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January 2025
Apple has reportedly dropped their AR Glasses Project that was Focused on Competing with Meta's future Orion Glasses
Rumor: Apple's Choice for a Foldable Display Supplier Imminent
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Review the full Opening Statement from Apple's CEO during yesterday's Financial Conference & an Abbreviated version of the Q&A session
Apple reports on Q1-25 results with record revenue & strong operating margins while noting iPhone 14 model production issues in China
Apple reports on Q1-25 results with record revenue & strong operating margins while noting iPhone 14 model production issues in China
An interview with TSMC's Founder Morris Chang reveals how he met Jeff Williams over super at his home, heard Apple's pitch for TSMC chips+
Apple invents Hand Tracking based on Wrist Rotation & Arm Movement and updated a series of Key patents and more
Of late, 80-90% of Apple's published patent applications published each week have been mainly patent updates known as continuation patents. Hopefully that will change in the coming months. Today's report mainly covers a new patent relating to Hand Tracking based on Wrist Rotation and Arm Movement. In addition, our report touches on a series of key inventions that were updated today and a new design patent for vision Pro with an added head band.
Hand Tracking based on Wrist Rotation and Arm Movement
Apple's invention covers devices, systems, and methods that tracks hand motion (e.g., hand moving while a finger pinches) and interprets the hand motion as a scroll based on determining scroll momentum from the hand motion.
The hand motion may be interpreted based on determining whether the hand motion involves the hand moving with the arm, and/or the hand rotating about the wrist (e.g., while the arm rests on a surface).
In some implementations, interpreting the hand motion based on type of motion involves mapping a given hand motion to more/less velocity or distance based on the type(s) of motion involved. Doing so may provide a more sensitive/responsive mode for motion that is mostly wrist-based than for motion that is mostly whole arm-based, such that user interface elements may be scrolled more and/or more quickly for wrist-based scroll motions.
In another example, interpreting the hand motion based on type of motion involves interpreting the hand motion using a reference (e.g., a pivot point or coordinate system) that is selected based on the type of motion. In some implementations, the hand motion tracking and motion type identification may be based on tracking two points, a wrist pivot point (e.g., approximating a wrist joint), and a pinch centroid.
In general, one innovative aspect of this patent can be embodied in methods that include the actions of, at a device having a processor and one or more sensors, obtaining sensor data associated with a hand via the one or more sensors in a physical environment, the hand including a wrist and is associated with an arm, determining positional data corresponding to three-dimensional (3D) positions of two points on the hand based on the sensor data, based on the determined positional data, determining whether a movement of the hand includes a wrist rotation associated with the hand rotating about the wrist, an arm motion associated with movement of the arm, or a combination of the wrist rotation and the arm motion, and determining the movement of the hand as a user interaction event based on the positional data and whether the movement of the hand includes the wrist rotation, the arm motion, or a combination of the wrist rotation and the arm motion.
These and other embodiments may each optionally include one or more of the following features:
In some aspects, a sensitivity of determining the movement of the hand as the user interaction event is increased based on determining the movement of the hand includes at least the wrist rotation.
In some aspects, determining the movement of the hand based on the determined positional data includes determining whether the movement of the hand is classified as a wrist-based motion or an arm-based motion.
In some aspects, the movement of the hand is determined based on a pinch centroid about an arm pivot in response to determining that the movement of the hand is classified as an arm-based motion. In some aspects, the movement of the hand is determined based on a pinch centroid about an arm pivot and the pinch centroid about a wrist pivot in response to determining that the movement of the hand is classified as a wrist-based motion.
In some aspects, determining whether the movement of the hand includes wrist rotation includes determining a type of motion based on an amount of wrist movement compared to a threshold. In some aspects, the user interaction event includes a scrolling action.
In some aspects, determining the movement of the hand is based on an angular change. In some aspects, a first point of the two points on the hand includes a wrist joint, and a second point of the two points on the hand includes a pinch centroid associated with at least two fingers of the hand. In some aspects, determining the positional data corresponding to the 3D positions of two points on the hand is initiated based on identifying a pinch action associated with two or more fingers of the hand.
In some aspects, determining the movement of the hand as the user interaction event is initiated based on a first user action. In some aspects, determining the movement of the hand is stopped based on a second user action.
In some aspects, the method further includes the actions of determining a velocity of the movement of the hand and updating the positional data corresponding to the 3D positions of the two points on the hand based on the velocity of the hand exceeding a threshold. In some aspects, the method further includes the actions of obtaining a second sensor data signal associated with a pose of a head or a device worn on the head via the one or more sensors in the physical environment.
For full details, review Apple's patent application 20250036206.
Below are a few other patents of interest today that include both new and updated patents. Patent updates carry new patent claims at the end of the document that you could review.
20250037404: "Virtual Paper" – updated patent – original report here.
20250037387: (New) "Method And Device For Invoking An XR Writing Surface."
20250037510: (Invention Update) "Identity Recognition Utilizing Face-Associated Body Characteristics." This is part of Apple's Home Security Camera System invention.
20250040061: "Flexible Display Devices" (one of Apple's original folding device patents). This is an updated patent. Our original report dates back to 2014.
On Tuesday, two new Apple Vision Pro headset design patents were granted. The one presented below is design patent D1059355. The second design patent D1059355 (not shown) is the same design though focused on partial design elements.
Samsung and Se Gyung Hi Tech's next-gen protective film & impact-resistant layer for Foldable Devices is aimed to Lure Apple
Apple Tops Fortune's 2025 World's Most Admired Companies List
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Comcast today introduced Ultra-Low Lag Xfinity Internet Experiences benefitting Apple's FaceTime on Apple Devices and more
While Major League Soccer returns to Apple TV next month, fans can sign up for their MLS Season Pass starting today
Huawei has reportedly filed a Watch patent that uses an advanced Optical Fingerprint Sensor designed to register a 360° Imprint & more
Oppenheimer Downgrades Apple stock ahead of Apple's FY 25 First Quarter Results to be announced Tomorrow
Apple Original Films’ “Deaf President Now!” Documentary premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and to stream globally later this year
Apple and SpaceX have been Secretly working with T-Mobile to support the Starlink Satellite Network on Future iPhones
Ming-Chi Kuo Provides an Assessment of China's 'DeepSeek-R1'
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Kate Mara Joins Elisabeth Moss & Kerry Washington in Apple's Upcoming Series 'Imperfect Women'
IDC: Apple's iPhone was the Number One Smartphone in China for Q4 2024, inching out second place vivo
German Federal Judges have signaled that they could back the Country's Antitrust Regulator against Apple
Apple won a Patent for integrating Interferometric Sensors and Extended Depth Of Focus Optics into Apple Pencil, smartglasses & more
Apple won a patent today for Future Devices with Expandable Displays that could Fold, Scroll and/or Slide
Apple is in Discussions with India's Bharat Forge to make iPhone Components
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A Federal Jury found the Creator of the Apple Series 'Servant' Not Guilty of Copyright Infringement
To Honor Black History Month, Apple has introduced the 2025 Black Unity Collection
Apple is working on a Custom Version of visionOS for their Future Smartglasses that are still in development
An Apple Watch SOS Alert Led Rescuers to Locate Injured Skiers after 1,000-Foot Fall
Apple's CEO takes part in a new 'Severance' Season Two Trailer
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Apple is Forced to Enlist a Veteran Software Executive to Fix Apple Intelligence and Siri which is embarrassingly Far behind Microsoft's Copilot+
Opening Day at Apple Miami Worldcenter Store began with Eddy Cue and Deidre O'Brien Greeting Customers at the Door
A new in-depth Apple patent discloses a Technical Overview of their future Foldable Display Structures
A new Apple patent does a Deep Dive into Future Fluid-Filed Tunable Lenses for Vision-related Devices
HTC has Announced an XR Agreement with Google to assist them in their upcoming battle with Apple Vision Pro
Capcom considers sales of Resident Evil 2 on iOS Devices a Flop
Continue reading "Capcom considers sales of Resident Evil 2 on iOS Devices a Flop" »