Meta Files Patent To Copy Apple's EyeSight Vision Pro Feature

EyeSight Vision Pro from Apple (photo: x @iphonesoft_fr)

JAKARTA - Meta has filed a patent to emulate the EyeSight Vision Pro feature in its virtual reality headset.

It's no surprise that Meta is paying attention to Vision Pro and looking for lessons that can be learned for their own Quest headset. However, it's actually a bit surprising that Meta is trying to copy a feature that is poorly accepted and is likely to be removed by Apple.

The EyeSight feature uses facial scanning to create virtual images of the user's eyes on an external screen.

Apple made this feature as important when it first announced their spatial computer, claiming that it solves one of the major problems with the VR social isolation headset.

"We are developing EyeSight, because we know more than anything, if we were going to cover your eyes, it would take away a lot of things that might happen when you connect with other people. Getting this right is at the heart of the product concept because we want people to stay connected in their real world," Apple said.

However, the reviewers weren't so impressed, many showed a big gap between Apple's promotional images and the reality, and my personal experience is that this feature is completely useless.

Apple is expected to remove this feature when they make the Apple Vision model more affordable.

Apple discovered Meta patent filings that appear to be the same feature.

Patent Meta Platforms is officially titled Embedd Sensors in Immersive Reality Headset to enable Social Present. It also confirms that a new headset Quest reshuffle or headset design is being considered to support this feature. To differentiate from Apple's Eyesight, Meta notes that some sensors in face interfaces may include health sensors.

Patent laws do not allow companies to protect ideas, only methods to implement such ideas, so companies can copy ideas and even get their own patents for their implementation methods.