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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Files Patent for Augmented Reality

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Files Patent for Augmented Reality

Date Published: 7-18-2016

BREAKING
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has just updated its patent for augmented reality. The company has simplified its prior filing for synchronized, interactive augmented reality displays and the implications are staggering.

STORY
Apple is a secret company. Unlike Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and many other technology companies, Apple Inc. keeps all of its innovation quite secret for as long as it can before it releases a new product onto the market. CML Pro has reported on a number of these secrets. Apple Inc. is famously building a car under the "Project Titan" umbrella, has filed a patent for a new social media and even has a patent out for a smartphone which is entirely a screen in 360 degrees.

July 14th brought another innovation to our attention -- Apple Inc. is getting dead serious about augmented reality.

Here's a snippet from the Patent filing before we dig into the meaning of it.

“
A computer-implemented method for generating and synchronizing interactive Augmented Reality (AR) displays, comprising: capturing live video of a real-world, physical environment on a touch sensitive surface of a device; combining an information layer and the live video in a display of the device, the information layer related to one or more objects in the live video; displaying computer-generated imagery representing one or more objects in the live video on the touch sensitive surface; overlaying the information layer on the computer-generated imagery; receiving data from one or more onboard motion sensors indicating that the device is in motion; and synchronizing the live video, computer-generated imagery and information layer using the sensor data.

”

So that was a mouthful. Of course, Patent filings are intentionally difficult to understand to obfuscate their intention while at the same time seeking intellectual property protection. Let's see what's really going on. First, an rendering from the Apple Inc. patent -- the coloring was added by CML Pro.

So we start with a live recording and then Apple Inc. provides tools to augment that reality in real-time. Before we get too far into the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) patent, let's understand augmented reality, first.

AUGMENTED AND VIRTUAL REALITY
Augmented Reality (AR) technology combines a live view of a real-world, physical environment with computer-generated imagery. For anyone playing Pokémon Go, that's augmented reality.

It is one of the revolutionary themes, one of the fundamental shifts coming in the very near future that will change how we live, work, and play and the customer base is all of humanity. We can sit in the same room as a family member 10,000 miles away. Have a meal with anyone we know at any time in any place. We can sit on the 50-yard line at the Super Bowl. We can sit front row at the State of the Union. We can visit Mars, be an airplane pilot, and go to an African Safari.

Further yet, we can treat anxiety disorders, phobias, even expand the reach of education and further children's imaginations, even adult imagination. Not to get crass, but even sexual encounters will be possible from anywhere at any time. Touch, the physical sense, is now possible. Here's a little image from MIT:

Virtual and Augmented Reality technology is moving so fast, that when we're with someone miles away in a VR experience, it doesn't look like a video game or animated rendering, it's real. If you've never experienced it -- go to a demonstration and feel the enormity of these realties within 15 seconds. It's that powerful and it's that obvious, that quickly.

Now, let's cover what Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is doing.

APPLE
Here's an opening image from Apple Inc., again, CML Pro has annotated the image.

The technology Apple Inc. is inventing will allow a user to create a 3-dimensional map of an area, in real time, which is then overlaid with information that augments their reality. But it's not just video games that Apple is after.

Here's a snippet from the patent filing and then a rendering Apple included in the filing.

“
For example, a car mechanic can hold device 100 over a car engine and an outline identifying parts and providing excerpts from a repair manual or schematics can be displayed in the live video to assist the mechanic in repairing the engine.

For example, a teacher can hold device 100 over a student's exam paper and an outline showing incorrect answers to exam questions can be displayed in the live video to assist the teach in grading the exam paper.

”

And then Apple Inc. goes yet further, with split screen computer-generated Imagery.

ENGLISH PLEASE
In English, what Apple has patented is a system where a recording of a live video circuit board can be "layered" with a user’s own annotations and through that process create a 3D perspective view of live combined with the annotation layer.

The car mechanic and grade school teacher are good examples, but it goes further. Apple dove head first into medical applications for the Apple Watch, this technology goes yet further. IBD writes:

“
Doctors might also use it to superimpose medical information over a live video of a patient, or an X-ray or MRI could overlay the video so medical professionals could better diagnose an issue.

”

Here's a really helpful image of the steps the technology walks through

We note one critical element here that is also in several other of the renderings. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has explicitly, several times, noted the ability to "share." Apple does have a patent filing out for a new social media which, unlike Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) and the rest, actually involves real world interactions. That is, social in the truest sense of the word, not a friend-voyeurism, but actual interactions.

Per that patent filing, every Apple iPhone owner would automatically be a part of the social media. With the augmented reality filing here, it seems quite apparent that this technology would sit on a smartphone, create a "new world" in real time with video and then allow people to share those augmented realities with whomever they like.

This is a patent filing, and it's really early, and Apple Inc. files a ton of patents that never amount to anything, but fiends, this seems fantastical, but more than that, it's a reminder. Apple Inc. doesn't do what Elon Musk does. Apple is quiet. Apple is humble. But when Apple Inc. releases a product, it has had a myriad of innovations and inventors tied to it working tirelessly in secret to make it perfect.

Just because Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) isn't a part of the common vernacular for social media, self-driving cars and virtual and augmented reality, that doesn't mean the company isn't coming with its own products, it means the company has no interest in helping the competition get ready for it.

WHY THIS MATTERS
Several mega caps are getting to virtual and augmented reality but every single one is totally and utterly dependent on the back bone of AR/VR -- and that is computing speed. One technology company has finally broken the barrier in providing the enormous computing power to make all of these grand statements a reality.

It's identifying trends like this that allows us to find the 'next Apple' or the 'next Google.' This is what CML Pro does. Our research sits side-by-side with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and the rest on professional terminals, but we are the anti-institution and break the information advantage the top .1% have.

Each company in our 'Top Picks' is the single winner in an exploding thematic shift like artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, drones, biotech and more. In fact, here are just two of the trends that will radically affect the future that we are ahead of:

That chart plots the growth in 4G usages worldwide and how it will grow from 330 million people today to nearly 2 billion in five years. This is the lifeblood fueling every IoT and mobile device on the planet and CML Pro has named the single winner that will power this transformation. Then there's cyber security:

Market correction or not, recession or not, the growth in this area is a near certainty, even if projections come down, this is happening. CML Pro has named the single best cyber security stock to benefit from this theme.

These are just two of the themes we have identified and this is just one of the fantastic reports CML Pro members get along with all the visual tools, the precious few thematic top picks for 2016, research dossiers and alerts. For a limited time we are offering CML Pro at a 90% discount for $10/mo. with a lifetime guaranteed rate. Join Us: Get the most advanced premium research delivered to your inbox along with access to visual tools and data that until now has only been made available to the top 1%.