Google Acquires Hon Hai Head Mounted Display Patent Portfolio
Hon Hai Precision, the parent company to Foxconn, has sold a portion of its patent portfolio to Google. The patents Google now owns have to do with superimposing virtual images onto photos, a technology that's used in Head Mounted Displays (HMDs). There are many applications for HMDs, including aviation, engineering, and even gaming.
Financial and/or other terms of the deal were not disclosed, nor has it been revealed what Google will use these new patents for. It could be that Google is looking to protect itself from possible lawsuits arising from its Glass platform, though more likely it will integrate technology into Glass based on its newly acquired patents.
Glass is Google's attempt at mass marketing augmented reality through an affordable HMD. More expensive Developer Edition Glasses are in the wild, though when the Consumer Edition lands, Google hopes to price them at around $300.
A month ago, Google snagged a 6.3 percent stake in the display division of Himax Technologies, which produces liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) chips and modules used in Glass and other HMDs.
Financial and/or other terms of the deal were not disclosed, nor has it been revealed what Google will use these new patents for. It could be that Google is looking to protect itself from possible lawsuits arising from its Glass platform, though more likely it will integrate technology into Glass based on its newly acquired patents.
Glass is Google's attempt at mass marketing augmented reality through an affordable HMD. More expensive Developer Edition Glasses are in the wild, though when the Consumer Edition lands, Google hopes to price them at around $300.
A month ago, Google snagged a 6.3 percent stake in the display division of Himax Technologies, which produces liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) chips and modules used in Glass and other HMDs.
