Google has been granted a patent for a wearable that rests on a single ear and wraps around the head to offer a display in front of the user’s eye.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted a new patent to Google for a potential upcoming version of Google Glass called Google Monocle. The patent describes a device that could adjust to each user's head and recall that configuration for later use. The device would offer a heads-up display for playing video that could even be viewable in the other eye via a prism.
The flexible band is also said to double as a touchpad, while the device’s display can also be paired with a prism to bring imagery to both eyes, Tech Crunch reported. The band is adjustable such that it can be configured by a user to contact the head of the user at a first location near a temple, a second location along a portion of the user’s ear adjacent the temple, and at a third location along a rear position of the head of the user.
The device seems to offer much of the same functionality as Google Glass, Google’s smart glasses that were shelved indefinitely as a consumer product earlier this year. Glass connected to the Internet and overlaid images and graphics over what people could see with their non-computer eyes.
While Google’s patent was granted, there is no guarantee the company will actually develop the monocle, according to CNet. However, the search engine giant is very interested in creating wearables that will convince people to use the company’s myriad services more regularly.
In addition, Google has been experimenting with a mic-enabled lapel pin that works like the communicator badge in "Star Trek."