Apple patents AR windows that stretch wider without getting taller
Apple has filed a patent for changing how virtual screens look in an augmented reality environment. When a user asks for a change, the system makes the virtual window wider while keeping its height the same.
In the filing’s own words
Presented herein is a method performed at an electronic device in communication with one or more displays and one or more input devices. The electronic device displays, via the one or more displays, virtual content in a first display mode within a three-dimensional environment. While displaying the virtual content in the first display mode, the electronic device detects an indication corresponding to a request to modify a display mode of the virtual content. Then, in response to detecting the indication, the device displays the virtual content, via the one or more display generation components, in a second display mode, different from the first display mode, within the three-dimensional environment, wherein displaying the second display mode includes extending a size of a first dimension of the virtual content and maintaining a size of a second dimension of the virtual content.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A method comprising: at an electronic device in communication with one or more displays and one or more input devices: displaying, via the one or more displays, virtual content in a first display mode within a three-dimensional environment; while displaying the virtual content in the first display mode, detecting an indication corresponding to a request to modify a display mode of the virtual content; in response to detecting the indication, displaying the virtual content, via the one or more displays, in a second display mode, different from the first display mode, within the three-dimensional environment, wherein displaying the second display mode includes: extending a size of a first dimension of the virtual content from a first size in the first display mode to a second size in the second display mode; and maintaining a size of a second dimension of the virtual content when displaying, via the one or more displays, virtual content in the second display mode within the three-dimensional environment.
Facts
- Company
- Apple (Apple Inc.)
- Official title
- TRANSITIONING DISPLAY OF VIRTUAL CONTENT BASED ON USER CONDITION
- Publication number
- US20260330790A1
- Application number
- 19571881
- Filed
- Mar 19, 2026
- Published
- Oct 22, 2026
- Inventors
- 2
- Claims
- 24
Classified under
G06T 19/20 Physics & computingG06F 3/011 Physics & computingG06F 3/017 Physics & computingG06T 2219/2016 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.