Last week, Patently Apple posted a report titled "With Project Titan being Cancelled, Apple's Crystal Ball Points to developing Home Robotics." The report noted that "The robotics work is happening within Apple’s hardware engineering division and its AI and machine-learning group, which is run by John Giannandrea. Matt Costello and Brian Lynch — two executives focused on home products — have overseen the hardware development." While this seems like an odd project for Apple to pursue, a newly granted patent today points to a part of such a project. Apple notes at one point in their patent that the invention relates to "a drone or robotic avatar" that appears to work with a future version of Vision Pro.
Recently the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially granted Apple a patent that relates to health monitoring and, in particular, to systems, methods, and devices for monitoring the health of a user in a computer-generated reality environment. This is a difficult patent to get your head around and so to better understand Apple's granted patents, it's best to simply dive in to the examples that Apple provides.
In Apple's patent FIG. 4A below we see a CGR environment #400 based on a real environment surveyed by a scene camera of a device at a first time. In various implementations, the scene camera is part of a device that is worn by the user and includes a display that displays the first CGR environment. In various implementations, the device includes more than one scene camera. Thus, in various implementations, the user is physically present in the environment. In various implementations, the scene camera is part of remote device (such as a drone or robotic avatar) that transmits images from the scene camera to a local device that is worn by the user and includes a display that displays the CGR environment.
At the second time, shown patent FIG. 4B above, the CGR environment #400 includes a reminder window #431 indicating that the user has not taken a scheduled dose of medication. Further, at the second time, the CGR environment includes a glow 432 directing the attention of the user to the medicine bottle 416.
Apple's patent FIG. 4E below illustrates the CGR environment #400 of FIG. 4A at a fifth time. At the fifth time, the CGR environment includes an options window #433 including a yes affordance #434 and a no affordance #435. The options window indicates to the user that the user is intoxicated and presents options for calling a rideshare vehicle (via the yes affordance #434) and dismissing the options window #433 (via the no affordance #435).
Apple's patent FIG. 4F above illustrates the CGR environment #400 of FIG. 4A. This time, the user's hand (#490) is interacting with the no affordance #435 of the options window #433.
Apple's patent FIG. 4H below presents another example wherein the CGR environment #400 is adjusted to be brighter and/or sharper (e.g., the HMD increases the brightness, sharpness, saturation, and/or contrast of the display). In this example the CGR environment includes a notification window #436 indicating that the CGR environment 400 has been adjusted and including an OK affordance #437.
Apple's patent FIG. 4i below illustrates the CGR environment includes a navigation window #438 indicating that the HMD is navigating the user to water and a navigation arrow #439 (pointing out the door #418) indicating a direction for the user to follow to obtain water.
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