It looks like Samsung could be seriously considering a leap into AR/VR technology as a couple of curious filings surface.

As spotted by 9to5Google, Samsung has recently submitted two trademark applications to the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) for Galaxy Glasses and the Samsung Galaxy Ring. Samsung's alleged glasses document details that the trademark filing will cover "virtual reality headsets, augmented reality headsets, headphones, smartphones, and smart glasses." During the Samsung Unpacked 2023 event, viewers were treated to an end segment where Samsung announced its new partnership for its XR (extended reality) products with Google (Android) and Qualcomm. This XR project was previously scrapped in late September 2020, but the company has seemingly found new life for that.

The Korean OEM's second filing deals with its supposed Galaxy Ring. According to its USPTO filing, the Galaxy Ring is said to encompass "wearable smart devices in the nature of a smart ring for tracking, measuring, monitoring and uploading health, fitness, and sleep-related information, smart rings, smartphones."

Taking things back, there were rumors about a resurgence in AR/VR technology for Samsung when a concept video about a pair of AR smart glasses surfaced. The leaked video had shown off two products: the Samsung AR Glasses and Glasses Lite. The latter was rumored to have the ability to project a large screen before the wearer's eyes for full immersion during gaming sessions or for watching videos. It was also rumored that the owner of these smart glasses would have full control over them using their smartwatch and could even act like sunglasses.

On the other hand, in late 2022, we were treated to rumors about Samsung developing its own smart ring to be in direct competition against Oura and its smart products such as the Ring Gen 3. The Korean OEM submitted a patent to the USPTO regarding how its smart ring will function. The patent contained information regarding the ring's optical blood flow measurement sensor (PPG) and an electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor. It also seemed as though Samsung was interested in packing in some more goodies such as the ability to control laptops, smartphones, and TVs.

A piece of goodness here is that, with the filings submitted back in late February, perhaps Samsung is looking at some sort of teaser campaign or formal announcements of these products sometime later in the year. Although, that should be taken with a grain of salt considering, apart from the update on its partnership with Qualcomm and Google at Unpacked 2023, not much else was said on the potential timeframe of its AR/VR devices.

Source: USPTO (Galaxy Glasses), USPTO (Galaxy Ring)

Via: 9to5Google