Apple has been granted another patent for the rumored “Apple Glasses,” an augmented reality/virtual reality/mixed reality head-mounted display (HMD).
Patent number 10,885,883 is for an “electronic device with a foveate display system.” It involves an HMD with a gaze detection system that would gather information on a user’s point of gaze on the display. Based on the point-of-gaze information, control circuitry in the electronic device may produce image data for an image with areas of different resolutions.
A full-resolution portion of the image may overlap the point of gaze. Lower resolution portions of the image may surround the full-resolution portion. The display may have a pixel array. The pixel array may include rows and columns of pixels. Data lines may be used to supply data to the columns of pixels in accordance with row selection signals supplied to the rows of pixels.
Display driver circuitry may be used to display the image using the pixel array. The display driver circuitry may have row selection circuitry and column expander circuitry that are responsive to a resolution mode selection signal.
When it comes to Apple Glasses, such a device will arrive this year or 2022, depending on which rumor you believe. (The Sellers Research Group — that’s me — thinks it will be this year.) It will be a head-mounted display. Or may have a design like “normal” glasses. Or it may be available in both. The Apple Glasses may or may not have to be tethered to an iPhone to work. Other rumors say that Apple Glasses could have a custom-build Apple chip and a dedicated operating system dubbed “rOS” for “reality operating system.”
