Back in late March 2018 Patently Apple posted a patent application report titled “Patent of the Decade: Apple Reveals an Unbelievable VR Experience System for Next-Gen Autonomous Vehicles.” While we noted that the patent may never see the light of day, it was definitely a cool concept. Apple noted in their original filing that "embodiments of the VR system as described herein may be implemented in autonomous or "self-driving" vehicles where all occupants are passengers.

Apple’s patent filing covered a lot of territory including windowless autonomous vehicles. Apple noted that “By providing a virtual view of the real environment or of a simulated environment, the VR system may reduce or eliminate the need for windows in autonomous vehicles, allowing the vehicles to be engineered with fewer and/or smaller windows, or with no windows at all.”

In addition, a VR experience provided through the VR system may provide passengers with the sensation that they are actually riding in a larger vehicle than the actual size of the autonomous vehicle, which may provide the passengers with a more pleasant and secure-feeling experience when riding in a small autonomous vehicle.

Apple's patent FIG. 8 below is a block diagram illustrating active systems in a vehicle that may be used in a VR system to provide synchronized physical effects for passengers.

You could review our original patent report for tons of details here. Last week, the lead inventor listed on Apple’s patent, Mark Rober, talked about his work on this patent as captured in part below.

You could review the entire interview with Marque Brownlee here.