Apple is always looking for ways to make the Vision Pro more comfortable. A new patent filing shows that the tech giant is looking into a heat management system for the spatial computer.
About the patent filing
In the patent filing, Apple notes that components of a head-mountable device can generate heat during operation. Excessive heat for long durations of time can damage the components of the head-mountable device and cause discomfort to the user.
Apple says that heat can be mitigated in a number of ways, including with active mechanisms (e.g., fans) that are integrated into the head-mountable device. The device can also adjust the position of optical modules that contain displays for visual output to a user. The optical modules can be adjusted to properly align the optical axes thereof with the user’s eyes. Based on such adjustments, the thermal solution to optimize heat mitigation within the optical modules can vary. For example, a different position of the optical module can alter the ideal flow path for air to pass by heat sinks of the optical modules.
Apple says its patent filing is for “a thermal mitigation system that effectively manages heat while also allowing adjustment of optical modules to accommodate particular users.”
Summary of the patent filing
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent filing: “A head-mountable device can provide a thermal mitigation system that effectively manages heat while also allowing adjustment of optical modules to accommodate particular users. For a given interpupillary distance to accommodate a user, different heat sinks can be provided with optimized fin patterns, lengths, or shapes.
“Other mechanisms for managing airflow, such as intake modules, can be provided with custom or adjustable characteristics to achieve different airflow patterns and thereby accommodate movement of the optical modules. Such customization and/or adjustability of thermal mitigations by can allow users to experience optimal performance from temperature-sensitive modules such as displays, cameras, sensors, circuitry, and the like.”
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