Patents Reveal Apple's Ambition to Dominate the AR/VR/MR Space

Apple has always been known as a secretive company, it's usually difficult to determine the tech giant's agenda's and what their future plans are.

Some believed that patent filings can determine the company's future directions, but the truth is there's so many patents filed by the tech giants, some might be closer to science fictions and ideas that may never come to fruition.

However, some of Apple's patents may provide insight into what the fruit company is heading towards in the near future, despite the innovation that their employees come up with may never reach the final destination.

Recent patent filing tells us Apple's interest in the AR/VR/MR space has become more apparent. It is not surprising then that many of Apple's recent IP protection initiatives appear to be targeting at this emerging market.

Apple CEO, Tim Cook, spoke repeatedly of the promise of AR, and we certain see a rise of AR applications in the iOS app store in the last few years.  It's no surprising that the company has been working hard on making this future a reality. The company filed several patents to this tech space, including one filed back in 2019 titled "Head-Mounted Display Unit With Adaptable Facial Interface"

To date, Apple's ambition in the immersive reality space have largely been limited to an iPhone or iPad's camera and seeing information on the 2D display. But it appears it's just a matter of time before the company dives into an immersive headset experience, with more indicators pointing that the company is heading down that direction.

This particular patent goes over great detail over how the head mounted display fits a person's face via a light seal, and having various sections that can be adjusted individually. A company like Apple is equally concerned with the ergonomics of their invention as to the technologies that powers the device. After all, most past complaints about earlier VR headsets have largely been issues such as comfort, ergonomics, and motion sickness.

As Tim Cook says,

"We don't want to be the first, we want to be the best". 

It is likely that when Apple puts their hand on something, it's going to be something outstanding than what's available on the current market.

If a device is uncomfortable to wear, then the consumer will not adopt it no matter how affordable or useful it is.