Amazon Granted Patent for Novel Hands-free Display
The tech media is ablaze with the announcement that Amazon has been awarded a patent by the US Patent Office for a novel hands-free display system. This post on Recode.net is among those which points out that, unlike many other hands-free displays, the proposed Amazon system, described at the time of filing in 2013, relies on a tablet or another companion computing device.
Amazon’s patent also covers the ability for the display to switch between transparent and opaque properties upon the user’s request. When the display is opaque, the system produces a fully immersive experience. This can be either for looking at still images, watching video content or interacting in a VR world. When transparent, the system supports Augmented Reality experience delivery.
Of course, there remains significant investment between a patent and the introduction of a commercial hardware product. Getting hardware to commercial success is also a long term, expensive journey and the competition in this product class is steep.