Apple patents adaptive gaze controls that adjust to room lighting
Apple describes a system where a device uses sensors to track where you are looking on the screen. It adjusts the size of the areas needed to select items based on the brightness of the room, making eye-tracking more reliable in different lighting conditions.
In the filing’s own words
Various implementations disclosed herein include devices, systems, and methods for determining gaze activation regions for visual elements. In some implementations, a device includes a display, one or more sensors, a non-transitory memory, and one or more processors coupled with the display, the one or more sensors and the non-transitory memory. In various implementations, a method includes displaying, on the display, a plurality of visual elements. In some implementations, the method includes capturing, by the one or more sensors, sensor data. In some implementations, the method includes determining respective gaze activation regions for the plurality of visual elements based on the sensor data. In some implementations, the method includes, in response to a measured gaze target being within one of the respective gaze activation regions, performing a user interface operation associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of visual elements.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A method comprising: at a device including a display, a gaze tracker, one or more environmental sensors, a non-transitory memory and one or more processors coupled with the display, the gaze tracker, the one or more sensors, and the non-transitory memory: displaying, on the display, a plurality of visual elements; capturing, by the one or more environmental sensors, environmental data including a lighting level of a physical environment of the device; in response to determining that a current performance of the gaze tracker is below a performance threshold, adjusting respective gaze activation regions for selecting the plurality of visual elements based on the lighting level; measuring, using the gaze tracker, a gaze target; and in response to the gaze target being within one of the respective gaze activation regions, performing a user interface operation associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of visual elements.
Facts
- Company
- Apple (Apple Inc.)
- Official title
- Adaptive gaze activation regions for visual elements
- Patent number
- US12754606B1
- Application number
- 18203764
- Filed
- May 31, 2023
- Granted
- Oct 6, 2026
- Inventors
- 1
- Claims
- 17
Classified under
G06F 3/013 Physics & computingMore from Apple in AI & software
- Apple patents AI that acts on voicemails for you Oct 15, 2026
- Apple patents letting users teach custom hand gestures to their devices Oct 22, 2026
- Apple patents AI that acts on voicemails for you Sep 1, 2026
- Apple patents video tool that swaps focus between subjects after filming Oct 20, 2026
- Apple patents system that changes room ambience based on what you look at Sep 3, 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.
