14 DAY TRIAL // Along with an iPad HD model in 2011 and a new iPad 3 flavor next year, Cupertino, California-based Apple might also bring to the market a special iPad model that would sport Augmented Reality capabilities.
Recent filings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office shows that the company is considering the possibility of coming up with an augmented reality platform on the iPad either by splitting the screen or by delivering a transparent display, AppleInsider reports.
One filing suggests that Apple is considering the possibility that the iPad would be able to split the screen to display an object that is being seen through its camera, with computer-generated imagery overlaid on it on the other part of the screen.
Apparently, Apple considers that the existing AR systems are rather complex and expensive, which would not make them suitable for general use in the consumer area.
However, the interest in AR is on the rise, and the company itself is considering the possible launch of a system that would live stream from the device's camera and add computer-generated content into the mix as described above.
On example that Apple provides to illustrate its concept involves the skyline of downtown San Francisco, which is being displayed as it is in the first area, and which offers additional info on the environment in the second area.
“For example, gyroscopes, magnetometers and other motion sensors can provide angular displacements, angular rates and magnetic readings with respect to a reference coordinate frame, and that data can be used by a real-time onboard rendering engine to generate 3D imagery of downtown San Francisco,” Apple explains the said filing.
“If the user physically moves device, resulting in a change of the video camera view, the information layer and computer-generated imagery can be updated accordingly using the sensor data.”
The 3D computer-generated imagery overlaid on the real-time capture could also be shared with one or more devices, via a simple Share Button, the filing continues.
A second filing suggests that the company might be considering the launch of an iPad with a transparent display, which would also prove a great option when it comes to AR features.
Apple engineer Aleksandar Pance notes that the “transparent portion may encompass the entire viewing area, or only a portion of the viewing area of the display.”
Augmented Reality applications are already available for the owners of various mobile devices out there, but none is as complex as what Apple might have in store with a future version of the iPad.