Even though Apple Vision Pro isn’t lighting up Apple’s sales sheets just yet, it’s still influencing its competitors in a major way. The latest evidence comes courtesy of a patent filing from none other than Meta, which was apparently very inspired by one of Vision Pro’s most unique features.
According to a patent filing spotted by Patently Apple, Meta has developed a feature described as “Embedded Sensors in Immersive Reality Headset to enable Social Presence” for the next Quest headset. If you think that sounds a lot like Vision Pro’s Eyesight feature, you’d be right. And if you think Meta is suddenly shifting gears to design its Quest Pro headset to look a lot more like Vision Pro, you’d also be right. Just take a look at the description of the feature:
The present disclosure is related to virtual reality and augmented reality (VR/AR) headsets configured with multiple facial sensors to enable social presence in immersive reality applications. More specifically, the present disclosure is associated with embedded sensors in VR/AR headsets to provide information and incorporate, in real time, a facial expression of a user to a subject avatar for an immersive reality application.
If that’s not EyeSight, we don’t know what is. It’s a curious feature for Meta to copy—especially in such a way that it needs a patent. EyeSight is Vision Pro’s most divisive feature, with people sharing images of wonky visuals but Apple using it as a centerpiece of Vision Pro’s marketing.
It’s also possible that this patent refers only to taking measurements of eyes and facial expression for use in VR. In other words, not showing it on the outside of the device but rather making your virtual avatar mimic your real-life facial expressions. In that case, this patent comes closer to copying Apple’s work on Personas than EyeSight.
We’re not entirely sure how such a patent would be allowed when EyeSight exists, but Meta does add that the signal could be “from an electrical sensor, from a capacitive sensor, from a contact microphone, from an optical sensor, from a haptic sensor, from a moisture sensor, and from a temperature sensor.” That’s probably different enough for the patent police, but we have to assume Apple isn’t thrilled.
Or maybe it is. Vision Pro is still in its early stages of development and if it’s influencing one of its biggest competitors in such a high-profile way, perhaps Apple is on the right track.
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor, Macworld
Michael Simon has been covering Apple for more than 20 years. He started covering rumors with Spymac when the iPod was the iWalk, and has owned nearly every iPhone Apple has ever made. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, son, and far too many gadgets.