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SamsungPatent applicationWearablesInterest 6/10

Samsung patents 3D app icons for wearable devices

Samsung describes a wearable device that displays app icons as 3D objects in a virtual space. The system uses a camera to track finger movements, allowing users to select apps by moving their finger through the depth of the icon.

Why it mattersThis approach could make interacting with smart glasses or watches feel more natural by using hand gestures instead of touchscreens.

In the filing’s own words

A wearable electronic device and a method performed thereby are provided. The wearable electronic device includes a display, a memory, a camera, and one or more processors. The memory store one or more computer programs including computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the wearable electronic device to display a user-selectable icon for an execution of an application in a three-dimensional (3D) virtual space, wherein the user-selectable icon includes a first graphical object representing a virtual window and a second graphical object representing the application, and the second graphical object is selectable through the first graphical, while the user-selectable icon is displayed in the 3D virtual space, detect a movement of a user's finger, and based on detecting the movement of the user's finger to select the second graphical object in a depth direction of the virtual window of the first graphical object, display an execution screen of the application.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A wearable electronic device comprising: at least one display; at least one processor; and memory storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the wearable electronic device to: display a three-dimensional graphic object corresponding to an application through the at least one display, wherein the three-dimensional graphic object includes a second graphic object indicative of the application and a third graphic object indicative of at least a part of an area including a content to be displayed by the application; based at least in part on a first user input for the three-dimensional graphic object corresponding to the application, execute the application; while the second graphic object and the third graphic object in which an execution screen of the application included are displayed in virtual three-dimensional space, receive a second user input for the second graphic object or the third graphic object; and based at least in part on the second user input, while the second graphic object is displayed, change a visual effect for the third graphic object in which the execution screen of the application included.

Facts

Company
Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
Official title
ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR DISPLAYING ICON IN THREE-DIMENSIONAL (3D) VIRTUAL SPACE, ITS OPERATION METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIA
Publication number
US20260288300A1
Application number
19684390
Filed
May 21, 2026
Published
Sep 24, 2026
Inventors
4
Claims
20

Classified under

G06F 3/04815 Physics & computingG06F 3/013 Physics & computingG06F 3/017 Physics & computingG06F 3/04817 Physics & computingG06F 3/04842 Physics & computingG06F 3/04845 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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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.