Magic Leap’s Vision for Augmented Reality, Revealed in 32 Patent Illustrations
Another case of speculative patenting? This seems much too broad to me.
A new patent application titled Planar Waveguide Apparatus with Diffraction Element(s) and System Employing Same sounds like a scientific snoozefest, but just also might provide a playbook for the next decade of interaction design.
The surprisingly broad patent application was filed by Magic Leap, the secretive, Florida-based “Cinematic Reality” startup that recently received $542 million dollars of venture capital from Google, Legendary Entertainment, and Andresseen Horowitz. And its 180 pages represent the first detailed depiction of how the augmented-reality company believes we’ll use this mind-bending hardware.
Magic Leap has been secretive about how their system works technically, but a plethora of disclosures in their filings provide the broad outline. A lightweight head-mounted device will house a tiny projector comprised of bespoke prisms and lenses that will beam images onto the user’s retinas creating a “dynamic digitized light field signal.” Apps, powered by mobile devices or body worn computers, will generate a steady stream of fantastic creatures and surreal tableaus delivered with stereo speakers and at 60 frames per second. Infrared positioning cameras, GPS modules, and multi-axis accelerometers will blend these otherworldly images with more banal surroundings of a basement man cave.
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