On April 20, Apple patented a "method and device for illustrating a virtual object in a real environment," otherwise known as Augmented Reality technology. If this patent is realised in their future iOS and/or hardware products, it will most certainly augment our daily usage of technology.
What is AR technology?
Dictionary.com defines AR as "an enhanced image or environment as viewed on a screen or other display, produced by overlaying computer-generated images, sounds, or other data on a real-world environment."
This technology allows you to superimpose objects in front or behind other objects in a picture or video.
This means that Apple may be planning to create a feature on their products that allows you to superimpose objects in front or behind other objects in a picture or video. Apple describes it as as "[an] invention [that] relates to a method for representing a virtual object in a real environment." Apple's patent application also says that "represented in a way largely close to reality."
The patent was originally owned by a German company called Metaito that Apple acquired in 2015, according to Patently Apple.
Apple's plan to lead AR production
In an interview in 2016, Tim Cook, the new Apple CEO, said that Apple is "doing a lot of things" with AR space and is making it its "core technology," Apple Insider reports. This means that Apple wants to be the leader of AR and thinks that there is perhaps more potential in this technology than there is in virtual reality (VR). Tim Cook even said that he thinks that AR is bigger than VR. He finds AR "extremely interesting" because, as opposed to VR, "there's no substitute for human contact. . . And so you want the technology to encourage that."
How does AR encourage human contact? Business Insider explains that "[a]ugmented reality works by overlaying information and visuals onto the users vision via a headset that corresponds and reacts to the physical world around them. So while VR cuts you off entirely from the 'real' world, AR can enhance it."
This could be revolutionary in business and so many other ways beyond our imagination, or even Apple's, though they most likely have many secret ideas for its usage.
Patents can therefore put you on a path to being a thought leader in your industry, just as Apple is in AR and tech in general. Get ahead of the competition and change the world with your invention today by contacting Alder IP patent lawyers who can help you formulate and perfect your patent applications.