Apple patent involves methods for collaborating on a virtual work of art

Apple has been granted patent (number US 11625136 B2) for “systems, methods, and computer-readable media for managing collaboration on a virtual work of art” between multiple devices.

About the patent

Some electronic devices such as the iPad include a graphical display system for generating and presenting graphical objects, such as free-form drawing strokes, images, strings of text, and drawing shapes, on a display to create a virtual work of art. The processing capabilities and interfaces provided to a user for creating such works of art often vary between different types of electronic devices. 

However, Apple says that the ways in which two or more electronic devices may allow one or more users to collaborate on a single virtual work of art may be confusing or inefficient. The tech giant wants to make it easy for iPad users to be able to collaborate on such artwork.

Summary of the patent

Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for managing collaboration on a virtual work of art between multiple electronic devices are provided. A first graphical display system of a first device may generate an input command in response to receiving user information through a user interface of the first device, and may then share this input command with a second graphical display system of a second device. 

“The first graphical display system may process the shared input command to generate pixel array data in a canvas of the first device while the second graphical display system may process the shared input command to generate pixel array data in a canvas of the second device. By sharing input commands rather than pixel array data, system latency may be reduced. Despite operating on the same artwork, the user interfaces and graphical processing capabilities of each device may vary, thereby providing the user greater expressiveness.”