Magic Leap lampoons Google Glass in patent filing

From US2016/0109707

Patent drawings are not generally a source of amusement, as artistic as they may sometimes be. Magic Leap, the fabled and secretive augmented reality start-up valued at USD 4.5 billion, however, snuck a first class nerd joke in its application US2016/0109707 published 21 April 2016 with the memorable title "combining at least one variable focus element with a plurality of stacked waveguides for augmented or virtual reality display" (and containing no less than 152 patent drawings).

Btw, Google Glass is not waterproof

Fig. 2E of the application shows the prior art, specifically Google Glass, the disadvantages of which the invention seeks to overcome.


Those having spent too much time on the Internet will recognize Fig. 2E as a line drawing of the infamous Robert Scoble shower image. Scoble posted the image of himself wearing Google Glass while naked in the shower in April 2013. It became to epitomize everything that was wrong with Google Glass, prompting wired.com to write that "guys like this could kill Google Glass before it ever gets off the ground". Whether Scoble killed Google Glass is anyone's guess, but die it did (kind of not, says Google) and Magic Leap is having a laugh at Google's expense here.