Enlarge / Step 1: Put Nintendo Switch in head-mounted dock. Step 2: Be in virtual reality? (credit: Nintendo/USPTO/NeoGAF)
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.
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Source: Ars Technica – Nintendo Switch patents suggest possibile head-mounted VR accessory