“On the same day that Apple bought the augmented reality company Metaio, it also published a patent for a new type of flexible display featuring tiny holes that let you see through (or hear through) it,” Mark Sullivan reports for VentureBeat.

“Displays have always been more like doors than windows, so to speak, but it may not have to be that way for much longer. Apple is experimenting with a display whose solid light-emitting pixels are surrounded by a pattern of tiny holes,” Sullivan reports. “This suggests that the display material may be thin and flexible.”

“Why? The augmented reality application here is the user holding up the device and being able to see both the images it projects and the real world objects behind the screen,” Sullivan reports. “So the pixels may be able to show images that seem to overlay and provide information about the items on the other side”

Read more, and see Apple’s patent application illustrations, in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Leave it to Apple to take augmented reality mainstream.

I think Apple Car and an AR windshield is exactly where this could go. Forget the goggles. Though that would be a test bed, we are going for AR Glass as you might want to call it. Then the application could be more than just your car.

How about health diagnostic mirrors. Ovens which tell you the status of your cooking food. Transparent fridge doors. Any number of applications where information may be helpful, but you need to see everything in context…

The next 10 years will blow our minds and we are headed towards personal computer technology, as seen in Minority report without the pre-crime conviction, of course.

Goggles, glasses, contacts, etc. will help facilitate extra sensory perception. Cameras and sensors coupled with facial/body expression software will be able to determine the state of mind of others. A user will realize if someone is lying, has been angered, or is sexually interested, etc. As a consequence many will attend meditation classes to realize inner peace. Others will seek plastic/cosmetic surgery.