Samsung · AR / VR · Filed May 22, 2026 · USPTO published Nov 12, 2026 · This week's release

Samsung Patents AR Glasses That Ignore Touches You Didn't Mean to Make

Samsung's AR glasses would check whether you meant to touch them before acting on it. One version even listens to your brainwaves for the tell.

By Patentlyze Team · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · 3 min read

Smart glasses track hand movement to determine whether a tap on the frame was intentional before executing a command. Drawing from patent filing US 2026/0358922 A1. — Smart glasses track hand movement to determine whether a tap on the frame was intentional before executing a command.All 23 drawings ↓

Publication number: US 2026/0358922 A1(US20260358922A1)
Applicant: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
Filed · Published: May 22, 2026 · Nov 12, 2026
Inventors: Md. Sazzad Hissain KHAN, Aba KOWSER
Status when we published: Waiting for an examiner
Document: 20 claims
US classification: 345/173
Parent application: Continuation of PCT/KR2024/014980 (filed Oct 2, 2024)(PCTKR2024014980)

What Samsung's accidental-tap filter actually does

Every time you push your hair behind your ear, you risk brushing the side of your smart glasses and pausing a movie or closing your map. Add a crowded subway, where a stranger's elbow or a friend's hand could do the same thing.

Samsung's patent application describes AR glasses that check whether a touch makes sense before they act on it. The glasses watch your hand with their cameras, and a tap only counts if it arrives shortly after you raise your hand toward the frame. A touch that comes out of nowhere gets ignored.

The filing also describes other checks: a smartwatch that reports where your hand is, a brainwave sensor, and a motion sensor that notices when you're just adjusting the glasses. Any one of these can act as the gatekeeper.

From the filing · CLAIM 1

… determine whether a touch input received through the touch interface is a valid input based on the hand movement, and determine whether to perform an interaction corresponding to the touch input based on a result of the determination regarding the valid input.

Translation: The glasses figure out if you meant to touch them by watching how your hand is moving.

How the glasses decide a tap was on purpose

The core idea is a gatekeeper between your finger and the glasses' response. When the touch pad or button on a head-mounted display registers a tap, the device first checks sensor data about your hand. If the check fails, the tap is ignored.

The filing describes several ways to run that check:

Camera plus AI. Cameras film your hand and arm, and an AI model marks joints like the wrist and elbow as tracking points (called feature points). When those points show a hand-raising motion, a tap counts only if it lands within a preset window afterward. The filing mentions up to six cameras.
Depth camera. It measures how far away your hand is, and a sharp drop in that distance reads as a raised hand.
Wearable signals. A smartwatch sends ultra-wideband or Bluetooth signals so the glasses know where your hand is. One example: a tap counts only if your hand is within 5 centimeters.
Brainwaves. An EEG sensor (which reads electrical activity from your head) looks for error-related negativity, a brain response to something not matching your expectation. The glasses briefly hold back their response, roughly 50 to 100 milliseconds, and a deliberate tap shows that surprise.
Motion sensor. The longer, bigger vibration of you adjusting the glasses marks a touch as invalid.

Why a stray touch on AR glasses is a real problem

Smart glasses are worn on your face and used out in the world, and touch controls sit right where your hands and hair already go. The filing's own examples are ordinary ones: a family member pausing your movie, a stranger closing your navigation app in a crowd, another player bumping the frame during a VR game. An ignored accidental touch means fewer interruptions while you're wearing the thing.

There's a security angle too. The filing says blocking outside touches helps keep personal information from being exposed. If glasses like these reach the mainstream, a way to tell your taps from everyone else's would become a basic expectation rather than an extra.

Samsung's 85th filing we've tracked in the AR glasses race since May follows work like deeper phone photos in VR and posters turned into live scenes.

Editorial take

Every filter that blocks accidental taps also risks blocking real ones. The hand-raising check is the clearest example: tap a beat too late, or keep your hand near the frame by habit, and the glasses ignore you. That frustration compounds fast, and the filing offers no accuracy numbers to judge how well the timing is tuned.

The brain-signal option is the most demanding trade. It requires an extra sensor on your head and a deliberate pause after each tap while the glasses wait for your brain's reaction, which is clever in principle but adds hardware most people will never wear.

The camera and watch checks are the more realistic bets, since many people already own both. Cameras watching your hands all day will drain the battery, and the filing says nothing about that cost. The idea holds up best when it leans on gear you already carry.

Source: US 2026/0358922 A1 at the USPTO (PDF). Full patent text and figures are in the official publication.

Get our take in your Top Stories

Liked this breakdown? Add Patentlyze as a preferred source on Google, and our plain-English take shows up more often in your Top Stories the next time Samsung patent news breaks.

Add Patentlyze on Google One click.

There are more where this came from

We read every patent application Big Tech publishes and send you the ones worth knowing. Plain English, free, every week.

The drawings · 23 sheets

23 drawing sheets from US 2026/0358922 A1 · click any drawing to enlarge

How the headset confirms intentional touches before acting, drawing sheet 1 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 1 How the headset confirms intentional touches before acting

Checking sensor data to verify a touch input, drawing sheet 2 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 2 Checking sensor data to verify a touch input

Ignoring unintended taps on the headset frame, drawing sheet 3 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 3 Ignoring unintended taps on the headset frame

The built-in sensors and processing parts of the headset, drawing sheet 4 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 4 The built-in sensors and processing parts of the headset

Tracking your arm movement as you reach for the glasses, drawing sheet 5 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 5 Tracking your arm movement as you reach for the glasses

Using AI hand tracking to confirm a deliberate tap, drawing sheet 6 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 6 Using AI hand tracking to confirm a deliberate tap

How the AI tracks arm and finger movement, drawing sheet 7 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 7 How the AI tracks arm and finger movement

Linking camera views over time to recognize reaching motions, drawing sheet 8 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 8 Linking camera views over time to recognize reaching motions

Show the other 15 sheets

Six headset cameras placed to track hand movements, drawing sheet 9 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 9 Six headset cameras placed to track hand movements

Smart glasses using six cameras to track hands, drawing sheet 10 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 10 Smart glasses using six cameras to track hands

Multiple cameras capturing hand joints in motion over time, drawing sheet 11 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 11 Multiple cameras capturing hand joints in motion over time

Combining views from different cameras to calculate hand motion, drawing sheet 12 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 12 Combining views from different cameras to calculate hand motion

How depth cameras confirm an intentional reach toward the glasses, drawing sheet 13 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 13 How depth cameras confirm an intentional reach toward the glasses

Depth sensors watching your hand get closer to the frame, drawing sheet 14 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 14 Depth sensors watching your hand get closer to the frame

Checking data from a smartwatch to confirm an intended touch, drawing sheet 15 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 15 Checking data from a smartwatch to confirm an intended touch

Using smartwatch position to confirm headset touches, drawing sheet 16 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 16 Using smartwatch position to confirm headset touches

Checking smartwatch position to confirm an intentional tap, drawing sheet 17 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 17 Checking smartwatch position to confirm an intentional tap

Ignoring contact when your watch is outside reach, drawing sheet 18 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 18 Ignoring contact when your watch is outside reach

Using brainwave signals to verify intentional taps, drawing sheet 19 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 19 Using brainwave signals to verify intentional taps

Brain activity spikes when you realize an accidental touch, drawing sheet 20 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 20 Brain activity spikes when you realize an accidental touch

Separating intentional commands from glasses adjustments, drawing sheet 21 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 21 Separating intentional commands from glasses adjustments

Motion sensor readings during a purposeful tap, drawing sheet 22 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 22 Motion sensor readings during a purposeful tap

Wider headset vibrations caused by adjusting the frames, drawing sheet 23 from US 2026/0358922 A1 — Sheet 23 Wider headset vibrations caused by adjusting the frames

Watchlists this filing belongs to

All watchlists →

The AR glasses raceCross-company · 436 filings

Reader comments

The drawings · 23 sheets

More from Samsung

Samsung Files Patent to Fix Washed-Out Colors on See-Through AR Glasses

Samsung Files Patent for Glasses That Decide When the Outside World Interrupts You

Samsung Patents AR Glasses That Light Up Just One Lens for Simple Alerts

Samsung Patents AR Glasses That Keep Floating Images Fixed to Where You Look

More in AR / VR

Sony Files Patent for Slimmer Display Glasses That Track Where You Look

Sony Patents AR Glasses That Turn Real Objects Transparent When They Block Your View

AR Glasses Learn to Dodge Real-World Objects in New Meta Patent

Google Files Patent for Smart Glasses That Remember Where You Left Your Keys

Watchlists this filing belongs to

No comments yet

Start the discussion Cancel reply