Apple gets patent for computer control via gestures in the air

Apple has received a patent for a method of controlling a computer through gestures that a user makes in the air. This requires a 3D sensor on the front of the computer. The iPhone X’s TrueDepth camera system could fill that role.

The developers who applied for the patent for Apple previously worked at PrimeSense, the company that developed the Kinect and which was acquired by Apple in 2013. Therefore, it makes sense that they had the TrueDepth camera system in mind when developing the technique described in the patent, PatentlyApple writes.

The patent Three dimensional user interface session control using depth sensors describes the control of a computer by sitting in front of it and making movements with the hand. First a ‘focus gesture’ is needed, so that the computer knows that the user wants to operate the interface and not, for example, makes gestures in a conversation with someone. Apple thinks of a swinging movement or a movement in which the user moves the hand in the direction of the computer.

The iPhone X’s TrueDepth camera system can perceive the face in 3D because a dot projector projects tens of thousands of dots with infrared light, while an infrared camera can read those dots. Such a system would also be suitable for this interface.

It is unknown whether Apple plans to use the technology in its desktop computers or laptops. The Cupertino company makes many patent applications every year, many of which are never used in products as a technology. A few years ago there was an add-on for controlling PCs with such movements, the Leap Motion. HP, among others, put that in laptops, but it never became a widely used feature.