Apple Patent Describes Showing 3D Images On Flat Screens Without Need For Glasses

Getting 3D images to work on consumer devices, especially without the need for specialised glasses, is not easy. But an Apple patent describes a method that the company is considering using to make it happen. But while it answers that half of the equation, it raises more on the other.

The Apple patent describes getting a flat screen, presumably that of an iPhone or iPad, to show 3D images for VR and AR content. But this doesn’t involve having two screens for the way VR and AR headsets work. Instead, it will alternate rows of pixels in a screen, so that one set of pixel rows show one image, and the other shows the second.

But as mentioned earlier, the patent only describes the way the screen will simulate the overlapping of two images for the 3D effect. What the patent doesn’t mention is the user side of things. Like the way this will help users create the 3D depth without the help of glasses or goggles. Nor does it say if there’s any supporting tech, like gaze detection that we see on the Nintendo 3DS.

As is always the case with patents, having one filed doesn’t mean Apple will actually make something with this tech. And considering the challenges behind it, it probably won’t be anytime soon until we see it, if ever.

Google Acquires 3D Audio Tech Startup Dysonics

Google has acquired Dysonics, a startup with a focus on 3D audio tech, without much of the usual acquisition fanfare. According to Protocol, the internet search giant has also acquired the intellectual properties of the startup. This includes the latter’s patents, which may help explain the acquisition.

The acquisition itself happened back in December, according to a US Patent and Trademark Office filing. But the filing itself also lists patents that will also have their ownership transferred. Among them are items related to “motion tracked binaural sound conversion of legacy recordings”. Which sounds a lot like 3D spatial audio, something we have in the Apple AirPods Pro and Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro.

The acquisition itself happened back in December, according to a US Patent and Trademark Office filing. But the filing itself also lists patents that will also have their ownership transferred. Among them are items related to “motion tracked binaural sound conversion of legacy recordings”. Which sounds a lot like 3D spatial audio, something we have in the Apple AirPods Pro and Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro.

This may indicate that Google is considering including 3D spatial audio tech in its next Pixel Buds. The company may also have acquired Dysonics to have its tech power an upcoming AR or VR piece of hardware. Which is quite possible since the company also acquired smart glass maker North last year.

It’s difficult to say for certain what Google is aiming for with the most recent acquisition. But it’s pretty amazing that an acquisition has not showed up in news reports immediately. But ultimately, since Google rarely brings its hardware into Malaysia in an official capacity, we may not actually see the result of this acquisition, even if the company actually makes it.