Rumored Apple Glass, eye correction possible without lens replacement?

AR Glasses (provisional name), which AR (Augmented Reality) glasses that are considered to be under development by Apple, are a problem for general AR/VR devices. It may be possible to have a unique solution to “how do you adjust the appearance?”

It is now clear that the company has obtained a patent for the vision correction of AR/VR headsets.

Typical AR/VR headsets have their displays and lenses optimized for users with standard vision. On the other hand, many products have prescription lenses etc. for users who have vision correction such as myopia, but there is work such as removing the standard lens and replacing it to adjust the appearance of the screen. It will be a little troublesome.

In contrast, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)-approved Apple patent this week, “Head Mounted Display (HMD) for holding portable electronic devices with a display,” is a technology that can be applied to all wearable devices with built-in displays.

The HMD given as an example here is a type that can be used as a display by inserting an iPhone. Even though there are differences in such details, the mechanism of “built-in display for display, whose image is magnified by the lens and projected to the naked eye of the user” is probably common with Apple Glass.

In this patent, Apple’s focus is on the adjustment features for users who regularly use prescription lenses. The document states that it can be used for headsets in general, not just for types that use a “smartphone with a display”.

In other words, we are assuming a system that uses the iPhone instead of the display.

The concept presented in this patent is that the optical components inside the HMD can be dynamically arranged. The optical components mentioned here include lenses, light guides, light sources, mirrors, and diffusers.

As a basic mechanism, prescription information for glasses and contact lenses is used, and by adjusting the position and configuration of optical components with this system, the visual acuity can be corrected on the HMD side.

This allows users to fully enjoy the HMD experience even if they remove their glasses and contacts.

In addition, in this patent, in addition to the method of using a dynamic lens structure for visual acuity correction, the position of the image on the display is changed, the size of the content is changed, and so on. It also mentions the method of adjusting.

By the way, Apple gets patents and applies every week, and only a few of them can be commercialized. The patent may end up being an idea, but it has been shown that the company is interested in vision correction.

Recently, the famous leaker Jon Prosser suggested that “Apple Glass will be announced in the first half of 2021”, but at that time, “a prescription lens can be included at an additional charge”.