Sony patents virtual plane for pointing in 3D space with controllers
Sony has filed a patent for a system that uses a handheld controller to place a flat, virtual surface in a 3D environment. This allows users to point at or select 2D coordinates within that 3D space, effectively creating a digital canvas in mid-air. The system can also detect when the user moves this virtual plane to adjust its position.
In the filing’s own words
A display control device according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes an acquisition unit that acquires position and orientation information in a three-dimensional space from a first controller, and a display control unit that displays a virtual coordinate plane on which two-dimensional coordinates are allowed to be designated in the three-dimensional space based on the position and orientation information in the three-dimensional space. The display control device may further include a first detection unit that detects a movement of the virtual coordinate plane in a three-dimensional space based on an input by the first controller.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A display control device comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires position and orientation information in a three-dimensional space from a first controller; and a display control unit that displays a virtual coordinate plane on which two-dimensional coordinates are allowed to be designated in the three-dimensional space based on the position and orientation information in the three-dimensional space.
Facts
- Company
- Sony (SONY GROUP CORPORATION)
- Official title
- DISPLAY CONTROL DEVICE AND DISPLAY CONTROL METHOD
- Publication number
- US20260322992A1
- Application number
- 19117229
- Filed
- Sep 25, 2023
- Published
- Oct 15, 2026
- Inventors
- 4
- Claims
- 17
Classified under
H04N 13/393 Electricity & electronicsH04N 13/111 Electricity & electronicsH04N 13/398 Electricity & electronicsH04N 2013/0085 Electricity & electronicsMore from Sony 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.