‘Apple Glasses’ could record video based on where its wearer is looking : Apple World Today

The rumored “Apple Glasses” — an augmented reality/virtual reality/mixed reality head-mounted display (HMD) — could offer “gaze-driven recording of video” per a newly granted patent (number 10,951,904).

Head-mounted displays are used to provide virtual reality, augmented reality, and/or mixed reality experiences for users. Video from a virtual reality or mixed reality experience may be recorded for later playback or analysis. Apple says that gaze-tracking sensors may be used to provide an indication of where a subject person is currently looking. 

Here’s the summary of the patent: “Systems and methods for gaze-driven recording of video are described. Some implementations may include accessing gaze data captured using one or more gaze-tracking sensors; applying a temporal filter to the gaze data to obtain a smoothed gaze estimate; determining a region of interest based on the smoothed gaze estimate, wherein the region of interest identifies a subset of a field of view; accessing a frame of video; recording a portion of the frame associated with the region of interest as an enhanced frame of video, wherein the portion of the frame corresponds to a smaller field of view than the frame; and storing, transmitting, or displaying the enhanced frame of video.”

When it comes to Apple Glasses, such a device will arrive this year or 2022, depending on which rumor you believe. The Sellers Research Group (that’s me) thinks Apple will at least preview it before the end of the year. 

It will be a head-mounted display. Or may have a design like “normal” glasses. Or it may be eventually be available in both. The Apple Glasses may or may not have to be tethered to an iPhone to work. Other rumors say that Apple Glasses could have a custom-build Apple chip and a dedicated operating system dubbed “rOS” for “reality operating system.”