Future iPhones could be used to compare products in a virtual environment when shopping. Apple has filed for a patent (number US 20240273597 A1) for “Product Comparison and Upgrade in a Virtual Environment.”
About the patent filing
In the patent filing Apple notes that computer-generated environments are environments where at least some objects displayed for a user’s viewing are generated using a computer, and in some instances, some displayed objects are physical objects.
Users may interact with a computer-generated environment by interacting with both computer-generated and physical objects. Apple apparently thinks this would be a great way to use an iPhone check out products a user may wish to purchase.
Summary of the patent filing
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent filing: “Some embodiments described in this disclosure are directed to methods for comparing products in a three-dimensional environment. In particular, some embodiments described in this disclosure are directed to methods for comparing physical objects (e.g., physical products) and virtual object representations in the three-dimensional environment.
“These comparisons can provide an efficient and intuitive way for a user to identify differences between a particular physical object and a virtual object representation, and enable a user to select an upgrade or replacement for the physical object. Some embodiments described in this disclosure are directed to methods for presenting object information for a physical object in a three-dimensional environment, and comparing the physical object to a virtual upgrade object.”
