Apple patents virtual shelves that appear when you group 3D objects
Apple has patented a method for displaying virtual surfaces, or digital shelves, in a 3D environment. The system automatically creates these surfaces when a user moves a virtual object close to another one, helping to organize items visually.
In the filing’s own words
In some embodiments, a computer system displays a virtual surface for containing one or more virtual objects in a three-dimensional environment. In some embodiments, a computer system automatically resizes virtual surfaces that contain objects. In some embodiments, a computer system displays feedback related to removal and/or addition of objects to virtual surfaces.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A method comprising: at a computer system in communication with a display generation component and one or more input devices: displaying a virtual content container that includes one or more three-dimensional virtual objects in a three-dimensional environment; while displaying the virtual content container, detecting, via the one or more input devices, a first input directed to a first three-dimensional virtual object of the one or more three-dimensional virtual objects, wherein the first input corresponds to a request to move the first three-dimensional virtual object out of the virtual content container and to a respective location in the three-dimensional environment; and in response to detecting the first input directed to the first three-dimensional virtual object: in accordance with a determination that the respective location in the three-dimensional environment satisfies one or more criteria, including a criterion that is satisfied when the first three-dimensional virtual object at the respective location is within a threshold distance of a second three-dimensional virtual object in the three-dimensional environment, displaying a virtual surface within the three-dimensional environment concurrently with the first three-dimensional virtual object, wherein: the virtual surface indicates a portion of the three-dimensional environment occupied by the first three-dimensional virtual object and the second three-dimensional virtual object; and the virtual surface was not displayed within the three-dimensional environment prior to detecting the first input directed to the first three-dimensional virtual object; and in accordance with a determination that the respective location in the three-dimensional environment does not satisfy the one or more criteria because the first three-dimensional virtual object at the respective location is further than the threshold distance of the second three-dimensional virtual object in the three-dimensional environment, displaying the first three-dimensional virtual object at the respective location without displaying the virtual surface that indicates a portion of the three-dimensional environment occupied by the first three-dimensional virtual object and the second three-dimensional virtual object within the three-dimensional environment.
Facts
- Company
- Apple (Apple Inc.)
- Official title
- Methods for displaying objects relative to virtual surfaces
- Patent number
- US12737093B2
- Application number
- 18473155
- Filed
- Sep 22, 2023
- Granted
- Sep 15, 2026
- Inventors
- 7
- Claims
- 44
Classified under
G06F 3/04815 Physics & computingG06F 3/04845 Physics & computingG06T 15/60 Physics & computingG06T 19/20 Physics & computingG06T 2200/24 Physics & computingG06T 2219/2016 Physics & computingMore from Apple in AR, VR & displays
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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.