Facebook is reportedly working on AR smart glasses that will challenge the rumored Apple Glass Frame, possibly stealing features from Apple's iPhone 12 playbook in the process.

According to a patent found by Patently Mobile (via TechRadar), Facebook is working on new augmented reality (AR) technology. The patent appears to show a type of time-of-flight (ToF) sensor not that different from the 3D sensing LiDAR we expect to see embedded in the iPhone 12's camera array.

Apple's LiDAR sensor (branded ToF) uses the photon velocity of a laser to measure distance. As we saw in our iPad Pro 2020 review, this sensor can account for depth and range in the generation of mixed reality images.

As a result, accurate AR graphic art is placed through the lens to blend into the environment captured by the camera. Rather than having the image appear front and center of the setting by default, as in Pokémon Go, the ToF sensor allows it to be placed proportionally in space and behind chairs and other objects.

Mixed reality glasses will need to refine this feature to feel real to our eyes, and Facebook may try to do better than Apple's LiDAR with its own system.

The patent shows a smart lens with a camera embedded in the top corner of the frame and a set of waveguides in the lens above the rectangular display. The waveguides are used to "generate phase-shifted interference patterns for near-eye depth sensing," answering the challenge created for ToF in a proximity context.

The USPTO granted this patent in March, but that does not mean that Facebook's smart glasses will become a reality in the near future like Apple Glass. According to one Apple Glass rumor, it could be announced as early as next year and released in early 2022.

According to Patently Mobile, when Facebook announced the deal with Plessy, it said it plans to create a "glasses form factor that will allow the device to melt away and allow you to be more present with your friends, family, and surroundings," and that the lenses will take "several years" to complete He stated that it would.