Ever since Apple announced Vision Pro, its ambitious mixed reality wearable headset, there have been rumors that the company has been working on a simpler version of the device that would arrive in a form factor similar to wearable glasses. Today, Apple has all but confirmed its plan by showing the working of the digital crown in Apple Glasses in a newly bagged patent.
Apple refers to AR/VR glasses as smart glasses in the patent and describes how the crown will be able to switch between different modes present in the glasses’ interface. Users can rotate the digital crown on Apple Glasses to switch overlays showing weather data, video content, and more.
As noted by Patently Apple, the digital crown can be used to control the user interface or the gaze tracking camera individually or in combination with each other.
“For example, input by a user’s finger 824 at the input device #820 can cause the applications #805 to move or change. The input at the input device/digital crown #820 can be a swipe, a rotation, a tilt, or combinations thereof,” mentions the patent.
The input from the crown can be combined with the input provided by the user’s gaze. This will allow multiple actions to be performed by combining the gaze-tracking camera and the digital crown.
Apple is believed to be working on smart glasses, which it would like to call Apple Glasses. In comparison to Vision Pro, which Apple likes to call a spatial computer instead of a mixed-reality headset, these smart glasses will be sleek and intended for day-to-day usage.
Apple Glasses would aim to overlay a layer of mixed reality so that the wearer can see augmented reality content right on the display fitted in the glasses.
There is no speculative release date as Apple Glasses is believed to be in the nascent stage as of now. We cannot expect the tech giant to release Apple Glasses before 2026 or 2027. According to rumors, the company is currently working on an affordable version of Vision Pro which would arrive with a much lesser price tag as compared to the $3,400 price of Vision Pro.
Apple Glasses can be considered a future version of Vision Pro, with a more convenient form factor and less advanced features.
While Apple has shown the working of a digital crown in smart glasses in its latest patent, there is no guarantee that we will see the device in action. Apple files hundreds of patents every year and not all of them see the light of the day.