“Apple’s patent applications always provide an interesting peek into what Apple researchers have been working on. In one of the more interesting patent applications we’ve discovered, Apple appears to be researching 3D displays in which the user will be able to look around an object,” Arnold Kim repots for Mac Rumors.
“In order to view a 3D object from various angles on your screen at present, you are required to use the mouse or keyboard to manipulate the object. This might simply involve clicking and dragging to pan or rotate an object,” Kim reports. “While functional, Apple considers this to be unintuitive and potentially frustrating to new users.”
Kim reports, “Apple proposes that a display could change the perspective of the 3D objects based on the users’ relative position.”
Kim reports, “Back in 1995, they had even had a similar system built in the lab and referred to these displays as “Hyper Reality” displays. Apple, of course, is not the only company working on such technology. This YouTube video shows this system in action (thanks djellison) on a make-shift Wii system, demoed by Johnny Lee:”
Direct link to video via YouTube here.
More info and patent app illustrations in the full article here.
Apple’s U.S. patent application (20090313584) filed June 17, 2008, published December 17, 2009, is here.