In November 2023, Patently Apple posted a report titled "Microsoft Scrambles to Match Apple Vision Pro's Eyesight for a Future XR Headset." This week a secondary Microsoft patent regarding a similar feature to Apple's Vision Pro's EyeSight was published in the U.S. and Europe titled "Displaying Outward-Directed Content on an Outward-Facing Displays of a Mixed Reality Headset."

Microsoft's patent Figure 2 below illustrates how, in accordance with the disclosed principles, an MR device can now be equipped with an outward-facing display, which is configured to display content for view by spectators who are located remotely relative to the MR device.

Microsoft's patent Figure 12 above illustrates how the MR device can be equipped with any number of radio frequency (RF) sensors to measure displacement of certain conductive material (e.g., salty liquid in the user’s body); Figure 15 illustrates how the outward-facing display can display content in a manner as if the displayed content has three-dimensional properties. For full details, review Microsoft Patent application 2024173127.

In a companion patent application published on the same day titled "Muscle Group Movement Tracking and Conductive Matter Movement Tracking using RF Sensors," they cover both their version of EyeSight and much more on a companion ring for their future XR Headset.

Microsoft's invention provides numerous benefits, advantages, and practical applications to the technical field of smart, wearable technology. In particular, the disclosed embodiments use radio frequency (RF) tracking technology to monitor a movement of a user's body part or conductive matter, such as the user's muscle group, blood, salt water, or even perhaps a conductive topical cream that is rubbed on the user's skin. This RF technology accurately tracks, in real-time, body movements. In some cases, the input will relate to a physical interaction between the body part and an external object. The embodiments are able to estimate the intensity or amount of force that is exerted from the body part onto the object or vice versa.

Microsoft's patent Figure 2 below illustrates an example of how a wearable device can communicate with an MR HMD to enable the user to interact with a hologram.

Microsoft's patent Figures 7A and 7D  illustrate different perspective views of a wearable device (ring #700) that includes a housing #705 and a clip unit #710, which can also be considered as being a connection member. The RF sensors are disposed inside or on the housing of the ring. The clip unit includes one or more different clips that are adjustable to accommodate different sized appendages. In this example scenario, the wearable device/ring is a type of device that is worn on a user's finger. The clip unit can expand and contract to accommodate different sizes of fingers. As shown, the clip unit can optionally be made of concentric, half-ring shaped pins, held together via a friction hinge.

The wearable device includes a connection member that enables the device to be clipped or otherwise attached to the user's body part. The connection member can include the clip unit mentioned above. In some cases, the connection member can include an elastomeric band or material that wraps around a portion of the user.

The wearable device can be clippable over clothing worn by the user. The wearable device can track the movement of conductive matter (eg, a muscle group) even when the clothing is arranged between the wearable device and the conductive matter. It should be noted how the wearable device refrains from tracking skin movement of the user; rather, the wearable device tracks the distance or gap that exists between the device's RF sensors and conductive matter that is included as a part of or on top of the user's body. Generally, skin is not very conductive. The conductive matter can be one or more of: a muscle group of the user, blood of the user, salt water of the user, or any other conductive matter in or on the user's body. In some cases, as mentioned, a paste or lotion that is conductive can be applied to the user's skin, and the RF sensors can track the movement of that lotion.

Microsoft's patent FIG. 6 illustrates an alternative scenario where a device #600 is clipped or otherwise attached to a user's wrist, like a bracelet. The device  is shown as emitting various RF signals. Those RF signals change based on the movements of the user's wrist. For instance, the user's wrist can move in different ways, as shown by flexion #605, extension #610, abduction #615, and adduction #620. Accordingly, the wearable device can track one or more of a flexion, an extension, an abduction, or an adduction of the user's muscle group or body part.

Review Microsoft's patent application 2024173128 for full details.