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AppleGranted patentPhones & computersInterest 6/10

Apple patents air gestures to control specific connected devices

Apple has been granted a patent for a system that uses air gestures to interact with a list of connected devices shown on a screen. The system detects which device you are gesturing toward and sends commands only to that specific device, ignoring others.

Why it mattersThis could make it easier to control multiple smart home or audio devices without touching a phone, reducing the need to select apps or buttons for each item.

In the filing’s own words

A computer system detects a gesture, such as an air gesture, and performs an operation based on the gesture.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A computer system configured to communicate with a display generation component and one or more input devices that include a physiological sensor, comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for: displaying, via the display generation component, a respective user interface that includes a plurality of representations corresponding to a plurality of detected external devices; while displaying the respective user interface, detecting, via the one or more input devices, a first air gesture to display a respective indication corresponding to a respective external device from among the plurality of detected external devices; in response to detecting the first air gesture to display the respective indication corresponding to the respective external device, displaying, in the respective user interface and via the display generation component, the respective indication corresponding to the respective external device; while displaying the respective indication corresponding to the respective external device in the respective user interface, detecting, via the one or more input devices, a respective air gesture; and in response to detecting the respective air gesture: in accordance with a determination that the respective indication corresponds to a first external device, sending a command corresponding to the respective air gesture to the first external device without sending the command corresponding to the respective air gesture to a second external device that is different from the first external device; and in accordance with a determination that the respective indication corresponds to the second external device, sending the command corresponding to the respective air gesture to the second external device without sending the command corresponding to the respective air gesture to the first external device.

Facts

Company
Apple (Apple Inc.)
Official title
User interfaces for gesture detection
Patent number
US12737050B2
Application number
18615715
Filed
Mar 25, 2024
Granted
Sep 15, 2026
Inventors
5
Claims
60

Classified under

G06F 3/017 Physics & computingG06F 3/015 Physics & computing

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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.