Apple patent is for AR apps on both iOS and macOS devices

Apple has been granted a patent (number 9,684,440) for “progressive rotational view” that hints that we may see more augmented reality apps such as Apple and IKEA are partnering on, not on just iOS devices, but Macs, as well.

Such apps will certainly be built around the ARKit that Apple introduced this month at its annual Worldwide Developer Conference. It allows developers to tap into the latest computer vision technologies to build detailed virtual content on top of real-world scenes for interactive gaming, immersive shopping experiences, industrial design and more.

Apple’s patent involves systems and methods for receiving and displaying images or sending the images for display include images having multiple key images of an object. Each key image depicts a perspective view of an item from a different angle around the object. 

The multiple key images are displayed in a gallery view. During the gallery view, multiple supplementary images are received or sent. Each supplementary image includes a perspective view of the object from an angle between adjacent angles used for the key images. After transmission of at least some of the supplementary images, the key images and the supplementary images are mixed into a rotational view of the object.

In the patent filing, Apple notes that, sometimes, it may be desirable to view depictions objects in detail for analysis. For example, a user of an electronic device may want to view electronic depictions of an object before purchasing the object. When viewing depictions of objects, often several perspectives of the object are desired to truly understand the appearance of the object that the user may want to fully appreciate before purchasing the object. So the user may want to view the object in a 360 degree view. 

However, 360 degree views are often contained in a movie that requires the user to download at least a substantial portion of the movie before viewing the 360 degree. view movie. If the user is attempting to view the 360.degreemovie of the object using a relatively slow Internet connection, the user is unable to view the movie for a substantial period of time. Apple wants to change this.

Of course, Apple files for — and is granted — lots of patents by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Many are for inventions that never see the light of day. However, you never can tell which ones will materialize in a real product.