Apple has been granted a patent for an “input device for three-dimensional control.”
It involves Macs, iPads, and iPhones with displays capable of sensing and reacting to movements and gestures so that users can manipulate 3D objects. And it includes a handheld device for interacting with those screens.
About the patent
The patent relates generally to user input devices and systems. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to three-dimensional input device tracking systems and devices.
Recent advances in computing have enabled immersive user experiences including desktop gaming on personal computers, alternate and virtual reality interactive consoles, three-dimensional (3D) computer-aided design (CAD) software, high-resolution display screens, and so forth. However, Apple says that the user input devices designed to enable users to manipulate and control displayed objects and visual elements of such systems, including objects represented three-dimensionally on display screens, a”re limited to input devices such as buttons and knobs that are not intuitive or reflective of actions being signaled by the user.”
For example, in CAD software used by engineers and designers to build virtual 3D objects, typical input devices such as computer mice and styluses only provide buttons, knobs, and two-dimensional (2D) position sensing to enable manipulation of the objects being designed. Apple says that users often find it unintuitive and difficult to manipulate objects in 3D environments using these 2D input devices for 3D space, which requires additional control functionalities for 3D object translation, zoom, rotating, slicing, and otherwise moving the object in 3D.
The limited input and control capabilities of present input devices are therefore “inefficient, difficult to learn, burdensome, and insufficient for 3D manipulation.” Apple says that for these and other reasons, there is a persistent need for improvements to 3D input devices.”
Summary of the patent
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “A three-dimensional control system includes an input device, a computing device, and a tracking assembly. The input device can include an input sensor, an inertial measurement unit sensor, and an ultrasonic speaker. The tracking assembly can include a plurality of ultrasonic microphones and an inertial measurement unit disposed on or with the computing device.
“The plurality of ultrasonic microphones can include three microphones in a first plane and at least one other ultrasonic microphone disposed out of the first plane. The ultrasonic microphones can be configured to detect ultrasonic waves output by the speaker of the input device and the computing device can triangulate the position of the input device relative to the computing device in space.”
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