The headset market is heating up with Microsoft and partners introducing Xbox gaming headsets for the Christmas holidays, even though that's probably politically incorrect to say these days with the left. So I'll say it again, for Christmas, HP, Dell and others will be introducing headsets supporting Microsoft's platform and today a new VR/AR gaming gun design patent was granted to Microsoft. Those shooter games are going to get a lot more fun with new gaming headsets. Bring it on!

Earlier this summer Facebook's Oculus VR was granted a patent for a lower-end headset that will work with other Android smartphones beyond what Samsung is doing with Gear VR.

As with all granted patents, all we get from the U.S. Patent Office are patent figures to look at and virtually no details regarding the devices that are displayed. Then again, the figures speak for themselves at a basic level.

Oculus Headset for Smartphones Design Patent

With so many competitors coming to market this Christmas with VR or Mixed Reality headsets supporting Microsoft's platform at only $299, Facebook slashed the pricing of their headset and game controllers to $399 for the summer, though it's likely to extend through to the holiday season.

While searching the granted patent data base for Oculus VR today, I discovered one that was issued to earlier this summer. The design as noted below is clearly designed to work with smartphones, much like Samsung's Gear VR.

The design allows for the left side of the headset to pop open and allow a smartphone to slide in or out quickly. If the competition gets too hot, Facebook may want to introduce a lower end Oculus headset that will work with any Android smartphone. Will we see this come to market or die on the vine? Only time will tell. The patent was originally filed on December 7, 2015 and granted this summer.

Microsoft HoloLens / Headset Gaming Accessory Design Patent

The U.S. Patent Office granted Microsoft a design patent for a HoloLens or other headset gaming accessory in the form of a gun as noted below. To date there doesn't appear to be such an accessory for sale so it may very well be one that's coming to market supporting Xbox games and the new headsets from partners HP, Asus, Dell, Acer and Lenovo. The design was originally filed on June 01, 2016 and granted to Microsoft today.

About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus.