Apple published a new patent application Thursday for a new virtual reality-based solution to motion sickness experienced by riders inside a moving vehicle, and the idea may have come from former NASA engineer Mark Rober’s team.
What’s going on?
In 2018, YouTuber and BYU grad Mark Rober worked with Apple’s special projects team on virtual reality ideas, according to CNBC. He has since left the company.
But a new idea may have come from his team’s work. The new patent — called the “Immersive Virtual Display” — is loosely based on Rober’s team’s efforts for solutions to motion sickness.
So what does the packet say? Here’s how MacRumors described it:
“Apple’s patent application describes a VR system for vehicles with multiple uses. Simply, the system would provide virtual views that match visual cues with the physical motions that a passenger experiences. The VR experience would be immersive, replacing the view of the real world with a virtual environment. In addition to the obvious opportunities for entertainment, this virtual environment would be able to adjust in real time to accommodate a passenger suffering from motion sickness.
“The VR system, which could involve a headset or projection onto a window or other surface, would generate virtual content for providing a view of the virtual environment. Users would be able to select a simulated route from a different location based on the route from the real environment. To do this, the system would compare the turns and curves of the route in the other location to the turns and curves of the route in the real environment, and ensure that they at least partially match.”
Of course, the patent said this idea is “inherently unsafe and not structurally sound, and (will) add cost to vehicles.” Imagine driving without seeing the actual world around you? Yeah, sounds kind of scary.