Apple Patents Head-Mounted iPhone

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday February 17, 2015 @12:23PM from the short-step-to-a-literal-eyephone dept.

mpicpp sends word of a patent newly awarded to Apple, #8,957,835, which describes a head-mounted apparatus that uses an iPhone (or iPod) as a display. The device "temporarily integrates or merges both mechanically and electronically a head-mounted device with a portable electronic device." It sounds a bit like Samsung's Gear VR headset, and many outlets are reporting it as being a virtual reality device. However, the patent itself doesn't mention VR, and it was filed in 2008, long before the VR rush of the past few years. That said, Apple has recently been trying to hire engineers with experience developing VR-related software, so it's something they could be evaluating.

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Probably just to prevent accessory competitors by ArmoredDragon · 2015-02-17 12:39 · Score: 1, Interesting

Given the prior art, my guess is the patent is designed to prevent companies that make iphone accessories from making their own. E.g. if you want a VR headset for an iphone, you gotta pay Apple a 400% markup for a piece of plastic.