Apple patents finger ring that controls VR with taps and waves
Apple has filed a patent for a small electronic device that fits around a user's finger to interact with virtual reality content. The device uses sensors to detect when you tap, press, or wave your hand in the air, allowing you to select items or move objects in a VR environment without holding a controller.
In the filing’s own words
A finger-mounted device may include finger-mounted units. The finger-mounted units may each have a body that serves as a support structure for components such as force sensors, accelerometers, and other sensors and for haptic output devices. The body may have sidewall portions coupled by a portion that rests adjacent to a user's fingernail. The body may be formed from deformable material such as metal or may be formed from adjustable structures such as sliding body portions that are coupled to each other using magnetic attraction, springs, or other structures. The body of each finger-mounted unit may have a U-shaped cross-sectional profile that leaves the finger pad of each finger exposed when the body is coupled to a fingertip of a user's finger. Control circuitry may gather finger press input, lateral finger movement input, and finger tap input using the sensors and may provide haptic output using the haptic output device.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A finger-mounted electronic device configured to manipulate virtual reality content on a display in a head-mounted device, the finger-mounted electronic device comprising: a body that surrounds a central opening configured to receive a finger; a force sensor configured to gather force input with which the virtual reality content is manipulated; an accelerometer mounted in the body and configured to detect air gestures with which the virtual reality content is manipulated, wherein the air gestures detected by the accelerometer include a tapping gesture for selecting the virtual reality content and a waving gesture for moving the virtual reality content; and a visual marker on the body with which the head-mounted device tracks a location of the finger-mounted electronic device, wherein the virtual reality content is moved from a first location to a second location based at least partly on the tracked location of the finger-mounted electronic device.
Facts
- Company
- Apple (Apple Inc.)
- Official title
- Finger-mounted device with sensors and haptics
- Patent number
- US12737047B2
- Application number
- 18425962
- Filed
- Jan 29, 2024
- Granted
- Sep 15, 2026
- Inventors
- 12
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
G06F 3/016 Physics & computingG01P 15/003 Physics & computingG02B 27/017 Physics & computingG06F 3/014 Physics & computingG06F 3/017 Physics & computingG06F 3/0346 Physics & computingMore from Apple in AR, VR & displays
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- Apple patents showing real-world objects in virtual video calls Oct 1, 2026
Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.