Newly published patent applications for Nintendo's upcoming Switch console describe plans for a potential head-mounted display accessory that holds the system's tablet-style screen in a virtual reality-style housing.

The diagram and description come from a trove of five patent applications (as noted by NeoGAF) that were filed with the US Patent and Trademark office on June 10 and published today. Unlike most patent applications, which may describe product ideas that will never be announced (much less released), these patents quite clearly describe the Nintendo Switch and its detachable JoyCon controllers with details that match what's known from the system's October reveal.

That being said, the unannounced head-mounted display, while patented, may never see the light of day as a real product. As it stands, the Switch's tablet screen, which reportedly runs 6.2" diagonally and sports 720p resolution, would be quite blocky compared to the displays on other virtual reality headsets. Even the first Oculus Development Kit had 800 lines of vertical resolution back in 2013.

The patent application doesn't go into much detail about the HMD accessory, but as described, it could use lenses to present a "wide[r] viewing angle than that of the tablet screen itself in order to "enhance the sense of immersion for a user looking at the images." The HMD described would also include an acceleration and angular velocity sensor to control a "virtual camera" that changes "line-of-sight" for the user, much like other VR headsets. The patent doesn't describe any kind of external camera that would allow for more robust head-tracking through space, however.

Elsewhere, the patents lend credence to earlier reports that the Nintendo Switch will sport a touchscreen that "may sense position, pressure or other characteristics of touch." The patent says this is currently a capacitive multi-touch panel, but it could be a resistive, single-touch screen in the final unit.

The patent also details how the system will essentially go into an overclocked mode when docked to the TV in order to "display... images of a higher resolution than in the portable mode." This additional processing power can be utilized because, in the dock, "the information processing device can be cooled by the cooling fan more effectively than in the portable mode."

One section of the patent lends credence to earlier reports that one of the JoyCon controllers contains "an infrared image-capturing section... to detect a hand movement and/or the gesture" a la the Nintendo Wii. There is also mention of SD card storage for the system itself and two shoulder buttons on each JoyCon controller, as previously rumored. And the patent discusses a "symmetric" USB connection between the dock and tablet (and the "power terminal"), suggesting earlier reports of USB Type C charging for the system are true as well.

Perhaps most oddly, the patents describe a fanciful means of authenticating users by "captur[ing] an image of a hand of a user (specifically, the vein pattern of the hand) by means of the infrared image-capturing." The technology as described would also be able to measure a user's pulse using IR light, bringing back memories of the vaporware Wii Vitality Sensor.

There's a lot of information to pore over in these lengthy and detailed patent applications, but the above covers the most interesting unknown and/or unconfirmed highlights that we've come across so far. We'll presumably get final confirmation on at least some of these features when Nintendo reveals more Switch details on January 12.