Virtual Reality: New Apple Patents: Will the iPhone Become a VR Game Console? | newsletter

Apple applies for new patents for the iPhone

iPhone can be used as a VR console

VR headset should be enabled too

Apple registers new patents in the field of virtual reality

Apple recently received some patents in the field of virtual reality (VR) from the US Patent Office, t3n reported. According to MacTechNews, patents in this area that the iPhone manufacturer has filed in the past include protective documents regarding data gloves, smart finger rings, or haptic feedback socks. There are two special documents of particular interest at the moment: the iPhone on the one hand as a display and on the other hand as a controller.

iPhone instead of a VR console

In the future, the iPhone could act as an interface to a virtual reality environment and thus act as a console for virtual reality games. According to t3n, Apple will give users already known devices and at the same time offer them to buy and learn new devices. With previous leaders in this direction, the problem has repeatedly arose that calculating the exact position of a cell phone through virtual reality glasses did not work out. And it is precisely this deficiency that the patent aims to remedy. The mark on the physical screen of the iPhone can serve as the orientation of the VR glasses, as the system uses the mark to calculate and track the position in the virtual space. It should also be possible to detect the rotation of the “controller”. According to the patent, the control signal enables a “second device” – the iPhone – to be used as a 3D control, as a 3D pointer or as an input device for a user interface.

Das iPhone screen also from VR-Headset

According to t3n, the second document is Apple’s 16th patent, which describes a VR headset that an iPhone can be integrated into. Engineers talk about a “projector with an optical complex” that can also be mounted on the head. The set, which will be placed in the mixed reality area, aims to make the computer-generated images and real images viewable at the same time. Moreover, it can be seen from the document that the built-in also shows the real environment, acting not as a screen that displays only images of the real environment, but like glasses.

In addition, the reflector should bring synthetic models of the cell phone into the picture. Apple mentions several implementation options in this regard. In one arrangement, the front camera overlaps an optical component that acts as a partial mirror. In another case, the desired effects are achieved through different layers that are applied to the screen. In addition, the patent also talks about sensors and cameras that scan the environment and record the direction in which the user is looking.

Thomas Fishel / editors finanzen.net

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