Google Pixel 2 Rumors: Patent for VR Headset That Doubles as Packaging?
The Unites States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has just published a virtual reality (VR) patent that it has awarded to Google. The publication contains details about a VR headset that also serves as a mobile phone packaging. Could the upcoming Google Pixel 2 come in this VR box?
If Google acts on this patent and actually produces the device described, it will be the Google Cardboard concept taken to the next step. The patent contains the description for what is essentially a Google Cardboard viewer that also serves as the box in which the phone comes in. For future Google-developed mobile phones, like the much-awaited Pixel 2, it can be a free VR headset that comes with every device purchase.
This publication can potentially take Google Cardboard's concept further in several ways. One is the headset can be customized to the phone it comes with, greatly improving the fit for the phone. Another concept — buried within the patent — may be designs for external buttons that can interact with the phone's touchscreen. The described VR headset will includes lenses, too.
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The patent is novel in the way it presents the device to the user when he or she opens the package. The box is hinged, and opens like a chest box — unlike the boxes most mobile devices currently come in. The phone inside will already be in the position for VR viewing, so even before turning on the device, the owner already knows how to set it up for VR.
The external buttons will come with conductive tape so that they can effectively interact with the phone's touchscreen. There's a mechanism in place to protect the screen from too much pressure from the buttons as well.
The idea gives literal meaning to virtual reality out-of-the-box. It is very well possible that the Pixel 2 and all future phones by Google could come packaged like this patent publication describes.
Going by the first Pixel announcement and release timeframes, it's been speculated that the Pixel 2 will be unveiled in late September or later this 2017.
