If/when Apple introduces smart glasses (Apple Glasses, perhaps?) they may have adjustable haze and tint layers, as hinted by a new patent filing.
About Apple Glasses
Apple will launch its smart glasses by the end of 2026, reports Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman.
He says they’ll be comparable to the Meta Ray-Bans and the Android XR glasses that Google previewed this week. The “Apple Glasses” are expected to include cameras, microphones, and AI capabilities, and be able to take photos, record video, provide translations, give turn-by-turn directions, play music, facilitate phone calls, offer feedback on what the wearer is seeing, and answer queries. However, there won’t be augmented reality capabilities, he adds.
About the patent filing
In the patent filing, dubbed “Displays With Adjustable Haze And Tint Layers,” Apple says that electronic devices can include displays that provide images near the eyes of a user. Such electronic devices often include virtual or augmented reality headsets with displays having optical elements that allow users to view the displays. Apple says that if care isn’t taken, the optical elements might not exhibit sufficient levels of optical performance.
The tech giant’s patent filing involves a head-mounted device such as a pair of glasses or other eyewear that may include a display that produces display content and an optical system through which the display content is viewable from an eye box. The optical system may include an optical combiner that combines real-world light with the display content.
The glasses may be operable in a transparent mode for viewing the environment and a dark mode for viewing display content on the glasses. The optical system may include a light modulator layer such an adjustable tint and haze layer that darkens and diffuses ambient light when the glasses are being used to view display content in the dark mode. The optical system may be configured to darken ambient light more than display light from external displays so that the user can use electronic devices while wearing the glasses.
Summary of the patent filing
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent filing: “A pair of glasses or other eyewear may include a display that produces display content and an optical system through which the display content is viewable from an eye box. The optical system may include an optical combiner that combines real-world light with the display content.
“The glasses may be operable in a transparent mode for viewing the environment and a dark mode for viewing display content on the glasses. The optical system may include a light modulator layer such an adjustable tint and haze layer that both darkens and diffuses ambient light when the glasses are being used to view display content in the dark mode. The optical system may be configured to darken ambient light more than display light from external displays so that the user can use electronic devices while wearing the glasses.”
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