The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 37 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover a second PrimeSense 3D user interface control system published today that could be used to perform in-air gestures to control actions on a computer display and/or a future TV system.

Granted Patent: 3D User Interface Session Control

Apple's newly granted patent covers their invention relating to user interfaces for computerized systems, and specifically to user interfaces that are based on three-dimensional sensing.

More specifically, the invention covers a method, including receiving, by a computer executing a non-tactile three dimensional (3D) user interface, a set of multiple 3D coordinates representing a gesture by a hand positioned within a field of view of a sensing device coupled to the computer.

The three dimensional (3D) user interface includes a gesture that involves a rising motion along a vertical axis in space, and transitioning the non-tactile 3D user interface from a locked state to an unlocked state upon detecting completion of the gesture.

Apple's patent FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6C, and 6D are schematic pictorial illustrations of the non-tactile 3D user interface responding to vertical movement of the user's hand.

As noted in our cover graphic, the in-air 3D gestures are able to control actions on a computer display and/or a future TV system (Apple TV).

Apple credits Micha Galor, Jonathan Pokrass and Amir Hoffnung as the inventors of granted patent 9,035,876 which was originally filed in Q4 2013 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Other recent Apple patents that have surfaced relating to PrimeSense 3D technology include these: One, two, three and four.

Patently Apple presents only a brief summary of granted patents with associated graphics for journalistic news purposes as each Granted Patent is revealed by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Readers are cautioned that the full text of any Granted Patent should be read in its entirety for full details. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Comments are reviewed daily from 5am to 7pm MST and sporadically over the weekend.