One wonders what Apple will do with Apple Glasses, an augmented reality (AR) spec that could be Apple's most futuristic product to date. One of the biggest questions, however, is how Apple Glasses will work.

According to the patent (via AppleInsider), Apple Glasses can project images directly onto your eyeballs. How this works in conjunction with a new patent describing a new form of "privacy eyewear" is unclear.

The technology is described as a "direct retinal projector" and is obviously being compared to Apple's existing Retina display technology. This time, however, it would be more literal rather than fanciful language for Apple's opposing choice of screen resolution.

But enough of that, let's get back to the real protagonist of this story: technology.

In its patent, Apple claims that having a screen in front of you can be confusing because the user is constantly aware that they are looking at the world through the display. This can lead to eye strain, headaches, and nausea, problems that people have had since the advent of VR and AR systems.

While it sounds absolutely insane to intentionally shine light directly into the pupil, the idea is not necessarily new. In fact, Intel has already developed retina-projection glasses in 2018; called Vaunt, they beam lasers directly under the eyes, allowing people to look down to see the display at any time.

Apple seems to be taking the idea a step further, making sure that its own retinal projection is always illuminated to your pupils.

Apple also points out that generating content on the screen in front of you will spur this. This is because your brain thinks the object is far away and focuses your eyes accordingly, even though it is actually only being projected onto a display less than an inch away.

However, by projecting the image directly to the eye, it mimics the natural way the eye takes in light and should theoretically avoid many of these problems. By the looks of it, the design includes an eye-tracking system to see where you are looking, and uses a system of mirrors to reflect light directly into the pupil.

However, there is still much that cannot be read from this patent because it focuses on how the actual retinal projection mechanism works. We do not know what kind of images Apple can project with this method, whether they will include complex images or something similar to the red monochrome images projected by the Vaunt glasses.

Nor is there any mention of control over what is seen, the intensity of the light itself, or whether this projection system would offer any weight-based advantages over traditional displays. This is because ensuring that Apple Glass is light and comfortable enough to wear all day is another major obstacle, and one that other AR glasses have not necessarily been able to do.

Still, it will be exciting to see how Apple approaches the problems posed by wearable AR specs, assuming the technology actually makes it into the final product. After all, a patent does not guarantee that something will be adopted, only that a company has spent time developing it.

Apple Glasses are not expected to appear until the middle of the decade, but since Apple is Apple, that would only be a soft deadline. In other words, Apple Glasses will arrive only when Apple is satisfied with the final product, however long that may take. Until then, there is the upcoming Apple VR and Mixed Reality headset.