Nintendo filed a patent all the way back in February of 2018 for a new VR headset for the Nintendo Switch, but it wasn’t granted until this last month. First discovered by Lets Go Digital, the patent was first filed through the Japanese Patent Office. It is hard to complete understand the idea behind the headset because of the lack of clear translation, but in the pictures below, you can get a firm grasp.
Nintendo first went virtual reality with the Labo VR Headset for the Switch this past year, but since then has stopped making exclusive games for the headset. It was essentially just Google Cardboard, but with the Switch in the same place you’d put a smart phone. It would out your mini console right in front of your eyes. You would build the headset all on your own with the instruction guide, making it a true hands-on experience with your soon to be virtual headset. At the end of it all, you would be granted a VR experience from your own hands, but it would never live up to even the Oculus Go, the most basic VR headset on the market right now.
The patent shows a headset that look seven more simplified than the Nintendo Labo VR headset, and that is impressive. As you can see from above, the headset simply has a goggle looking front to it. This will likely have the optics that will allow you to to see the Switch so clearly. It also shows a small thin case that looks like it should be surrounding the outside of the Switch, but it is unclear what it would be used for.
In the patent, the headset seems like it has to be held to your face. This could mean a few things. It could mean that this will simply be used for the Switch Lite that is making its debut soon, or it could mean that this is just the framework of a new VR headset that they needed to get a patent out quickly and just wanted the framework of it. There is a lot it could mean, but it will be even more unclear until we can get an answer from Nintendo.
The reason for making a new VR headset is simple. More people have been wanting to play VR, especially from Nintendo, but there haven’t been too many games made for it. Of course some games have changed the way they work to uncoiled more VR headsets, but no exclusives to VR. Nintendo is likely hoping that the more they push new headsets out, developers will be more and more compelled to give the fans a fun and clean game to play with the controllers.
This headset may not even be the successor to the Labo VR, but just a cheaper alternative. This would allow virtual reality to get inside of more homes, and making the adoption even more widespread than ever. The entire virtual industry has been looking to get more headsets in front of eyes, and Nintendo’s adoption is only going to help improve. Nintendo has been a king company in the gaming industry for over 50 years, so getting them on board with the latest and greatest tech is huge.
The patent overall is an interesting idea. It takes the strap and the headset out of the equation, and makes it more of a lens that you look though. It looks even more basic than ever, and is almost mimicking the first virtual reality headsets. For more VR news and gaming news, make sure to check back at VRGear.com.
