Google has filed a patent for using holograms on head-mounted displays (HMDs) like Google Glass. The patent was filed in March last year, and is officially called Lightguide With Multiple In-Coupling Holograms For Head Wearable Display. Google has also heavily invested in Magic Leap, a start-up that has already filed a number of trademarks for augmented reality technology.
The patent states, “HMDs have numerous practical and leisure applications. Aerospace applications permit a pilot to see vital flight control information without taking their eye off the flight path. Public safety applications include tactical displays of maps and thermal imaging. Other application fields include video games, transportation, and telecommunications. There is certain to be new found practical and leisure applications as the technology evolves; however, many of these applications are limited due to the cost, size, weight, field of view, and efficiency of conventional optical systems used to implemented existing HMDs”
Google filed another patent for Google Glass earlier this year. The patent will allow the device to recommend dance moves based on the music that is being played in the background by determining what song is currently playing. It would then suggest dance moves based on a library that it has stored in its database. It can also show videos of other people dancing to the same song.
Google has reportedly renamed the Google Glass project to Project Aura, in a move to revive its fortunes. It was also said that the project is led by Tony Fadell, CEO of Nest Labs, who became the head of the project after Google acquired Nest Labs.
Microsoft has already unveiled its own augmented reality glasses, called HoloLens. It is a cordless wearable device, that is a self-contained Windows 10 computer. It comes with advanced sensors, spatial surround sound, and high-definition stereoscopic 3D optical head-mounted display. This allows the wearer to interact with the augmented reality environment through voice, gaze and hand gestures.
Source: US Patent and Trademark Office