Meta patents handheld device that mimics controller inputs using motion sensors
Meta describes a system where a handheld device can switch from using a physical button or stick to using its built-in motion sensors. When the device is moved, it converts that physical movement into digital coordinates that look like the original button press, allowing it to control external devices without touching the input actuator.
In the filing’s own words
A method for generating synthesized coordinate data is provided. The method comprises receiving first motion data from an input actuator of the handheld device, the first motion data representing a movement of the input actuator and corresponding to a first data format, determining whether an operating mode switching condition is satisfied with respect to the input actuator, activating, at least in part based on satisfaction of the operating mode switching condition, operation of the handheld device in a second mode, receiving second motion data from a sensor of the handheld device, the second motion data representing a movement of the handheld device and corresponding to a second data format, generating, when the handheld device is operating in the second mode, synthesized coordinate data from the second motion data, the synthesized coordinate data corresponding to the first data format, and transmitting the synthesized coordinate data.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, by the computer of a handheld device operating in a first mode, first motion data from an input actuator of the handheld device, the first motion data representing a movement of the input actuator and corresponding to a first data format; determining, by the computer, whether an operating mode switching condition is satisfied with respect to the input actuator; activating at least in part based on satisfaction of the operating mode switching condition, by the computer, operation of the handheld device in a second mode; receiving, by the computer, second motion data from a sensor of the handheld device, the second motion data representing a movement of the handheld device and corresponding to a second data format; generating when the handheld device is operating in the second mode, by the computer, synthesized coordinate data from the second motion data, the synthesized coordinate data corresponding to the first data format; and transmitting, by the computer, the synthesized coordinate data to a device that is external to the computer based at least in part on the satisfaction of the operating mode switching condition and the operation of the handheld device in the second mode.
Facts
- Company
- Meta (Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC)
- Official title
- SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GENERATING SYNTHESIZED COORDINATE DATA BASED ON HANDHELD DEVICE MOTION
- Publication number
- US20260288266A1
- Application number
- 19573900
- Filed
- Mar 20, 2026
- Published
- Sep 24, 2026
- Inventors
- 4
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
G06F 3/038 Physics & computingA63F 13/24 Human necessitiesG05G 9/047 Physics & computingG05G 2009/0474 Physics & computingMore from Meta in Chips & hardware
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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.