More or less everyone reading this know what Google Glass is. Google’s smartglasses have been around for quite some time, but they’re still a niche product. Well, it seems like Google is working hard to improve Google Glass, and perhaps even makes a mainstream product of it one day. The company was granted a new patent, a patent for using holograms in a head mounted display (like the one on Google Glass). Sounds interesting? Well, it potentially could be, read on.
Technology like this basically lets Google create augmented reality in front of you, they’ll be able to impose CGI (computer-generated imagery) atop the real world, which sure sounds futuristic. When Tech Crunch asked Google about the patent, the Mountain View giant said the following: “We hold patents on a variety of ideas – some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, some don’t. Prospective product announcements should not necessarily be inferred from our patents”. As you can tell, this response really doesn’t shed any light on the matter.
This patent could have something to do with Magic Leap we’ve talked about in the past, but there’s still no confirmation or anything of the sort as far as that goes. Anyhow, the potential of this new ‘hologram’ tech is huge. just image if Google was able to put hologram content atop of real world objects, that experience would definitely be unique. The patent listing also describes how this patent could be used: “with augmented reality the viewer’s image of the world is augmented with an overlaying CGI, also referred to as a heads-up display”.
Why did we mention Magic Leap? Well, the company has filed a number of trademarks for forthcoming augmented reality content lately. The theory that Magic Leap and Google Glass will cross paths in the future is backed by SmartUp Legal’s founder, Mikhail Avady. “I believe Google wants Magic Leap to be the content provider for Google Glass. If we look at their trademark applications, it shows very story and content based trademarks. Magic Leap wants to turn the world into a movie theater and Google wants it to be through Glass,” said Mr. Avady. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens next, but this sure sounds promising.
