Apple patent filing involves pose information for a person in a physical environment

Apple has filed for a patent (number 20220207772) for “generating pose information for a person in a physical environment.” It involves the rumored “Apple Glasses,” an augmented reality headset.

About the patent filing

In the patent filing, Apple notes that some devices are capable of presenting computer-generated reality (CGR) experiences. For example, some head-mountable devices (HMDs) present immersive CGR experiences to a user of the HMD. 

Some CGR experiences require knowing a body pose of the user. For example, some CGR experiences present an avatar of the user that mimics the behavior of the user. If the user moves a portion of his/her body, the avatar moves the corresponding portion. 

In such CGR experiences, presenting accurate avatars requires knowing a body pose of the user. In some CGR experiences, the CGR experience is altered based on the body pose of the user. For example, as the user moves, a perspective of a CGR environment being presented changes. 

In such CGR experiences, providing a realistic CGR experience requires knowing a body pose of the user. Apple wants its Apple Glasses to be able to do this seamlessly.

Summary of the patent filing

Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent filing: “Various implementations disclosed herein include devices, systems, and methods for generating body pose information for a person in a physical environment. In various implementations, a device includes an environmental sensor, a non-transitory memory and one or more processors coupled with the environmental sensor and the non-transitory memory. In some implementations, a method includes obtaining, via the environmental sensor, spatial data corresponding to a physical environment. The physical environment includes a person and a fixed spatial point. 

“The method includes identifying a portion of the spatial data that corresponds to a body portion of the person. In some implementations, the method includes determining a position of the body portion relative to the fixed spatial point based on the portion of the spatial data. In some implementations, the method includes generating pose information for the person based on the position of body portion in relation to the fixed spatial point.”

About Apple Glasses

When it comes to Apple Glasses, the rumors are abundant. Such a device will arrive in mid-to-late 2023. Or maybe 2024. It will be a head-mounted display. Or may have a design like “normal” glasses. Or it may be eventually be available in both. The Apple Glasses may or may not have to be tethered to an iPhone to work. Other rumors say that Apple Glasses could have a custom-build Apple chip and a dedicated operating system dubbed “rOS” for “reality operating system.”