Three weeks ago, on this very blog, I asked the question ‘Where is the Apple VR headset?’

Well the big news is that Apple have been granted a pretty stunning Virtual Reality patent, that clearly shows Apple have been thinking really deeply about this stuff… for at least 8 years.

The patent – ‘head mounted display for retaining a portable electronic device with display – filed back in 2008, pretty much exactly describes the Zeiss VR One, and any other ‘slip-in’ VR headset including Samsung Gear VR and possibly Google Cardboard too (although that could be a stretch).

Some of the ideas in the patent show some really deep thinking…

• auto pupil optimization/adjustment (v.cool)
• pass-through-video (AR) using the phone’s camera
• external controls for the phone while in the housing (helpful)
• using an auxiliary screen in addition to the phone’s screen
• disabling features of the phone while mounted in HMD – e.g notifications, incoming calls (you don’t want those)

… it’s all really prescient stuff.

Personally I’m pretty blown away by it, and super excited. As I said in my comment over on Engadget…

This is how Apple can bust into the VR scene… (and should do). The coming VR app ecosystem (games, experiences, and 3D 360 video based content) will eventually double the size of the iTunes App Store.

As one responder said…

I’m impressed with your loyalty to Apple. They haven’t even begun to release anything like this, and you are already calling them the VR King.

Are they going to be the VR King?

Time will tell…

(More on this at Road to VR…)