Facebook granted patent for 'artificial reality' baseball cap. Repeat, an 'artificial reality' baseball cap
- Reference: 1624433531
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/06/23/facebook_ar_hat/
- Source link:
And the social ad biz applied for this patent fully aware of the failure of Google Glass, augmented reality eyewear that Google announced [3]rather spectacularly in 2012, only to abandon in 2015 after recognizing its costly, conspicuous specs served no unique useful function in the consumer market, looked foolish, and often alienated people thanks to the behavior of glassholes - a term the Chocolate factory hated but eventually adopted.
As Facebook sees it – with the benefit of hindsight and making no mention of its $2bn Oculus VR headset acquisition or related investments – eyewear has obvious problems not found in headwear.
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"Manufacturers of artificial-reality systems have traditionally focused on various eyewear-based form factors, such as glasses and goggles," Facebook's patent explains. "Conventional artificial reality glasses and goggles, however, are sometimes thick, heavy, and unbalanced and/or may generate excessive heat that is uncomfortable against a user's skin."
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Millinery for the new millennium ... the patented AR hat. Source: Facebook. Click to enlarge
Not only that, but Facebook contends it's difficult to integrate advanced computing components, like sophisticated processors and eye-tracking systems, into glasses or goggles because they're worn on the bridge of the nose where the weight of additional electronics may be disagreeable.
It's almost as if two years ago, when Facebook filed its "Artificial reality hat" patent application, someone foresaw scenarios like the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission recalling Facebook's Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headsets for [6]irritating wearers' skin .
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The Facebook "Artificial reality hat" – FAR Hat for short – is depicted in illustrations as a baseball cap with a ski goggles-style lens dangling from its brim. But it could be any hat – the patent claim extends to "different hat-based form factors, such as baseball caps, visors, cowboy hats, fedoras," and so on.
[9]It's wild the lengths Facebook engineers will go to find new ways to show you inane ads about tat: This time, AR...
[10]Pentagon pal Microsoft to supply US Army with 120,000+ HoloLens units in contract somehow worth 'up to $22bn'
[11]South Korea creates ‘metaverse alliance’ to build an open national VR platform
[12]Lenovo reveals smart specs that let you eyeball five virtual displays, with strings attached
While it's tempting to muse about the possibility of artificial reality top hats, sombreros, and deerstalkers, the type of hat isn't really the point. For Facebook, hats solve the problem presented by AR glasses. They provide more surface area to affix electronics and better weight distribution opportunities. Better still, these expansive skull scaffolds can keep heat-generating components away from the head, resulting in more efficient heat dissipation and less thermal discomfort.
Also, the hat's brim serves as a short selfie stick for devices that need a bit of distance to scan the wearer. It allows for the incorporation of components "that are less practical or feasible in eyewear-based form factors, such as face-tracking cameras, body-tracking cameras, and/or in-field eye-tracking cameras."
Imagine one of those drones [13]designed to follow you around and document your awesomeness, but perched atop your head, dangling a display screen before your eyes to inject images [14]or ads into your field of view.
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You can thank Facebook for that vision of the future, if it ever arrives – we asked the company whether there's any plan to produce a FAR Hat but we've not heard back. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN/11039651
[2] https://typesofhats.com/hat/havelock-hat/
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP1gvGcXcLk
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YNMGQkCZn1CXGKMeV@zB4gAAABQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/06/22/facebook_ar_hat.png
[6] https://www.productsafety.gov.au/recall/facebook-technologies-llc-removable-foam-facial-interface-for-oculus-quest-2-virtual-reality-headsets
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YNMGQkCZn1CXGKMeV@zB4gAAABQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YNMGQkCZn1CXGKMeV@zB4gAAABQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/11/facebook_ar_future/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/31/microsoft_us_army_hololens_contract/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/18/south_korea_metaverse_alliance/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/11/lenovo_thinkreality_a3_smart_glasses/
[13] https://hexoplus.com/
[14] https://www.facebook.com/business/help/2666931346707691?id=1633489293397055
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YNMGQkCZn1CXGKMeV@zB4gAAABQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: "hats solve the problem presented by AR glasses"
"What contraption will see the light of day that keeps heating elements away from the wearer's skull ?"
Perhaps using a hardhat with the suspended liners they have would help to keep a cool head, plus there may be space enough for added electronics.
If the Zborg are thinking of Glasshole™ type usage, I imagine there will be outward facing cameras recording the environment to go with the eyeball tracking so that related ads can be tailored to the items in the real world that cause pupil dilation or whatever it is that gives away interest.
The other similarity to Glasshole™ behaviour will be fully engaged wearers walking into traffic, lamposts, other people etc.
Plus we have similar concerns about spying on the environment if they have forward/outward facing cameras.
The next step
> hats solve the problem presented by AR glasses.
They also permit future options such as a "hat" that drills through your skull and creates a direct brain interface.
Whether the user wants that, or not.
Re: The next step
The next step? Could be an AR codpiece.
Outside of the US, nothing screams 'asshole' quite like a baseball cap. So yeah, having an advance warning system that's visible from a distance built into the device seems like quite a good idea.
> nothing screams 'asshole' quite like a baseball cap
doubly so when the user wears one indoors
Triple so when they wear it Holden Caulfield style.
prior art?
Hats, including baseball caps, have been around for a good while. Wearable computing has been around for less time but is not new so why does putting some ad slinging hardware represent a new way of doing things that needs protecting by a patent?
Re: prior art?
I'm not sure anyone has done it before, but I certainly wouldn't call it innovative.
Just standard fare for the US patent office... Approve patent, let very expensive lawyers sort it out later.
Re: prior art?
[1]Prior [2]art [3]indeed .
That last link, to me, shoots this patent squarely in the face as prior art, although would need to examine filing date and date of this picture to determine who might have had the idea first... (EDIT: quick check has FB filing in 2019, "hacked-hat" in 2012, so he's in the clear!)
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Baseball-Polarized-Sunglasses-Attached-Christmas/dp/B07B66716J
[2] https://clip-n-flip.com/
[3] https://hackaday.com/2012/03/21/heads-up-display-mounts-on-brim-of-your-cap/
Re: prior art?
Would heads up displays on visors in helmets not count as prior art?
Also it looks more like augmented reality rather than artificial reality
Re: prior art?
Indeed, I'm shocked that this has been granted (although not shocked when considering other things granted in the past!).
I wouldn't expect this to survive a challenge, except perhaps on very specific narrow claims that are buried in the patent somewhere but don't leap out at all as obvious.
There are claims for:
a) eye-tracking (used in military pilot HUDs, IIRC)
b) facial expression tracking (an obvious extension?)
c) body tracking of whatever is in field of view of device (as per (b))
d) local environment sensors (duh, in a phone)
e) authentication methods (hat won't work for everyone, but phones do this so prior art should cover this)
f) Notifications (isn't that what a HUD is partly for?)
g) neural input sensors in the hat (probably lots of prior art for that)
h) bone conduction output for audio (exists already)
i) computing power in the hat structure to deal with all these sensors (duh)
j) flip-away display (obvious extension to existing stuff)
Can't be arsed to read further into the detail beyond the claims.
Artifical Reality Hat?
So we can call their wearers ARse Hats, right?
Re: Artifical Reality Hat?
Or FARHTS ..
Re: Artifical Reality Hat?
I was just thinking we could call the gizmo an ASS-Hat, who else would wear one?
Being British
I'm patenting the Brunel World Domination Hat which by its mere size will take out all the local Wifi and render your AR to R.
Advanced FARidiot alert
When you see someone wearing one of these reversed, with the glass over their necks.
Cool!
21st Century, AR-enabled Meshbacks! Yehaw! "My Facebook says you're not from around here are you, boy?"
Has anybody found a use case for OR yet? ( Obscured Reality )
The only one I can think of is a map overlay while walking, which really is overkill.
Augmented Reality can be good in some industrial applications (checking installations and the like), but yeah its very, very niche. And I have yet to hear of a single good use case for normal people (No the pokemon thing was not a good use case...).
UK Law......one more opportunity to ignore it!!!....and be spied on at the same time!!!!
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-cctv-using-cctv-systems-on-your-property/domestic-cctv-using-cctv-systems-on-your-property
Quote: "If your CCTV system captures images of people outside the boundary of your private domestic property – for example, from neighbours’ homes or gardens, shared spaces, or from public areas – then the GDPR and the DPA will apply to you."
Glassholes and FARHat users will need to register with the authorities!
This is a GOOD THING!! It extends Cressida Dick's CCTV network to god knows where....I hate to think! And the lovely Cressida gets a double dose of good fortune -- first if the user does register, she gets another known spy in the community, and if the user doesn't register it's more work for the plod arresting miscreants!!!
P.S. All of the above applies to most Amazon Ring implementations as well. Go Cressida!!!
It can be any hat
So it’s kind of a template hat — a Facebook Artificial Reality Template hat, which shall be abbreviated to FART hat.
But aside of that, can you begin to imagine how much of an apocalyptic dork would you look like wearing something like that?
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FARseholes, you saw it here first folks ;-)
I'm struggling to pronounce my B's. Face's ass all Cap?
Guessing, the screen's will have a dead single pixel to identify the user, even when they aren't even wearing one.
"hat-based form factor"
That's the first time I've ever seen those words used together in that order - and I sincerely hope it's the last.
"hats solve the problem presented by AR glasses"
Well I have to admit that, technically, it sure seems to be true.
It's Facebook, so I feel icky about even thinking this, but somebody got a good idea - for once.
The question now is how is this going to pan out on the market ? What contraption will see the light of day that keeps heating elements away from the wearer's skull ?