Filed under: Hardware, Odds and ends
Apple applies for patent on head-tracking media display system
Apple has applied for a patent for an "automatically adjusting media display in a personal display system," a kind of head-tracking eyewear that gives the user "the impression of being in the theater."
From the claims of the patent, the device looks not unlike a pair of goggles that display a cropped version of a larger media file. As the wearer moves his or her head, a gyroscope and accelerometer in the goggles adjust the crop of the media file, making it appear to the user as if they were in a theater-like experience.
The patent also includes provisions for techniques to reduce eyestrain, determine when the user reaches the "edge" of the media file, and zoom in and out.
The application was prepared in February, and its number is 20080276196.
[Via Electronista.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
milkydj said 4:28PM on 11-06-2008
too bad they'll never make it
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balls said 4:29PM on 11-06-2008
Hooray for stealing other people's hardwork: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/
Apple: The new Evil Empire.
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Groxx said 5:53PM on 11-06-2008
That link is nice, and I love the head tracking system, but it's not even _remotely_ similar. This patent application is a head-mounted display with tracking, not a head-mounted tracking system for use with a separate display.
Ever seen those glasses that let you see the equivalent of a big-screen TV through them? This is one of those.
balls said 6:51PM on 11-06-2008
@Groxx
Yeah, head tracking using gyroscopes and accelerometers... not even remotely similar.
This is a patent for HEAD TRACKING, not WEARABLE DISPLAY.
Where the display is, is tangential at best.
Digaos said 2:25PM on 11-07-2008
It's similar, but if you read or saw Johnny's project you will see that the headtracker he created does not use Wiimote accelerometer (nor gyroscope, since the wiimote doesn't have one), only the infra-red camera and the bluetooth connection.
ash said 4:37PM on 11-06-2008
Apologize in advance: Nice! it's an eyePod!
BTW, balls, head tracking isn't new.
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balls said 5:51PM on 11-06-2008
You're right it isn't. So why the fuck is apple trying to patent it?
Nick said 4:39PM on 11-06-2008
Wow, if Apple can finally be the company to make one of these devices that actually works right, it'd be pretty awesome. I've wanted one for ages but it seems like they're all both expensive and terrible.
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Ryan S. said 5:16PM on 11-06-2008
Yeah, I saw something similar at Brookstone, but the final picture size wasn't any larger than an iPhone screen, really. If they could make a viewer that works like this, I'd buy it.
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Dethpickle said 5:58PM on 11-06-2008
But... I know to look places on the big theater screen because I see them in my peripheral vision. This would be more like watching a movie through a periscope.
Don't crop it... give me a wrap around display that repositions based on my head movement. (granted, looking at the edges would crop the opposite side... but you know what I'm getting at. Or do you?)
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mex said 3:13AM on 11-07-2008
Imagine it together with the Wii controller... :)
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vlan2k said 10:27AM on 11-07-2008
Balls, Apple is trying to patent this METHOD of head tracking. Combine this with a serious graphics processor and a GPS receiver, and you've got one very cool (and functional) E/VR (Enhanced/Virtual Reality) component. Read William Gibson's "Pattern Recognition" for a hint of what something like this is capable of.
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Tedious said 6:21PM on 11-07-2008
New video game system for iPod touch!
Turn your head into a HoloDeck, and your iPod touch into a Wii-like controller!
You think the cheesy backgrounds in iChat are fun? Imagine what these goggles can project? (and in 3-D!)
The "in a theatre" bit is a red-herring to throw you off. It's a non-specific example of how you would see the holograms "in front of you" and you can bob your head around them, stand up to see over them, etc. If they made it sound like a video game, they would show too many cards. It's better to explain what the goggles DO than what they are FOR.
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