Let the Apple Car rumors roll on. Apple has filed for a patent (number US 20230328207 A1) that would allow such a vehicle to capture images via a built-in camera.
About the patent filing
Let’s say you’re riding in your Apple Car and you see something of interest outside the car. You may be interested in further identifying the object of interest and/or in determining similar objects. For example, you may want to find out if the object and/or similar objects are available for purchasing.
The user may then wish to make an order for purchasing one or more objects (e.g. the same or a similar object) or may then wish to find a store for hands-on checking and purchasing the one or more objects. For this purpose, an Apple Car user may use a camera to capture an image of the object of interest and identify the same or similar items based on image analysis, according to Apple.
Summary of the patent filing
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent filing: “The present disclosure relates to a method of providing at least one image of at least one real object captured by at least one scene camera of a plurality of scene cameras mounted on a vehicle. The method includes: providing camera poses of respective scene cameras of the plurality of scene cameras relative to a reference coordinate system associated with the vehicle, providing user attention data related to a user captured by an information capturing device, providing at least one attention direction relative to the reference coordinate system from the user attention data, determining at least one of the scene cameras among the plurality of scene cameras according to the at least one attention direction and the respective camera pose of the at least one of the scene cameras, and providing at least one image of at least one real object captured by the at least one of the scene cameras.”
When might we see an Apple Car?
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple’s work on the Apple Car has “lost all visibility at the current time. He adds that if Apple does not adopt some kind of acquisition strategy to make inroads in the automotive market, it is unlikely that the Apple Car will be able to go into mass production “within the next years.”
On. Nov. 18, 2021, Bloomberg reported that Apple was accelerating development on its “Apple Car.” The article said that the electric vehicle will be self-driving and could roll out in 2025.
What’s more, in a note to clients — as noted by AppleInsider — investment bank Wedbush said Apple is likely to announce a strategic electric vehicle partnership in 2022 to lay the groundwork for an “Apple Car” release in 2025.
If Kuo is correct — and I suspect he is — those predictions are way too optimistic.
