The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 46 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we briefly cover Apple's retail store modular wall system and an HMD patent relating to occlusion detection and depth perception of VR content. And as always, we wrap up this week's granted patent report with our traditional listing of the remaining granted patents that were issued to Apple today.

Occlusion Detection

Apple was granted a patent today for "Occlusion Detection" that relates to depth perception in a future Head Mounted Device. Apple's patent covers devices, systems, and methods that determines changes in depth category of pixels from one image to the next. For example, changes in depth category may include determining that a given pixel has changed from foreground to background or vice versa. The technique is based on creating a histogram or other model using a mask identifying a depth category of pixels in the first image. The histogram or model is used to assess a pixel in the first frame and the second frame and identify a change in its depth category. One use of this technique is to determine a change in occlusion.

Apple's patent FIGS. 7A-7C below illustrate an example of an occlusion event between two objects – a hand passing over an image of a boat.

Apple Developers may want to review Apple's granted patent 11,170,578 for more details.

Apple Store: Modular Wall System

Today, the U.S. Patent Office granted Apple their second granted patent relating to the Apple Store modular wall system. The patent covers a system for displaying Apple products. The system includes a wall having a recess therein and a display structure that defines the recess. The display structure extends through a front surface of the wall and includes a frame having a top panel, a bottom panel, and two side panels. The top and bottom panels are longer than the side panels. The system further includes a plurality of modular display units disposed within the display structure. Each modular display unit extends from the bottom panel to the top panel. At least a first one of the modular display units includes a frame open to a front exterior of the display structure and at least a second one of the modular display units is not open to the front exterior of the display structure. The system further includes a plurality of display elements disposed within the plurality of display units.

Apple's patent FIG. 2 below is an exploded view of the Apple Store modular wall system; FIG. 39 relates a unit display Apple TV with actual TVs on the wall; FIG. 42 illustrates a headphones module (real-world example); FIG. 43 illustrates a module displaying Apple Watch Sport bands (real-world example); and FIG. 47 illustrates one wall unit that includes pull-out draws that contain Apple iPhone Cover accessories (real-world example).

Considering this is a continuation patent (11,166,572) being granted, it should be noted that Apple has added 18 new patent claims to this invention that you could review here.

The Remaining Patents Granted to Apple Today