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ApplePatent applicationAR, VR & displaysInterest 6/10

Apple patents 3D interface controls for sharing content in virtual spaces

Apple describes a system for managing how content appears in shared 3D environments during real-time communication. The interface shows content only to users with permission, while hiding it from others, and allows authorized users to move virtual objects within the space.

Why it mattersThis filing suggests Apple is refining how users control privacy and spatial layout in collaborative virtual experiences, which could impact future mixed-reality social features.

In the filing’s own words

A computer system optionally displays a user interface object that reveals content based on whether the content is private or shared. A computer system optionally displays a user interface object that includes shared content based on whether participants have entitlement to the content. A computer system optionally displays a sharing indicator that indicates that the respective content is shared with one or more other participants.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A computer system configured to communicate with one or more display generation components, the computer system 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: in response to respective content being selected, during a real-time communication session that occurs in a three-dimensional environment, displaying, via the one or more display generation components, a first virtual object corresponding to the respective content in the three-dimensional environment, wherein the first virtual object has a position in the three-dimensional environment that indicates a spatial location of the respective content in a respective spatial arrangement of virtual objects in the three-dimensional environment, including: in accordance with a determination that a first participant in the real-time communication session has entitlement to access the respective content, the first virtual object that corresponds to the respective content and indicates the spatial location of the respective content in the respective spatial arrangement for the first participant includes at least a portion of the respective content; and in accordance with a determination that the first participant does not have entitlement to access the respective content, the first virtual object that corresponds to the respective content and indicates the spatial location of the respective content in the respective spatial arrangement for the first participant does not include the respective content; while displaying, via the one or more display generation components the first virtual object, detecting, via the one or more sensors of the computer system, an input from the first participant corresponding to a request to reposition the first virtual object in the three-dimensional environment; and in response to detecting the input from the first participant corresponding to a request to reposition the first virtual object in the three-dimensional environment: in accordance with the determination that the first participant in the real-time communication session has entitlement to access the respective content, repositioning the first virtual object in the three-dimensional environment based on the input corresponding to the request to reposition the first virtual object in the three-dimensional environment; and in accordance with the determination that the first participant does not have entitlement to access the respective content, forgoing repositioning the first virtual object in the three-dimensional environment.

Facts

Company
Apple (Apple Inc.)
Official title
USER INTERFACES FOR MANAGING SHARING OF CONTENT IN THREE-DIMENSIONAL ENVIRONMENTS
Publication number
US20260277387A1
Application number
19669600
Filed
May 6, 2026
Published
Sep 17, 2026
Inventors
14
Claims
45

Classified under

G06F 3/04815 Physics & computingG06F 3/04842 Physics & computingG06F 3/04845 Physics & computingG06F 3/017 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.