Apple has been granted a patent for “Eye-gaze Based Biofeedback” that involves the Vision Pro.
About the patent
The patent generally relates to displaying content with electronic devices, and in particular, to systems, methods, and devices to determine a user’s attentive state during the displaying of the content. In the patent Apple says that a user’s cognitive state and more specifically a user’s attentive state, while viewing content on an electronic device, can have a significant effect on the user’s experience.
For example, staying focused and engaged while using a head-mounted device (HMD) such as the Vision Pro in an extended reality (XR) environment may be required for meaningful experiences, such as meditation, learning a new skill, watching educational or entertaining content, or reading a document.
Apple’s patent is for improved techniques for assessing the attentive states of users viewing as interacting with content may enhance a user’s enjoyment, comprehension, and learning of the content.
Another issue is that content on a device such as the Vision Pro may not be presented in a way that makes sense to a particular user. Apple’s patent involves method for content creators and display systems may be able to provide better and more tailored user experiences that a user is more likely to “enjoy, comprehend, and learn from based on being able to determine the user’s cognitive state.”
Summary of the patent
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “Various implementations disclosed herein include devices, systems, and methods that determine an attentive state of a user during an experience (e.g., visual and/or auditory content that could include real-world physical environment, virtual content, or a combination of each) based on the user’s gaze characteristic(s) to enhance the experience.
“For example, an example process may include obtaining physiological data associated with a gaze of a user during an experience, determine a gaze characteristic during a segment of the experience based on the obtained physiological data, and determine that the user has a first attentive state during the segment of the experience based on classifying the gaze characteristic of the user during the segment of the experience.”
