Yesterday the U.S. Patent Office published a patent application of Samsung's relating to a new design for a head mounted display (HMD), perhaps a next-gen Gear VR headset that overcomes some of the current negatives of current designs and adds some interesting new values that users will really appreciate.

Samsung first lays out some of the problems associated with current HMD designs before providing the solutions. Samsung notes that Conventional head-mounted devices provide stereoscopic regions in both eyes, i.e. a viewing angle of about 100 to 120 degrees whereas a visual field that a person perceives is about 200 degrees, is narrower than a viewing angle that a person generally perceives.

So when a high-level application video games and 3D contents is executed through a head-mounted electronic device, the user knows instinctively that the screen is providing a narrower viewing angle. The user's impression is that what they're seeing is more like what one would see through a periscope, and there is a limitation in feeling the reality of virtual reality (VR).

Accordingly, various embodiments of Samsung's new head-mounted device are optimized for a face shape in order to implement an ultra-wide angle human viewing angle in a slimmer form factor which could deal with the weight issue of most headsets on the market today.

Samsung's new head-mounted device may include a curved display; a frame having a mounting surface having a curvature such that the curved display is mounted thereon; and a pair of optical assemblies provided on the left and right sides of the interior of the frame, respectively, so as to provide displayed images to the left and right eyes of the user to implement a viewing angle of 180 degrees while surrounding the whole visual field of the user.

Samsung's patent FIG. 7 below is a diagram illustrating a binocular visual field and a peripheral visual field according to an optical assembly in the head-mounted electronic device; FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of the head-mounted electronic device.

New See-Through Mode

Samsung's new HMD design also offers a see-through function like Google Glass. Meaning a clear view function that allows the user to view the real world as if wearing regular glasses and allow the user to see the real world with AR imagery being added.

Samsung's patent application that was published yesterday by the U.S. Patent Office was filed in the U.S. in Q3 2018.