Future Apple headsets may use liquid lenses to correct vision

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware

Apple is working on technology that could allow you to ditch the expensive Zeiss inserts needed to correct vision issues on the Apple Vision Pro. Future headsets could dynamically change focus based on what you're looking at.

Apple Vision Pro headset and two black lens covers on a dark surface.
Users may be able to trade inserts for auto-adjusting lenses.



Dynamically focusing systems use liquid-filled lenses and electrical current to adjust focus to match a prescription. When a current is applied to the lenses, the liquid changes how light passes through them to the eye.

Traditional lenses and inserts also change how light hits the eye, but glass lenses can't be adjusted once made. Liquid lenses could change as a user's vision changes, eliminating the need to buy new inserts.

This dynamic focusing system also solves another problem with insertable corrective lenses. Inserts are not as helpful in an AR environment for users with different prescriptions for distance and reading.

Traditional progressive glasses have the distance prescription at the top of a lens and the close focus prescription at the bottom. However, an AR system is based on a display that's always at the same distance from your face.

The screen's distance does not change whether you look across a room to watch TV or down at your keyboard, as the headset's distance from your face does not change. The result can be blurry areas on a user's gaze.

Apple's new patent application, "tunable lens in an electronic device controlled using a paired electronic device," expands on multiple other patents it has applied for recently.

With this patent, future models of the Apple Vision Pro could have lenses that focus on the fly to adjust for various vision issues. For example, changing attention from a TV to a keyboard would trigger an adjustment to the focus based on what the user is looking at and the different prescription needs for that distance.

Apple describes using liquid-filled lenses to achieve these changes in focus. A liquid-filled lens changes prescription when an electrical current is applied, so matching different prescriptions is just a matter of varying the power sent to the lenses.

Practical problems to solve



The patent also explains adjusting focus without draining a battery since electricity changes the prescription. This is an important practical problem to be overcome for liquid lenses to work. After all, an adjustable lens doesn't help if the battery dies because of its use.

This technology would be critical for something like the much-rumored Apple Glasses, as the lenses in that device would likely be an integral part of the frames, and prescription adjustment would be more difficult than popping in inserts.

It's also unlikely that Apple would want to make prescription glasses to accommodate the many vision problems typical of users. With this technology, Apple could make a prescription-free set of glasses that can adjust to any user's vision needs.

Apply applies for patents in a wide array of fields. Still, the number of recent patent applications and updates to previous patents could indicate that auto-correcting vision technology could soon be available in a new headset.

This patent is attributed to James E. Pedder and several colleagues, who hold multiple patents for liquid lenses, tunable lenses, and technologies.



Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    This was a rumor at least a year or two ago for the 2nd or 3rd gen VP. Nice to see an actual Patent
  • Reply 2 of 8
    first drop its price  :p
  • Reply 3 of 8
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,605member
    This was a rumor at least a year or two ago for the 2nd or 3rd gen VP. Nice to see an actual Patent
     Agreed. I think I remember some AppleInsider article, back maybe a year or more ago, that hinted it being part of the Vision Pro. 

    EDIT:
    So this must be a different patent application from the one reported here about a year ago?
    https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/08/17/future-apple-vision-pro-may-use-liquid-for-lenses-instead-of-glass

    Is the author aware of any of the multiple patent applications being approved for patent protection, or are all still "pending'? 
    edited August 22 apple4thewin
  • Reply 4 of 8
    Well, I’m glad that i didn’t buy one yet, in that case. I do have different distance and reading requirements. If this rumor doesn’t become reality, then I couldn’t really even consider the AVP.
    williamlondon
  • Reply 5 of 8
    gatorguy said:
    This was a rumor at least a year or two ago for the 2nd or 3rd gen VP. Nice to see an actual Patent
     Agreed. I think I remember some AppleInsider article, back maybe a year or more ago, that hinted it being part of the Vision Pro. 

    EDIT:
    So this must be a different patent application from the one reported here about a year ago?
    https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/08/17/future-apple-vision-pro-may-use-liquid-for-lenses-instead-of-glass

    Is the author aware of any of the multiple patent applications being approved for patent protection, or are all still "pending'? 
    Yeah this might be the one☝️
    Edit: wow a year and 5 days off
    edited August 22
  • Reply 6 of 8
    thttht Posts: 5,620member
    How about making a plain old pair of eyeglasses for me? I now have 3 pairs of glass: Bifocals, computer, and driving. Wouldn't mind if they all could be rolled into one. 

    For Vision Pro, making it easier to wear, easier to put on and off, easier to bring with you is the number 1 priority imo. 
  • Reply 7 of 8
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,682member
    I've always wondered how the Apple Vision Pro works with different vision conditions. This Apple support article tries to answer some of the common questions:  https://support.apple.com/en-us/120052 but I would still have to test drive all the different options prior to purchasing an AVP. Post retinal and cataract surgery I have to use readers for most close-up work. Far vision is no problem. I don't use a single magnification level for readers because the magnification level needed varies considerably based on the distance from my eyes to what I'm working on.

    I always position my computer monitors at approximately arms length which requires 2.00 magnification readers. For reading a book, Kindle, or iPad, I use 2.50 magnification readers. When working on things closer in, like soldering or working inside electronics on a bench, I use 3.00 magnification. Needless to say, this results in me having far too many reading glasses positioned around my desk, workspace, house, car, etc.

    The liquid filled lens idea makes perfect sense because it is somewhat analogous to how the eye's natural lens is able to focus at different focal lengths by reshaping the natural lens with tiny muscles. The companies making contact lenses and implantable lenses have been trying to come up with ways to provide multifocal capability for decades using various techniques. Work in this area has been moving along but it's not nearly as common as using fixed lenses.

    From an Apple Vision Pro perspective it may be worth exploring a technique used with implantable lenses to provide more than a single focal point. Some people are able to use two different fixed prescriptions, one for each eye, and  let their brain work out how to provide the best acuity for a wider range of conditions. This works for some people but not for all. I suppose this technique could be tried by using different magnification AVP lens inserts, like a 2.00 in one eye and a 2.75 in the other. It might be worth a try. In fact, I'm actually dealing with this accidentally because one of my eyes changed enough after lens implantation to have a noticeably different (closer) focal point than the other. This has allowed me to see closer things better with one eye and further away, but still near vision, with the other eye. For the most part I don't have any issues at all with the situation and never notice anything unusual, but at times flat things, like a tar strip or leaves on a road, that look like a 3D standing object like a board or a squirrel in the middle of the road. 
    edited August 22
  • Reply 8 of 8
    thrangthrang Posts: 1,031member
    Way down the road, it would be very interesting if this type of variable focusing technology could be integral to how 3-D material is created.

    One of the problems I have with 3-D movies right now is the focus is defined for you, but your brain can feel”off” because it’s mimicking the depth of reality, but you can control your focus point. In a 2-D movie it doesn’t matter  because I think our brain is aware that it’s an artifice of a flat plane - but in a 3-D movie it can be a little disconcerting (to some anyway)

    With this type of technology, it might be possible that you could focus on any part of a 3-D movie that you would like and it would natural,  organic - and in focus.
Sign In or Register to comment.