Apple has been granted a patent (number 9,839,851) for “allowing media and gaming environments to effectively interact and/or affect each other.” Basically, it allows games on an Apple device — Mac, iPhone, or iPad — to use and share data from your music and photo libraries.
Per the patent, a gaming environment can be affected based on one or more aspects of a media environment. For example, gaming content and/or the gaming experience provided and/or suggested to an individual can be tailored based on his/her musical profile effectively obtained from the media environment associated with the individual.
Similarly, a media environment can be affected by a gaming environment. By way of example, musical content provided and/or suggested to an individual can be based on his/her gaming profile.
In addition, an open media-gaming environment can be provided where various media and gaming components can be integrated together. For instance, an individual can identify one or more of his favorite songs to be presented for a game. The game can be packaged and/or sold without the song(s) but configured to receive and effectively provide them for game play.
Of course, Apple files for — and is granted — lots of patents by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Many are for inventions that never see the light of day. However, you never can tell which ones will materialize in a real product.
