Apple began exploring a video headset back in 2008 and their first patent application for it surfaced at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2010. You could check out our report covering that patent filing here. Since that time Apple has evolved their invention and was granted nine patents covering their different updates. We covered three of the granted patents here: 01, 02 & 03.  

On Tuesday Patently Apple posted a report titled "While Facebook missed the Smartphone Revolution, they're now banking on Smart Glasses being the Next Great Device Trend," wherein we touched on Apple's progress on the smartglasses front.

I noted in the report that "The drawback is that making them available to the masses could prove to be difficult considering that half or more of the population wears prescription lenses," and then went on to point out that Samsung and Google were working on smart contact lenses to get around this problem with smartglasses.

Today the US Patent & Trademark Office published yet another patent application from Apple that updates their original 2010 patent application and as with all continuation patents, what is updated is only listed in their patent claims.

The one thing that glaringly stands out is the mention of prescription lenses for the very first time. It's been added to 13 of the 20 patent claims. Below are the claims that mention prescription for glasses and even prescription for contact lenses as we pointed out in our Tuesday report.

1. A head-mounted apparatus comprising: a support structure; a display supported by the support structure; an optical subassembly through which the display is viewable; and a processor configured to adjust the optical subassembly based on prescription information.

3. The head-mounted apparatus defined in claim 2, wherein the first optical interface includes a first dynamic optical component, wherein the second optical interface includes a second dynamic optical component, and wherein the processor is configured to adjust the first and second dynamic optical components based on the prescription information.

4. The head-mounted apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein the optical subassembly comprises at least one dynamic optical component and wherein the processor is configured to adjust the dynamic optical component based on the prescription information.

6. The head-mounted apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein the optical subassembly includes a first optical interface for a first eye and a second optical interface for a second eye, wherein the first optical interface includes a first coaxial arrangement of lenses, wherein the second optical interface includes a second coaxial arrangement of lenses, and wherein the processor is configured to adjust the first and second optical interfaces based on the prescription information.

8. The head-mounted apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein the prescription information comprises a glasses prescription.

9. The head-mounted apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein the prescription information comprises a contact lens prescription.

10. The head-mounted apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to adjust the optical subassembly to correct for a user's eyesight based on the prescription information.

11. A head-mounted device that is operable with a removable cellular telephone with a display, the head-mounted device comprising: a support structure that is configured to support the cellular telephone in a docking area; and an optical subassembly through which the display of the cellular telephone is viewable when the cellular telephone is in the docking area, wherein the optical subassembly includes an adjustable optical component that is adjusted based on prescription information.

14. The head-mounted device defined in claim 11, wherein the prescription information comprises a glasses prescription.

15. The head-mounted device defined in claim 11, wherein the prescription information comprises a contact lens prescription.
16. A system comprising: a cellular telephone having a display; and a head-mounted device having: a support structure that is configured to support the cellular telephone in a docking area; first and second adjustable lenses through which the display of the cellular telephone is viewable when the cellular telephone is in the docking area; and a processor configured to adjust the first and second adjustable lenses based on prescription information.

19. The system defined in claim 16, wherein the prescription information comprises a glasses prescription.

20. The system defined in claim 16, wherein the prescription information comprises a contact lens prescription.

Apple's continuation patent 20190289107 that was published today by the U.S. Patent Office was filed back in Q2 2019.

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