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Apple was recently granted a patent that envisions the use of the external display of a wearable headset — like the Apple Vision Pro — that gives people who are nearby an idea of what is being viewed by the wearer. While announcing the headset last year, Apple revealed that the upcoming device would show the wearer’s eyes, while also showing an indicator while watching immersive (virtual reality, or VR) content. The company’s first wearable spatial computer is expected to go on sale in the US in early 2024.
Spotted by Patently Apple, US 11,861,255 BL patent was granted to Apple on Wednesday, nearly five and a half years after it was filed with the US Patent Office. Titled “Wearable Device for Facilitating Enhanced Interaction” the patent names Jonahan ‘Jony’ Ive as one of the inventors. The document also contains several examples of the company’s ideas regarding the use of the external display to show people in the vicinity what you’re watching on the Apple Vision Pro.
For example, figure 9B in the document shows a graph on the outer display that could be used to indicate the wearer is accessing the Stocks app in immersive mode, while another figure, 9D, shows the weather on the external screen. Figures 9F and 10B also show indicators that the wearer might not want to be disturbed.
It’s worth noting that while Apple has detailed the use of several designs for the external display of the Apple Vision Pro, it remains to be seen how many of these the firm will include with the wearable headset, It is possible that some of the designs shown off in the document will arrive with the first-generation headset, while others could make their way to the second generation Apple Vision Pro, which is reportedly in development.
Last year, Apple said it would launch the Vision Pro in the US in early 2024. While the company is yet to share a timeline for the debut of the Vision Pro, Bloomberg reports that the company has ramped up production in China and the headset could arrive in the US by February 2024.
Meanwhile, TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts that the Vision Pro will hit shelves in the US by the end of January or early February. A report in Chinese investor news platform Wall Street Insights claims that the that the Vision Pro headset will be launched in the US on February 27 (February 26, in the US). We can expect to see more details about the Apple Vision Pro in the coming weeks, before it is launched in the US.