At the end of 2013, Apple already registered some patents that seemed related to virtual reality, specifically they dealt with the correction of a user’s vision problems, with images that suggested a virtual reality viewer. Now we have just learned that they have achieved a new patent on an HMD to watch movies or participate in interactive experiences.
Once again it has been PatentlyApple who has given the news about this patent nº 8832557, whose application was made during the first quarter of 2008 and which has been published today by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It is evident that this request was made long before the formation of Oculus (in fact, Palmer Luckey would have been about 16 years old at that time), but HMDs have existed for many years, even in the 90s a commercial device, the Forte VFX-1, was put on sale, designed for video games, in addition to a multitude of professional and military HMDs, also before the birth of Oculus and even Palmer Luckey himself.
The image even shows perfectly a mechanism with toothed wheels that could be used to adjust the focal length or interpupillary, and even a control to manage the user interface. One thing seems very clear: Apple does not want to be a mere spectator in the war for virtual reality.
