent, the idea behind this new technology comes from Michael Kuhn, an engineer who arrived in Cupertino since Apple’s 2015 acquisition of the company Metaio. The second patent bears the signature of Peter Georg Meier, former owner of Metaio and now one of the directors of the various development departments in Cupertino.
Apple had acquired Metaio for their research in VR, AR and holograms. This second patent in fact speaks of “a system that project virtual objects into the physical environment, for example, with a hologram or a physical surface, so that the person using the system perceives the virtual objects superimposed on the physical environment ”.
To this technology, which creates holograms through the viewer screen, is added the technology of Metaio (but now of Apple) called Thermal Touch. Which allows you to transform any surface into a touchscreen using a standard camera and an infrared camera.
In another part of the patent we read in fact: “the system includes touch-sensitive surfaces to receive inputs, with the tap or swipe. In some examples, these displays and surfaces form touch displays“.
The Thermal Touch shown by Metaio, now bought by Apple
With the AR viewer, use holograms to control Apple TV +
The applications of a similar technology are manifold. For example, you can follow the instructions of a recipe found by Siri by following the holograms, moving virtual elements as easily as you mix real ingredients. Or in the patent the possibility of adjust the smart oven or thermostat just by framing them with the viewer. Or the possibility of buying tickets for a concert or for a club simply by looking at it and interacting with the hologram of the online ticket office.
Or you can control Apple TV + without the need for any remote control physicist. You can watch episodes of The Morning Show on the ceiling above your bed instead of on TV. By blocking playback with a movement in the air of a finger. And these are just two examples of the possible uses of this mixed reality technology, which allows direct interaction with virtual objects inserted in the physical world.
This however is a patent filed only on 25 november, which then may not see the light for a long time. However, should rumors of a release of the Apple’s AR viewer in the last three months of next year, it could mean that Apple is already implementing these resources in the new technology.
If so, we may soon find out more and will update you with the news regarding this device. That could really change the way let’s imagine augmented reality. Apple’s metaverse promises to get everyone talking in 2022.