WASHINGTON: Imagine a pair of glasses that project a virtual map as you walk down a new road, or turn your office into a gaming arena where you fight out zombies! A new patent application by Google could make it possible.
Google has published a patent application for using holograms in a head mounted display like Google Glass, which could create augmented reality experiences that superimpose computer-generated imagery (CGI) over the real world.
Filed in March last year, the patent shows Google's research into how it could merge its head mounted display technology with augmented reality, 'Tech Crunch' reported.
To make smart eyewear more useful, projected content must interact and react to the real-world behind it, rather than just being pasted on top.
The new patent describes how Google could potentially do this with augmented reality via holograms.
"With augmented reality the viewer's image of the world is augmented with an overlaying CGI, also referred to as a heads-up display," the patent said.
Head mounted displays (HMD) have numerous practical and leisure applications. Aerospace applications could permit a pilot to see vital flight control information without taking their eyes 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," the patent said.
Google has published a patent application for using holograms in a head mounted display like Google Glass, which could create augmented reality experiences that superimpose computer-generated imagery (CGI) over the real world.
Filed in March last year, the patent shows Google's research into how it could merge its head mounted display technology with augmented reality, 'Tech Crunch' reported.
To make smart eyewear more useful, projected content must interact and react to the real-world behind it, rather than just being pasted on top.
The new patent describes how Google could potentially do this with augmented reality via holograms.
"With augmented reality the viewer's image of the world is augmented with an overlaying CGI, also referred to as a heads-up display," the patent said.
Head mounted displays (HMD) have numerous practical and leisure applications. Aerospace applications could permit a pilot to see vital flight control information without taking their eyes 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," the patent said.
To make "smart" eyewear, allowing projected content to interact and react to the real-world behind it is the key.
The new patent titled "Lightguide With Multiple In-Coupling Holograms For Head Wearable Display" details how Google can do this with augmented reality via holograms,TechCrunch reported.
It describes how "with augmented reality, the viewer's image of the world is augmented with an overlaying CGI, also referred to as a heads-up display".
The patent shows Google's research into how it could merge its head mounted display technology with augmented reality.
According to the report, a US-based startup Magic Leap can be roped in to make the holograms projected in Google Glass.
Magic Leap has already filed several trademarks for upcoming augmented reality content.
Despite its failure to hit the bull's eye in its first run, Google is not ready to let its Glass project slide. According to reports, the company is now pursuing the project under a new name.
The project has now been named Project Aura, though it is still being headed by Ivy Ross, who previously ran the Glass project, Wall Street Journal reported recently.
The Project Aura team has been hiring engineers, software developers and project managers from Amazon.com's hardware-focused research division Lab126.
Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt was reported as saying earlier this year that the company was not giving up on Glass because wearable technology is a potentially big new market.
Google is quietly distributing a new version of Glass to companies in industries such as healthcare, manufacturing and energy. Hopefully, the new Aura team could take the technology in new directions.
Google withdrew the eye wearable device from the market in January this year, but reports said that the US tech giant was planning to come up with a different version of the wearable headset "when it's ready".
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