Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality World | 拡張現実と仮想現実の世界

Microsoft appears to be taking augmented reality pretty seriously. The software giant has a pair of new patents that were discovered by Patent Boltthis week, detailing projector eyewear technology for use with a game console like the Xbox 360 and with future mobile devices. 

The first patent describes a full-on helmet with attached, visor-like eyepieces and appears to be intended for Xbox gamers, according to the blog. The second reveals eyewear that resembles a pair of sunglasses—that's the tech Microsoft would attempt to integrate into future smartphones, media players, and other mobile devices, so it makes sense that it comes in a form that people might actually want to wear out in public.

The trouble with compact display systems built into goggles or eyeglasses like the ones Microsoft appears to be building, Patent Bolt notes, is that "the human eye can't focus on images less than a few centimeters away." This means the interface has to present a "virtual image" that appears to the eye as if it's actually further away than on the screen-slash-eyepiece where it really lives.
 

Microsoft's solution is to use a virtual-image projector that "comprises a laser configured to form a narrow beam, first and second dilation optics [each with a diffraction grating], first and second redirection optics, and a controller," according to Patent Bolt.