This week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of Head Mounted Display device patent applications from Apple. One of them was unique in that it crossed over with Project Titan and  Apple's future CarPlay vehicle clusters. This one patent was clear that one aspect of it was allowing a driver to use a Vision Pro-like headset while driving. Apple will of course have to work with and educate Motor Vehicle Departments and the Government to prove that Apple's future Vision Pro will enhance a user's driving experience and not hinder it. Recent videos of drivers  wearing Apple Vision Pro caught the attention of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who felt the need to remind these reckless drivers that obstructing their vision with the Apple Vision Pro in a car that is not autonomous is a bad idea.

Vehicle or Vision Pro Cruise Control User Interface

One of Apple's latest "Project Titan" inventions relate to computer user interfaces, and more specifically to techniques for managing cruise control settings. The patent also covers other advanced vehicle features and makes it clear it could be used with (a future version of) Vision Pro.

Apple notes that cruise control is a feature for controlling speed, such as of a vehicle. There are several types of cruise control, including convention cruise control and adaptive cruise control.

Conventional cruise control typically maintains a fixed speed. Adaptive cruise control typically automatically adjusts the speed based on traffic conditions, such as the speed of a leading vehicle.

Apple notes that some existing techniques use a complex and time-consuming user interface, which may include multiple key presses or keystrokes. Existing techniques require more time than necessary, wasting user time and device energy. This latter consideration is particularly important in battery-operated devices.

Apple patent/invention provides electronic devices with faster, more efficient methods and interfaces for managing cruise control settings. Such methods and interfaces optionally complement or replace other methods for managing cruise control settings. Such methods and interfaces reduce the cognitive burden on a user and produce a more efficient human-machine interface. For battery-operated computing devices, such methods and interfaces conserve power and increase the time between battery charges.

In some embodiments, computer system #600 includes two displays. In some embodiments, computer system is part of a user-wearable device, such as a headset.

At FIG. 6K below, with cruise control being engaged, the vehicle speed has reached the cruise control speed of 68 mph. At FIG. 6K, computer system #600 receives user input requesting to enter a map mode (FIG. 6L below). In some embodiments, the computer system is navigating to a destination and the request to enter a map mode is a request to display navigation instructions to the destination.

Some of the Car Cluster features and technologies may also include the following:

• A lane guidance indicator indicates that the driving lane is being monitored and the user will be notified (e.g., visual, audio, and/or tactile warnings) if the vehicle unintentionally departs the driving lane.
• The input is on a scroll wheel of a steering wheel of the vehicle, is a gesture (e.g., a hand gesture, a facial gesture, and/or an air gesture), and/or is a voice command.
• FIG. 6L, in response to receiving the user input requesting to enter the map mode, computer system #600 concurrently displays reduced size instrument cluster #650 and map #640.
• Speed limit indicator #654B provides an indication of the speed limit for the current location (e.g., street or freeway).

The impression that I was given on the latter point was that this next-gen cruise control could also be used in a different way in the city wherein  the vehicle would be able to restrict speeds in multiple speed zones such as when nearing a school zone. The vehicle could restrict speed of the vehicle to whatever the speed limit is in various speed zones in your city. That could very handy.

For those wanting to do a deep dive on the details, review Apple's patent application 20240051391.

Other HMD Specific Patents Published this week:

• 01: Transparent Display With Blur Effect For Physical Objects
• 02: Adjustable Immersion Level for Content
• 03: Presentations In Multi-user Communication Sessions
• 04: Interactive Element In A Replay
• 05: Electronic Devices With Light-Blocking Structures
• 06: Latency Correction For A Camera Image