Today, we are proud to present the first in a quarterly series of articles tracking issuance, world-wide, of Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality patents. Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality refers generally to a class of technologies that merge a view of a real-world environment with virtual objects and information or provide an entirely virtual environment as a user experience. AR/VR technologies are drawing renewed attention due in part to availability of cheaper and powerful mobile computing devices, and faster and ubiquitous communication networks. No longer are AR and VR restricted to entertainment and science fiction; they have now expanded into online shopping, workplace training, healthcare delivery, and the real estate market, just to name a few. In this series, we track the growth in AR/VR patents worldwide that we expect will accompany the rapid innovation in this technology space. We highlight trends in patenting AR/VR technologies—who is obtaining AR/VR patent protection, and where. We track the various technology centers at the United States Patent and Trademark Office that handle AR/VR applications. And, from time to time, we shine the spotlight on interesting new AR/VR patents.
