Apple patent involves tracking/drift correction on an Vision Pro

Apple has been granted a patent (number US 12008151 B2) for “Tracking And Drift Correction” on an Apple Vision Pro.

About the patent

The patent generally relates to electronic devices used to provide and interact with content, and in particular, to systems, methods, and devices that track the relative locations of electronic devices and use such locations to provide interactivity — for example, with computer-generated reality (CGR) environments.

In the patent, Apple notes that to enable user interactions with electronic content, it may be desirable to enable a user to provide input via a separate real-world device, such as the touch screen of a separate mobile device. However, the tech giant says that existing systems can’t adequately track the locations of such separate devices relative to the content providing devices and thus are unable to display such separate devices or representations of them to guide the users’ interactions. 

For example, a user wearing a head-mounted device (HMD) presenting a CGR environment would need to see a representation of his mobile phone in the CGR environment in order to use the touch screen of the mobile phone as an input device. However, without being able to accurately, consistently, and efficiently track the relative location of the mobile phone to the HMD, the representation of the mobile phone can’t be displayed at locations in the CGR environment corresponding to the real-world locations.

Apple wants to change this. The newly granted patent involves devices, systems, and methods that provide improved user interfaces for interacting with electronic content using multiple electronic devices. 

Summary of the patent

Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “Some implementations provide improved user interfaces for interacting with a virtual environment. The virtual environment is presented by a display of a first device having an image sensor. The first device uses the image sensor to determine a relative position and orientation of a second device based on a marker displayed on a display of the second device. The first device uses the determined relative position of the second device to display a representation of the second device including virtual content in place of the marker.”

About the Vision Pro

Demos of the Apple Vision Pro at Apple Stores in the U.S. can be reserved on Apple.com. To reserve a free Vision Pro demo online, go here, then follow the steps to book an appointment at your local Apple Store. 

Pricing for the Vision Pro starts at US$3,499 with 256GB of storage. ZEISS Optical Inserts are available: $99 for reading lens and $149 for prescription lens. 

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