Last Thursday the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a patent application from Apple that relates to a potential app or feature available to future Vision Pro users. More specifically, the app is designed to provide users with a way of rehearsing their presentation in a realistic environment with a virtual audience. It may even throw in a distraction or two from the virtual audience so as to train the presenter to keep their presentation on track and not be distracted. The system also provides a feature that allows the user to change a slide in a presentation as they would in a real-world presentation. And finally, the system provides a critiquing feature informing the user how they could improve their overall presentation.

Apple notes in the patent background that many people experience anxiety or “stage fright” in anticipation or during performance of a presentation before an audience. Repeated practice performing the presentation could lessen this anxiety.

Apple's invention covers devices, systems, and methods for assisting in the rehearsal of a presentation. In various implementations, the method is performed by a device including a display such as Vision Pro that provides a rich XR Environment presenting a venue with a simulated live audience.

The method includes obtaining a difficulty level for a rehearsal of a presentation based on a difficulty level for a prior rehearsal of the presentation and a rating of the prior rehearsal of the presentation. The method includes displaying, on the display, one or more slides of the presentation. The method includes displaying, on the display in association with a volumetric environment, one or more virtual objects based on the difficulty level.

Various implementations disclosed herein include devices, systems, and methods for providing feedback on a performance of a presentation. In various implementations, the method is performed by a device including a display, one or more processors, and non-transitory memory.

The method includes displaying, on the display, one or more slides of a presentation. The method includes recording audio of a user during a performance of the presentation. The method includes generating feedback based on comparing the audio of the user to previously recorded audio of the user during a prior performance of the presentation. The method includes providing the feedback to the user.

In accordance with some implementations, a device includes one or more processors, a non-transitory memory, and one or more programs; the one or more programs are stored in the non-transitory memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one or more programs include instructions for performing or causing performance of any of the methods described in this patent application.  

The XR environment may include virtual reality (VR) content, mixed reality (MR) content, augmented reality (AR) content, or the like. Using an XR system, a portion of a person's physical motions, or representations thereof, may be tracked and, in response, properties of virtual objects in the XR environment may be changed in a way that complies with at least one law of nature. For example, the XR system may detect a user's head movement and adjust auditory and graphical content presented to the user in a way that simulates how sounds and views would change in a physical environment.

Projection-based systems may utilize retinal projection technology that projects images onto a user's retina or may project virtual content into the physical environment, such as onto a physical surface or as a hologram.

Apple's patent FIG. 3 below is intended more as a functional description of the various features that could be present in a particular implementation as opposed to a structural schematic of the implementations.

Apple's patent FIG. 6A above illustrates an XR environment #600.  During the first time period, the electronic device displays the virtual audience members sitting in virtual chairs, During the first time period, the electronic device displays the slide window #612 displaying the first slide of the presentation.

Apple's patent FIG. 6E illustrates a third XR environment where in the system provides a feedback notification #625B indicating that the user has spent too much time on the second slide of the presentation, e.g., in comparing the audio of the user recording during earlier time periods to a previous recording of audio of the user performing a rehearsal of the presentation.

Apple's patent FIG. 6G illustrates an XR environment during a seventh time period in response to the next-slide user input with a determination that the third slide was the final slide of the presentation, the slide window #612 (of FIG. 6E) is replaced with a feedback window #615.

In various implementations, the difficulty level includes a plurality of different values corresponding to different virtual object sets. For example, the difficulty level can include a first value corresponding to one of a plurality of different virtual venues (e.g., “home”, “school”, or “classroom”), a second value corresponding to a number of virtual audience members (e.g., “few”, “many”, or “full house”), and a third value corresponding to a level of distraction (e.g., “none”, “mild”, “strong”, or “extreme”).

While the patent emphasizes the use of this rehearsal app in context with a headset like Vision Pro that could provide users with the richest, realistic XR environment possible to make the audience and experience real, Apple does note that the app could eventually be offered on other devices like iPad, iPhone and/or MacBook.

To review the full details of this invention, check out patent application 20240193858. Whether Apple could add an AI feature this app in the future is unknown at this time.