Nokia is working on smart glasses with eye tracking

Nokia has applied for a patent for smart glasses, much like Google Glass. There have been rumors for some time that Nokia wants to focus on the wearables market after the sale of its telephone branch to Microsoft; this patent seems to be the first proof.

Nokia applied for the recently published patent in the summer of 2012, so it seems to have been working on the concept for a while. The big difference with Google Glass is the way it is operated; Glass works via voice control, with taps on the glasses and possibly with movements such as nodding. With the Nokia concept, the glasses see what the user is looking at via an eye-facing camera, while the input is done via hand movements in the air.

It is not clear from the patent which functions the glasses can perform. Nokia speaks in the application about a near-to-eye display to display data. Earlier it was rumored that Nokia is working on smart glasses, which would arise from an R&D department that will not be taken over by Microsoft. The Redmond software giant takes over the telephone branch of the Finnish manufacturer. That deal should be closed in a few weeks.

According to the details of that deal, Nokia will not be allowed to make phones in the coming years, but the release of ‘wearables’, portable electronics, is allowed. Nokia would also have worked on smartwatches, but perhaps they will fall under Microsoft.