Apple patents eye scan to identify which user is looking at a screen
Apple has filed a patent for a system that takes a picture of a user's eye when they turn on a device. It compares the photo to saved records of the user's eye to identify them, using details like the shape of the pupil and cornea. This identification helps the device track where the user is looking more accurately.
In the filing’s own words
Methods and apparatus for providing eye model matching in a device are disclosed. When a user activates a device and the presence of the user’s eye is detected, an image of the user’s eye is captured. An eye model matching process is then implemented to determine a stored eye model (e.g., an eye model stored after enrollment of the eye on the device) that best matches the eye in the captured image. Determination of the best matching eye model may be based on matching between properties of the user’s eye in the captured image (such as cornea and pupil features) and properties of the user’s eye determined by the eye model. The best matching eye model may then be implemented in, for example, an eye gaze tracking process. In certain instances, the best matching eye model satisfies a threshold for matching before being implemented in the downstream process.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1 - 20. (canceled)
Facts
- Company
- Apple (Apple Inc.)
- Official title
- User Eye Model Match Detection
- Publication number
- US20260330872A1
- Application number
- 19660032
- Filed
- Apr 27, 2026
- Published
- Oct 22, 2026
- Inventors
- 4
- Claims
- 21
Classified under
G06V 40/197 Physics & computingG06T 7/75 Physics & computingG06T 17/00 Physics & computingG06T 2207/10012 Physics & computingG06T 2207/10048 Physics & computingG06V 40/50 Physics & computingMore from Apple in Security & privacy
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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.