Apple has been granted a patent (number 20190377410) — one of several — involving eye-tracking features for the rumored “Apple Glasses,” a head-mounted artificial reality/virtual reality headset.
It would allow such a device to track multiple users simultaneously, something Apple says most current head mounted displays (HDMs) can’t do.
Here’s Apple’s summary of the invention: “The invention relates to a method for operating an eye tracking device for multi user eye tracking, wherein images of a predefined capturing area of the eye tracking device are captured by means of an imaging device of the eye tracking device and the captured images are processed by means of a processing unit of the eye tracking device. If a first user and a second user are present in the predefined capturing area of the eye tracking device, a first information relating to the first user and a second information relating to the second user are determined on the basis of the captured images by processing the images. Furthermore the images are captured successively in a predeterminable time sequence.”
This is just one of several Apple patent filings involving VR and augmented reality (AR) headsets. You can find more here. Venture capitalist Gene Munster thinks the Apple Glasses will be released mid-fiscal year 2020.
Of course, Apple files for — and is granted — lots of patents by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Many are for inventions that never see the light of day. However, you never can tell which ones will materialize in a real product.
