Apple has filed a patent for "enhanced image display in head-mounted displays" with the World Intellectual Property Organization. While head mounted displays are not new, the Apple patent specifically focuses on a wider field of view and a more natural viewing situation.
The application, with a publication date of April 17, 2008, recaps head-mounted display technology and typical uses in medicine, the military, fire fighters and scientific visualization. In section [0008], the application explains Appleis embodiment:
"This invention relates to processing and displaying images in a head-mounted display. According to one embodiment, the invention provides methods and apparatus for providing a wider field of view and creating a more natural viewing situation for a user of a head mounted display, which results in improved comfort and usability for head mounted displays."
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The full patent document describes several different scenarios of operation, and generally seem to expand on the simple idea of a simple LCD viewer by utilizing additional memory, processing and advanced optical techniques: "The head mounted display can include a memory in which the data representing the source image is stored, the memory being operatively coupled to the processor. Each of the left and right displays can provide a horizontal field of view for the user that is greater than about 30 degrees. Each of the left and right displays can have an aspect ratio of 16/9."
The current level of technology in storage, memory, microprocessors and optics is likely able to support an additional level of sophistication in head-mounted displays, and Apple, being a company keenly interested in user interfaces, is evidently exploring how those technologies can be used to advance the state-of-the-art in business areas of interest to them, namely, medicine and scientific visualization.