The United States Patent & Trademark Office granted Apple a new patent for its Smart Glasses describing “systems and methods for gaze-driven recording of video.” There have been plenty of reports suggesting that Apple is developing an augmented reality headset along with Smart Glasses, this new patent might give us an insight into one of the likely features included in the Smart Glasses.
Apple files many patent applications almost every week, and many of them do not see the light of day. Still, they give us a good look into the level of technologies Apple is traversing for possible use in its upcoming devices. The AR/VR headsets are not expected anytime soon, giving Apple enough time to carefully research and implement its technology.
Apple’s ‘Smart Glasses’ will feature built-in gaze tracking sensors reveals a new patent
The patent explains that virtual reality or augmented reality is possible through the use of head-mounted displays. The tech giant imagines a video from such a device being recorded for later playback or analysis. The company also imagines the use of built-in gaze-tracking sensors that would give an indication of where a person is currently looking, this could be achieved by installing a camera to the device to record the scenario where the user’s eyes are trained rather than just simply recording what is in front.
The system would comprise of a pair of smart glasses and an individually connected device for storage and power, which could be a Mac, iPad, or iPhone. The patent visualizes a system with one or more image sensors, a processing apparatus configured to access the gaze data captured, and one or more gaze-tracking sensors.
Systems and methods for gaze-driven recording of video are described. Some implementations may include accessing gaze data captured using one or more gaze-tracking sensors; applying a temporal filter to the gaze data to obtain a smoothed gaze estimate; determining a region of interest based on the smoothed gaze estimate, wherein the region of interest identifies a subset of a field of view; accessing a frame of video; recording a portion of the frame associated with the region of interest as an enhanced frame of video, wherein the portion of the frame corresponds to a smaller field of view than the frame; and storing, transmitting, or displaying the enhanced frame of video.
According to the recent reports, Apple’s AR/VR headset could be launched by 2022, while its AR glasses will be launched in 2025. There is also a report that suggests that the Apple AR glasses prototype has entered the second phase of development.
The headset is also rumored to have a sleek design that uses lightweight materials and fabrics to make sure the headset is comfortable for the user. The headset will be targeted at the top end of the consumer market and will be more expensive than others on the market.
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