Apple has been granted a patent (number 11,150,474) for an “adjustable electronic device system with facial mapping. “It involves the rumored “Apple Glasses” — an augmented reality/virtual reality head-mounted display — has been pushed back to the end of 2022.
About the patent
Per the patent, the HMD support structures may include straps coupled to a main unit. The main unit may house the display. The display may be used to display content for a user while the user is wearing the head-mounted support structures.
An additional display may be coupled to the head-mounted support structures. The additional display may be formed on external surfaces of the head-mounted support structures or other portion of the head-mounted device.
The Apple Glasses or external equipment that communicates with the HMD may include a three-dimensional image sensor. The three-dimensional image sensor may capture a three-dimensional image of a user’s face.
Control circuitry may analyze the three-dimensional image to determine which of multiple versions of a customized face-fit module should be used in the head-mounted device to optimize the fit of the head-mounted device on the user’s head.
Information on the identified face-fit module may be displayed on one of the additional display and can be viewed by the user when the user is not wearing the head-mounted device. The customized face-fit module may be selected based on user facial feature characteristics in the three-dimensional image of the user’s face such as facial size and the shapes of a user’s forehead, nose, and cheeks.
After identifying which version of the face-fit module is to be used by the user, that version of the face-fit module may be coupled to a non-custom portion of a main unit for the head-mounted device using magnets or other coupling structures. The head-mounted device may then be used to display content for the user while the user is wearing the head-mounted device.
About the patent summary
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “A head-mounted device may have a display for displaying image content. Head-mounted support structures in the device may be used to support the display. The head-mounted device or external equipment may include a three-dimensional image sensor. The three-dimensional image sensor may capture a three-dimensional image of a user’s face.
“Control circuitry may analyze the three-dimensional image to identify which of multiple versions of a customizing face-fit module should be used in the electronic device to fit the device to the user’s face. An appropriate face-fit module may be identified based on facial features such as facial size and the shapes of a user’s forehead, nose, and cheeks. After identifying which version of the face-fit module is to be used by the user, that version of the face-fit module may be coupled to a non-custom portion of a main unit for the head-mounted device using magnets or other coupling structures.”
About the ‘Apple Glasses’
When it comes to Apple Glasses, such a device will arrive in 2022 or 2023, depending on which rumor you believe. It will be a head-mounted display. Or may have a design like “normal” glasses. Or it may be eventually 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.”
