Samsung AR glasses patent teases more affordable specs than Meta Orion
The fate of the Samsung That’s based on a recently published patent that outlines how multiple users can sync their specs to a single smartphone or tablet to enjoy a virtually larger space together, and how the glasses could be more affordable (but less standalone) than the Meta Orion specifications.
Spotted by MySmartPrice, the patent (number 20240355069 titled “Method and system for grouping multiple devices”) was published last week and shows how multiple users can connect to a smartphone to play a game of virtual tennis.
It certainly seems to play to AR’s strengths in personal collaboration compared to VR’s more isolating design, and would make sharing a virtual space more seamless. Rather than adding additional layers of signal delays as multiple phones and glasses communicate wirelessly with each other – and potential inaccuracies if the phones interpret the same visual data differently – this shared system should be more responsive and accurate.
As with all patents, there’s no guarantee that Samsung’s design will ever see the light of day, but it does seem to give us a clue as to how AR glasses should be implemented – in more ways than one.
AR glasses specs teased
The patent reveals a few other tidbits. For starters, the AR glasses setup described in the document (page four, figure three) appears to run on some version of Android, which suggests that this is how Google is involved in this XR collaboration.
Another detail is that although the specs are equipped with a display, camera, microphone and other sensors, as well as processing power to display and encode the data received, the processing is handled by the smartphone – which is then streamed to the glasses.
This suggests they look more like the smartphone-dependent Xreal Air 2 glasses than the more standalone Meta Orion AR glasses. This could be great for accessibility, as less technically capable specs will be cheaper. The downside is that it seems like you’re stuck with Android – or maybe even Samsung smartphones specifically – if you want to use them.
Once again we’ll have to wait and see what Samsung announces, but given that some of Samsung’s most notable gadgets are its phones, it wouldn’t be surprising if the AR glasses were more of a smartphone add-on than a smartphone alternative .