Apple patents XR system letting apps change shared virtual spaces
Apple describes a method for extended reality (XR) devices where multiple apps appear as visual objects in a shared virtual environment. The system uses sensor data to identify which app should have control over specific parts of the view, allowing it to modify the background or other areas outside its own window. This access is restricted so that other apps cannot change those same areas, preventing conflicts between different software layers.
In the filing’s own words
Various implementations disclosed herein include devices, systems, and methods that enable presenting environments including visual representations of multiple applications. In one implementation, a method includes presenting a view of an environment at an electronic device on a display. The view includes visual representations of a plurality of applications. The method further includes determining to provide a first application with access to a control parameter. The control parameter is configured to modify at least a portion of the view of the environment with virtual content, and the portion of the view includes at least a portion of content outside of a view of a visual representation associated with the first application. The method further includes restricting access to the control parameter by other applications which prevents the other applications from modifying the at least the portion of the view of the environment via the control parameter.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A method comprising: at an electronic device with a display: obtaining sensor data of a user in a physical environment while presenting a view of an extended reality (XR) environment on the display, the XR environment comprising visual representations of corresponding to a plurality of applications, wherein each visual representation is representative of a respective application; identifying, based on the sensor data, a first application of the plurality of applications based on one or more criteria; and providing the first application with access to a control parameter based on the first application satisfying at least one of the one or more criteria, wherein the control parameter enables the first application to modify the view of the XR environment outside of a visual representation of content provided by the first application.
Facts
- Company
- Apple (Apple Inc.)
- Official title
- ENVIRONMENT APPLICATION MODEL
- Publication number
- US20260278963A1
- Application number
- 19675702
- Filed
- May 13, 2026
- Published
- Sep 17, 2026
- Inventors
- 4
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
G06T 19/006 Physics & computingG06F 3/04815 Physics & computingG06T 19/20 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.