Apple patents head-mounted device that predicts when you will take a photo
Apple describes a head-mounted device, such as a smart headset, that uses a separate chip to predict when a user intends to take a picture. This prediction wakes up the camera system from a low-power sleep mode before the user actually triggers the capture, ensuring the camera is ready instantly.
In the filing’s own words
A head-mounted device is provided that includes one or more image sensors, a first processing circuit configured to run an operating system for the head-mounted device, a second processing circuit configured to direct the one or more image sensors to capture images, one or more components configured to predict a user input for image capture, and a third processing circuit configured to wake up the second processing circuit from a sleep state in response to predicting the user input. The image sensors can output captured images to image signal processing (ISP) circuitry. The ISP circuitry can include computer vision processing (CVP) circuitry that receives the captured images and having subsystems operating in a first power domain and a back-end image signal processing pipeline operating in a second power domain different than the first power domain.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A head-mounted device comprising: one or more image sensors; a first processing circuit configured to run an operating system for the head-mounted device; a second processing circuit configured to direct the one or more image sensors to capture images; one or more components configured to predict a user input for image capture; and a third processing circuit configured to wake up the second processing circuit from a sleep state in response to predicting the user input for image capture.
Facts
- Company
- Apple (Apple Inc.)
- Official title
- Predicting Image Capture in a Head-Mounted Device
- Publication number
- US20260270568A1
- Application number
- 19408788
- Filed
- Dec 4, 2025
- Published
- Sep 10, 2026
- Inventors
- 3
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
H04N 23/80 Electricity & electronicsG06F 1/3296 Physics & computingH04N 23/651 Electricity & electronicsG06F 3/013 Physics & computingG06F 3/02 Physics & computingG10L 15/22 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.