Just like Google and Microsoft, Google are working on augmented reality glasses too.

Apple calls their gadget  a “head-mounted display” or “HMD.”

This Summer, they  filed a patent with the US patent office (see above sketch). The filing is authored by Tony Fadell, designer of the iPod, and John Tang. Fadell is no longer at Apple, but Tang is.

Some highlights from their description:

• An HMD is “a display device that a person wears on the head in order to have video information directly displayed in front of the eyes.”
• “The optics are typically embedded in a helmet, glasses, or a visor, which a user can wear.”
• “HMDs can be used to view a see-through image imposed upon a real world view, thereby creating what is typically referred to as an augmented reality.”

Apple says HMDs can be used to:

• Display relevant tactical information, such as maps or thermal imaging data.”
• To “provide stereoscopic views of CAD schematics, simulations or remote sensing applications.”
• For “gaming and entertainment applications.”

Insiders believe augmented reality will replace the smartphone.  Watch this space.

Posted in: Infographic of the day, News