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ApplePatent applicationAR, VR & displaysInterest 6/10

Apple patents eye-tracking to switch how you move virtual objects

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

Apple describes a system where a computer detects where you are looking on a screen to determine how you want to interact with a virtual item. By looking at a specific mode indicator, you can change the way your hand or device controls the object, such as switching between different movement styles.

Why it mattersThis could make virtual interfaces feel more natural by using your gaze to select tools, reducing the need for complex menus when handling digital objects.

In the filing’s own words

In some embodiments, a computer system performs virtual object manipulation operations using respective portions of the user's body and/or input device(s). In some embodiments, a computer system manipulates a virtual object based on input from a hand of a user and/or a handheld device. In some embodiments, a computer system manipulates a virtual object directly or indirectly.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method comprising: at a computer system in communication with a display generation component and one or more input devices: displaying, via the display generation component, a user interface, wherein displaying the user interface includes concurrently displaying: a virtual object, a first representation of a first input mode for manipulating the virtual object, and a second representation of a second input mode for manipulating the virtual object, wherein the second input mode is different from the first input mode; while displaying the user interface, detecting, via the one or more input devices, a first input that is a selection input while attention of a user of the computer system is directed toward a respective representation of a respective input mode in the user interface; after detecting the selection input and after the respective input mode for manipulating the virtual object has been selected, detecting, via the one or more input devices, a second input; and in response to detecting the second input: in accordance with a determination that the first input was detected while the attention of the user was directed to the first representation of the first input mode, manipulating the virtual object according to the first input mode in accordance with one or more parameters of the second input; and in accordance with a determination that the first input was detected while the attention of the user was directed to the second representation of the second input mode, manipulating the virtual object according to the second input mode, in accordance with the one or more parameters of the second input, wherein manipulating the virtual object according to the second input mode is different from manipulating the virtual object according to the first input mode.

Facts

Company
Apple (Apple Inc.)
Official title
METHODS FOR MANIPULATING A VIRTUAL OBJECT
Publication number
US20260310304A1
Application number
19704244
Filed
Jun 10, 2026
Published
Oct 8, 2026
Inventors
5
Claims
21

Classified under

G06F 3/017 Physics & computingG06F 3/0346 Physics & computingG06F 3/04815 Physics & computingG06F 3/04845 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.