The company is planning quite a bit ahead, not that it has a choice

Nov 6, 2012 14:42 GMT  ·  By

The rules of the patent system, in the US at least, are such that companies can file and win patents for technologies that aren't even possible with current means, provided they are well enough formulated. Samsung has secured one such patent.

Portable communication devices come in many forms nowadays, even if mobile phones, including smartphones, are the most common.

Google has been making strides in its quest to develop a pair of glasses, or a monocle, or any sort of eyewear with the capabilities of a smartphone.

Samsung is now setting the foundation for its own eyewear device, called Brain Computer Interface, according to Patent Bolt.

Obviously, the method of operation will be different. It had to be. Since Google holds the patent for its wearable display device, Samsung was forced to get a different idea.

Thus, instead of voice commands or eye movements or anything else of the sort, its wearable display device is described as something that can interpret neural activity.

An example given in the filing is that, when users concentrate, the alpha waves (8-13 Hz) can be affected. The pattern of the waves can then be interpreted as “open file,” “close file,” “paste,” “delete,” etc.

We should probably say that this technology isn't Samsung's reaction to Google project Glass. It dates too far back for that.

Granted, the patent 543983 is shown to have been submitted in the early days of the third quarter of 2012, but the filing says the idea is much older. In fact, the first work on it started in 2007.

No way to tell how far along R&D is (research and development), but at least there is a clear description of what the product will look like, even if it leaves the matter of shape and size open.

“The portable communicating device includes a transparent substrate without opaque shell to allow the user may see-through the display. Therefore, the present invention provides a see-through display visual effect.”

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Google Project Glass. Samsung's device should look similar to this
Samsung Brain Computer Interface description
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