Do You Prefer to Wear AR Hat or Glasses ?
According to a new patent filed by social media giant, Facebook, the social network is currently working on developing an AR hat which would enable user augmented reality immersion of the device, providing more advanced AR applications within an isolated standalone device.
The patent was first noticed by Founders Legal, who also points out why Facebook plans to develop the AR hat as in unison to their AR glasses development.
The display is incorporated into the brim of the hat to reduce contact with the user. This would allow heat-generating components of the device to be inserted into areas of the hat that does not have direct contact with the user.
The hat provides additional spatial options for the components as opposed to AR glasses. The expanded surface area of the hat would provide additional digital sensors such as facial tracking, microphones, and environment sensors.
The added weight would be evenly distributed throughout the band of the hat, as opposed to AR glasses which is just a few pressure pints on top of the user's ears and nose. This could result in ergonomic, user-friendly, and comfort experience.
Would this look good on me?
Even if AR glasses can provide the functionality, people most likely wouldn't wear them.
Google learned their lesson the hard way with the Google Glass several year back, however, the look of the glasses was a significant factor the ultimately caused the tech giant to terminate this product.
This is why Facebook partnered with Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica to build its upcoming smart glasses, with the first generation to be released in the near future. yet, its unlikely that the first generation AR glasses will provide full functionality, possibly will enable the user to capture photos and videos, along with some AR functions.
The original filing date of the patent was June 19th, 2019, but since then Facebook never once mentioned about their AR hat plans. This could also mean that patent is currently shelved.
