Motorola patent application reveals cellphone / HMD combo craziness
By Donald Melanson 
posted June 20th 2008 2:36PM
posted June 20th 2008 2:36PM
It looks like Motorola isn't about to let Apple have the goofy, non-existent product spotlight to itself, with a recent patent application of its revealing some plans of its own for a head-mounted display. As you can see above, however, this one is no ordinary HMD, with it also able to be folded up into an apparently over-sized cellphone for times when you want to look slightly less conspicuous. Of course, the chances of such a product actually making it off the drawing board are pretty slim (thankfully), and no doubt even less likely given the recent cuts to Motorola's research division.
Yeah, not a very good idea...people have enough trouble driving as it is.
Great design concept. And what exactly is holding the this in place?
hair gel. lots of hair gel.
i mean, look at the dude's hair...
It's Geordi La Forge v1.0!
I captain.
Seriously. These patents are coming out so that one day (in the future, ooh) when another company actually develops something similar. they can get sued by original patent holder. Such creeps.
You meant to say 'aye captain' I assume?
Aye being a from origin nautical term used on ships, and used in the show by the character a lot.
Incidentally, patents only hold their validity if it's actually used in a product within a certain timespan I was given to understand, and that's probably a timespan shorter than before this will ever see the light of day.
Cue end of dating life.... now.
Cue beginning of dating in Second Life... now.
Looks like they were right to cut half those R&D people if this is the kind of stuff they were coming up with.
Not soon enough....
Oh sure, laugh now Engadget. One day when we're all rocking out in our visor/phone/earphone thingies that evidently stick to our heads with NanoMagic (tm) you'll rue the day you decided to mock Motorola.
I think you meant to say:
ROKN OUT
I wonder do the still make money from phone?
Does he dial with his eyes?
Nope, maybe you're supposed to dial it on the side of your head.
FUN!
It has head gestures.
Moto cuts a huge amount of their R&D division.
Brings in "B" team.
Soon after, patents filed...
yep, this product seems pretty on par with the recent chain of events. It's a sad day in moto land.
*and in other news* Motorola stock plummets another 10 dollars.
hell it's already at $8 if you take away another $10 does that mean I have to give them another $2 and get no stock in return?
Up next from Moto. Shoe phones and square wheels.
lol @ the fact that they even spent the time and money to patent this.
It's not patented. They only filed an application.
Further, although this may be a horrible idea and Moto can't seem to get their act together. We should give them some slack regarding the hideousness of the design and lack of certain necessary components, i.e. some kind of support. Patent applications should be filed as close to conception of the invention as possible. The guys who draft the application (me) are usually given a description of the concept of the invention and then they write it up. Desing details are worked out later by people who know about ergonomics, color, etc. You would be hard-pressed to find patent applications for new products that look anything like the actual commercial embodiment (of course applications for improvements typically do look like the product, as do design patent applications).
Seriously. These patents are coming out so that one day (in the future, ooh) when another company actually develops something similar. they can get sued by original patent holder. Such creeps.
Oh look! It's Jordi LaForge!! Sponsored by Motorola.
(LMAO!! on the drawing)
the goal is to patent stuff
this show to your shareholder that you are still inovating...
that the money they invest is in good hand :P loll
It is actually true that they sometimes use the sheer number of patents as an indicator, but you can't cheat this way and get away with it surely?
Why are all patent illustrations always butt ugly? It looks like a 10 year old drew the dang thing. The last patent thing I saw here was just as bad.
@ Motorola, I'd never never never ever wear something like this. To be a geak does NOT mean that we are stupid !
And I thought talking on a normal cellphone while driving was dangerous.
Help us, o' lawmakers, before it's too late!
LOL
The Moto GAZR.
A little cooler.
A little less relevant.
GADAR not included
And I wear my cellphone sunglasses at night
so I can
so I can
Keep track of the visions in my eyes.
While she's deceiving me...
Looking at the officer with my cellphone on,"I swear officer, I wasn't using my cell while driving"
We still don't even have good affordable normal HMD's (with decent resolution, 1280x720 and up), so this is pure BS.. And not to think about how ridiculous you would look wearing this ugly concept..
If you can see through them like sunglasses they'd be totally cool.
Ok, sorta cool.
Ok, I would wear them fishing with my grandfather in his Blue-blockers.
Why the heck would Motorola want to patent this?
sorry to repeat myself but (insert paste here> Seriously. These patents are coming out so that one day (in the future, ooh) when another company actually develops something similar. they can get sued by original patent holder. Such creeps.
My eyes! The goggle phone, they do nothing!
Hey look everyone, not only is it an giant, bulky cell phone that won't fit in your pocket, but it's also an unfashionable pair of phone-glasses too!
I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to pre-order now!
(bye-bye moto)
I want them to make these so I know who it's ok to assault.
YO!!!!!!!! LE-FORGE!!!!!!!!! WATCH WHERE YA GOOIIIIIING!!!!!!!
These wearable displays just keep getting better and better.
…is it sad that the first thing I thought when I saw 'HMD' (keep in mind, I was skimming the headline) was, "YEAH! VIEWTIFUL JOE!" _\n/
*cough* To keep this on-topic: while I almost agree with all of those 'Geordi LaForge 1.0' comments, I'd have to say: Motorola should try and make this into a helmet instead of a silly visor. Nah, what they should do is style it after one of those bounty hunter helmets from Star Wars — wasn't it Boba Fett that accessed some of the features of his suit via the inside of his helmet? Eh, whatever — have all the dialing buttons on the inside of it, that way you wouldn't have to deal with the pain of dialing a wrong number due to a sideways (or possibly what you only THOUGHT was sideways) keypad!
Though, tongue cramps might be a little uncomfortable — so let's just hope you're not a telemarketer, or if you are, that your company doesn't decide to invest in those things.
Are the drawings on patents getting worse, or are the artists who make them just overworked with the bevy of crap being submitted to the patent office?
He does look a bit like Washington though.
can you say.... Chindogu?
I knew the Virtual-Boy would someday make a comeback!
the guy in the picture looks like hes from nickelodeon's doug
Its the wild and wacky, crazy gadget hobbiest, Mr. Dink!
The EyePhone. You heard it here first.