Apple patents tool to preview virtual objects in 3D apps
Apple has patented a developer tool that lets creators see how virtual objects look inside 3D environments before the app is finished. The system shows multiple views at once, allowing developers to pause some screens to compare different versions of the same object. It also displays a box around the virtual item to show its size relative to the 3D space.
In the filing’s own words
Provided herein are systems and methods for implementing visual content previews for content items associated with a software application. The content preview includes a visual preview of a content item that is updated based on modifications to the application source code. The content preview includes a plurality of viewports, with each viewport being independently controllable. Each viewport of the content preview can be “paused” to prevent the viewport from updating in response to modifications of the source code, while the content previews associated with other viewports are modified with modification to the source code. In this way, a developer can visually compare different versions of a content item when developing content in the preview application. The device displays a bounding volume concurrently with the content preview to visually depict a relationship between the size of content item and the three-dimensional size of a three-dimensional environment associated with the software application.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A method comprising: at an electronic device in communication with a display and one or more input devices: obtaining, from an operating system, three-dimensional size information associated with a first software application for a three-dimensional environment that has been granted to the first software application by the operating system, including three-dimensional size information of a bounding volume of the three-dimensional environment, wherein the first software application is a content application associated with a virtual object being previewed; obtaining, from first the software application, three-dimensional size and location information associated with the virtual object of the first software application that is to be placed within the three-dimensional environment when displayed by the first software application; displaying via the display, in a second software application different from the first software application and in accordance with the three-dimensional size and location information associated with the virtual object, a representation of the virtual object, wherein the second software application is a preview application that the virtual object is previewed within; and displaying via the display, in the second software application, and in accordance with the three-dimensional size information associated with the first software application, a representation of the bounding volume for the first software application concurrently with the representation of the virtual object.
Facts
- Company
- Apple (Apple Inc.)
- Official title
- Devices, methods and graphical user interfaces for preview of computer-generated virtual objects for extended reality applications
- Patent number
- US12755483B2
- Application number
- 18733228
- Filed
- Jun 4, 2024
- Granted
- Oct 6, 2026
- Inventors
- 3
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
G06T 17/00 Physics & computingG06F 3/04815 Physics & computingG06F 3/04845 Physics & computingG06F 8/34 Physics & computingG06T 7/62 Physics & computingG06T 7/70 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.