As Apple killed-off their EV autonomous vehicle plans under Project Titan, Meta has stepped up their efforts in the Automotive Industry as revealed in a 2024 European patent. The patent focuses on a mixed reality (MR) service platform providing MR automotive meta service, and a method for controlling the same.

 

In Meta's patent background they note that for convenience of a user using a vehicle, various types of sensors and electronic apparatuses are provided in the vehicle. In particular, for the convenience of the user's driving, research on an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) is being actively carried out. Furthermore, development of an autonomous vehicle is being actively carried out.

In recent years, development on UI/UX and services that help the driving of a vehicle using augmented reality (hereinafter, AR), virtual reality (hereinafter, VR), and mixed reality (MR) that mix AR and VR is being actively carried out.

In the case of using mixed reality technologies, there is an advantage capable of providing various information required for the driving of the vehicle based on an actual real world, or providing various interfaces related to the driving of the vehicle in a virtual world (or digital twin) that is almost similar to the real world, and further providing information, content, and the like in various fields as well as driving to vehicle occupants.

Mixed Reality Service Platform for Providing Mixed Reality Automotive Meta Service and Control

Meta's patent relates to a mixed reality automotive meta service (MR AMS) server according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which is an MR AMS server disposed outside a vehicle to provide an MR AMS, may include an interface API that calls a function for communicating with an MR AMS client disposed in the vehicle, a service aggregation manager that requests and receives a context corresponding to a request received from the MR AMS client from a service provider, and a data integration manager that loads a three-dimensional asset corresponding to the received context from a database.

In an embodiment, the interface API may transfer a user request received from the MR AMS client to the service aggregation manager.

In an embodiment, the interface API may include a first interface API that calls a function for performing communication with the MR AMS client, and a second interface API that calls a function for allowing the service aggregation manager to perform communication with the service provider.

In an embodiment, the service aggregation manager may request the requested context from different service providers based on a type of the context requested by the MR AMS client disposed in the vehicle.

In an embodiment, the MR AMS client may further include an interface API that calls a function for communicating with the MR AMS server provided outside the vehicle.

Meta's patent FIG. 2 below is a diagram illustrating appearance of a vehicle at various angles and illustrating a few key features of the vehicle; FIG. 4 illustrates new UI panels  and backseat headrest displays.

Meta's patent FIG. 8 above is a conceptual diagram for explaining an MR service platform for providing an MR service of the present disclosure.

Review Meta's European patent application EP4358524 that is very detailed.