With the release of Pokemon Go in 2016 and the earlier stories about Google Glass, Augmented Reality appeared to be a hot trend in gaming, but with that excitement fading, much of the hype appears to have gone to the Metaverse instead. However, that doesn’t mean that AR technology will necessarily be put on the backburner. Magical Technologies Inc., an IP-holding company for prolific inventor Nova Spivack, for example, had a patent issued in early 2021 for a method of transitioning between virtual reality and augmented reality. Differential layering of technology may become a way to allow the Metaverse to become pervasive while still allowing people to live their lives. While in one’s own home, users can engage in a fully virtual world, but while moving, the Metaverse could take the form of a more mixed reality or augmented reality system.

Patents continue to be issued to companies pursuing AR technology, such as Magic Leap and even Meta, which stated in early 2022 that it had no plans of stopping development on an AR operating system. On the one hand, you could accuse these companies of being behind the market’s trends, but continuing to develop AR tech may be the smart move in the long run. After all, many consumers likely won’t want to sit at home for hours with a brick attached to their heads. People looking at the Metaverse space likely shouldn’t expect many AR devices to be pushed out in the near future, but continued patent activity in the space suggests that it is likely a good long term bet. As for Meta, while the Oculus Quest 2 is capable of using AR technology, we predict Meta may launch a scaled-down AR-only device for on-the-go use in the next five years.

For more updates on AR and the Metaverse, check the Metaverse Patent Forecast®!