A patent application from Samsung has been published by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office which reveals that the company has invented smartglasses that are capable of doing much more than what Google Glass was ever capable of. Google Glass was Google's failed smartglasses project that never made it to a consumer launch, the company has now ended the “Explorer Program” and is now back to the drawing board to come up with the next generation smartglasses. Samsung's patent application shows that its smartglasses will be able to work with multiple devices such as a game console, cameras, smartphones, tablets, in-vehicle infotainment systems, medical machines and many others. The company even illustrates how the glass of the smartglasses would be able to change from clear to becoming sunglasses when the user steps out in the sun.
Another application could be mirroring live TV or a movie that's playing on a mobile device, when it's safe for the user to be distracted by content being projected right in front of their line of sight. Applications proved by Google Glass are also mentioned, such as the ability to bring up messages and emails from a connected mobile device. Also mentioned in the patent filing are features such as taking pictures and video, ability to interact with a virtual private assistant like Siri or Google Now and even the ability to show subtitles when a foreign film is being watched on another screen through the smartglasses.
Samsung filed this patent back in Q4 2014 and while it reveals that the company has been tinkering around with the idea of smartglasses, it simply can not be taken as a confirmation that Samsung will certainly release a Google Glass rival. It leaves the door open though, Samsung will have the required patent support in place if it ever decides to come out with such a product, which many believe will be called Gear Glass.
