Patents by Inventor Avi Bar-Zeev

Avi Bar-Zeev has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 12361646
    Abstract: Various implementations provide a method for determining how a second user prefers to be depicted/augmented in a first user's view of a multi-user environment in a privacy preserving way. For example, a method may include determining that a physical environment includes a second device, where a second user associated with the second device is to be depicted in a view of a three-dimensional (3D) environment. The method may further include determining position data indicative of a location of the second device relative to the first device. The method may further include sending the position data indicative of the location of the second device relative to the first device, to an information system (e.g., a user preference system). The method may further include receiving a user preference setting associated with the second user for depicting or augmenting the second user in the 3D environment from the information system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2023
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2025
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Avi Bar-zeev, Ranjit Desai, Rahul Nair
  • Patent number: 12320977
    Abstract: A display system includes a head-mounted display unit and a wake control system. The head-mounted display unit provides content to a user and is operable in a low-power state and a high-power state that consumes more power to provide the content to the user than the low-power state. The wake control system determines when to operate in the high-power state. The wake control system may assess a first wake criterion with low power, assess a second wake criterion with higher power than the first wake criterion upon satisfaction of the first wake criterion, and cause the head-mounted display unit to operate in the high-power state upon satisfaction of the second wake criterion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2023
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2025
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Fletcher R. Rothkopf, David A. Kalinowski, Jae Hwang Lee, Avi Bar-Zeev, Grant H. Mulliken, Paul Meade, Nathanael D. Parkhill, Ray L. Chang, Arthur Y. Zhang
  • Publication number: 20250085132
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for spatial audio navigation that may, for example, be implemented by mobile multipurpose devices. A spatial audio navigation system provides navigational information in audio form to direct users to target locations. The system uses directionality of audio played through a binaural audio device to provide navigational cues to the user. A current location, target location, and map information may be input to pathfinding algorithms to determine a real world path between the user's current location and the target location. The system may then use directional audio played through a headset to guide the user on the path from the current location to the target location. The system may implement one or more of several different spatial audio navigation methods to direct a user when following a path using spatial audio-based cues.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2024
    Publication date: March 13, 2025
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Bruno M. Sommer, Avi Bar-Zeev, Frank Angermann, Stephen E. Pinto, Lilli Ing-Marie Jonsson, Rahul Nair
  • Publication number: 20250060821
    Abstract: One exemplary implementation provides an improved user experience on a device by using physiological data to initiate a user interaction for the user experience based on an identified interest or intention of a user. For example, a sensor may obtain physiological data (e.g., pupil diameter) of a user during a user experience in which content is displayed on a display. The physiological data varies over time during the user experience and a pattern is detected. The detected pattern is used to identify an interest of the user in the content or an intention of the user regarding the content. The user interaction is then initiated based on the identified interest or the identified intention.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 4, 2024
    Publication date: February 20, 2025
    Inventors: Grant H. Mulliken, Avi Bar-Zeev, Devin W. Chalmers, Fletcher R. Rothkopf, Holly Gerhard, Lilli I. Jonsson
  • Patent number: 12188777
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for spatial audio navigation that may, for example, be implemented by mobile multipurpose devices. A spatial audio navigation system provides navigational information in audio form to direct users to target locations. The system uses directionality of audio played through a binaural audio device to provide navigational cues to the user. A current location, target location, and map information may be input to pathfinding algorithms to determine a real world path between the user's current location and the target location. The system may then use directional audio played through a headset to guide the user on the path from the current location to the target location. The system may implement one or more of several different spatial audio navigation methods to direct a user when following a path using spatial audio-based cues.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2025
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Bruno M. Sommer, Avi Bar-Zeev, Frank Angermann, Stephen E. Pinto, Lilli Ing-Marie Jonsson, Rahul Nair
  • Patent number: 12164687
    Abstract: One exemplary implementation provides an improved user experience on a device by using physiological data to initiate a user interaction for the user experience based on an identified interest or intention of a user. For example, a sensor may obtain physiological data (e.g., pupil diameter) of a user during a user experience in which content is displayed on a display. The physiological data varies over time during the user experience and a pattern is detected. The detected pattern is used to identify an interest of the user in the content or an intention of the user regarding the content. The user interaction is then initiated based on the identified interest or the identified intention.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Avi Bar-Zeev, Devin W. Chalmers, Fletcher R. Rothkopf, Grant H. Mulliken, Holly E. Gerhard, Lilli I. Jonsson
  • Publication number: 20240394952
    Abstract: A mixed reality system that includes a device and a base station that communicate via a wireless connection The device may include sensors that collect information about the user's environment and about the user. The information collected by the sensors may be transmitted to the base station via the wireless connection. The base station renders frames or slices based at least in part on the sensor information received from the device, encodes the frames or slices, and transmits the compressed frames or slices to the device for decoding and display. The base station may provide more computing power than conventional stand-alone systems, and the wireless connection does not tether the device to the base station as in conventional tethered systems. The system may implement methods and apparatus to maintain a target frame rate through the wireless link and to minimize latency in frame rendering, transmittal, and display.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 7, 2024
    Publication date: November 28, 2024
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Arthur Y Zhang, Ray L. Chang, Timothy R. Oriol, Ling Su, Gurjeet S. Saund, Guy Cote, Jim C. Chou, Hao Pan, Tobias Eble, Avi Bar-Zeev, Sheng Zhang, Justin A. Hensley, Geoffrey Stahl
  • Patent number: 12147733
    Abstract: In an exemplary technique, audio information responsive to received input is provided. While providing the audio information, one or more conditions for stopping the provision of audio information are detected, and in response, the provision of the audio information is stopped. After stopping the provision of the audio information, if the one or more conditions for stopping the provision of audio information have ceased, then resumed audio information is provided, where the resumed audio information includes a rephrased version of a previously provided segment of the audio information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2023
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Rahul Nair, Golnaz Abdollahian, Avi Bar-Zeev, Niranjan Manjunath
  • Patent number: 12148111
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to techniques for providing tangibility visualization of virtual objects within a computer-generated reality (CGR) environment, such as a CGR environment based on virtual reality and/or a CGR environment based on mixed reality. A visual feedback indicating tangibility is provided for a virtual object within a CGR environment that does not correspond to a real, tangible object in the real environment. A visual feedback indicating tangibility is not provided for a virtual representation of a real object within a CGR environment that corresponds to a real, tangible object in the real environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2023
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Alexis Palangie, Avi Bar-Zeev
  • Patent number: 12120493
    Abstract: In one implementation, a method of transforming a sound into a virtual sound for a synthesized reality (SR) setting is performed by a head-mounted device (HMD) including one or more processors, non-transitory memory, a microphone, a speaker, and a display. The method includes displaying, on the display, an image representation of a synthesized reality (SR) setting including a plurality of surfaces associated with an acoustic reverberation property of the SR setting. The method includes recording, via the microphone, a real sound produced in a physical setting. The method further includes generating, using the one or more processors, a virtual sound by transforming the real sound based on the acoustic reverberation property of the SR setting. The method further includes playing, via the speaker, the virtual sound.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2023
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2024
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventor: Avi Bar-Zeev
  • Patent number: 12086919
    Abstract: A mixed reality system that includes a device and a base station that communicate via a wireless connection The device may include sensors that collect information about the user's environment and about the user. The information collected by the sensors may be transmitted to the base station via the wireless connection. The base station renders frames or slices based at least in part on the sensor information received from the device, encodes the frames or slices, and transmits the compressed frames or slices to the device for decoding and display. The base station may provide more computing power than conventional stand-alone systems, and the wireless connection does not tether the device to the base station as in conventional tethered systems. The system may implement methods and apparatus to maintain a target frame rate through the wireless link and to minimize latency in frame rendering, transmittal, and display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2023
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Arthur Y Zhang, Ray L. Chang, Timothy R. Oriol, Ling Su, Gurjeet S. Saund, Guy Cote, Jim C. Chou, Hao Pan, Tobias Eble, Avi Bar-Zeev, Sheng Zhang, Justin A. Hensley, Geoffrey Stahl
  • Publication number: 20240202959
    Abstract: An augmented reality collaboration system comprises a first system configured to display virtual content, comprising: a structure comprising a plurality of radiation emitters arranged in a predetermined pattern, and a user device comprising: one or more sensors configured to sense outputs of the plurality of radiation emitters, and one or more displays; one or more hardware processors; and a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable by the one or more hardware processors to, for the user device: determine a pose of the user device with respect to the structure based on the sensed outputs of the plurality of radiation emitters, and generate an image of virtual content based on the pose of the user device with respect to the structure, wherein the image of the virtual content is projected by the one or more displays of the user device in a predetermined location relative to the structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2024
    Publication date: June 20, 2024
    Applicant: Campfire 3D, Inc.
    Inventors: Avi Bar-Zeev, Alexander Tyurin, Gerald V. Wright, JR.
  • Publication number: 20240160022
    Abstract: A mixed reality system including a head-mounted display (HMD) and a base station. Information collected by HMD sensors may be transmitted to the base via a wired or wireless connection. On the base, a rendering engine renders frames including virtual content based in part on the sensor information, and an encoder compresses the frames according to an encoding protocol before sending the frames to the HMD over the connection. Instead of using a previous frame to estimate motion vectors in the encoder, motion vectors from the HMD and the rendering engine are input to the encoder and used in compressing the frame. The motion vectors may be embedded in the data stream along with the encoded frame data and transmitted to the HMD over the connection. If a frame is not received at the HMD, the HMD may synthesize a frame from a previous frame using the motion vectors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 24, 2024
    Publication date: May 16, 2024
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Geoffrey Stahl, Avi Bar-Zeev
  • Publication number: 20240161636
    Abstract: This disclosure describes an unmanned aerial vehicle (“UAV”) configured to autonomously deliver items of inventory to various destinations. The UAV may receive inventory information and a destination location and autonomously retrieve the inventory from a location within a materials handling facility, compute a route from the materials handling facility to a destination and travel to the destination to deliver the inventory.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 19, 2023
    Publication date: May 16, 2024
    Inventors: Gur KIMCHI, Daniel BUCHMUELLER, Scott A. GREEN, Brian C. BECHMAN, Scott ISAACS, Amir NAVOT, Fabian HENSEL, Avi BAR-ZEEV, Severan Sylvain Jean-Michel RAULT
  • Publication number: 20240086147
    Abstract: In an exemplary technique, audio information responsive to received input is provided. While providing the audio information, one or more conditions for stopping the provision of audio information are detected, and in response, the provision of the audio information is stopped. After stopping the provision of the audio information, if the one or more conditions for stopping the provision of audio information have ceased, then resumed audio information is provided, where the resumed audio information includes a rephrased version of a previously provided segment of the audio information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2023
    Publication date: March 14, 2024
    Inventors: Rahul NAIR, Golnaz ABDOLLAHIAN, Avi BAR-ZEEV, Niranjan MANJUNATH
  • Patent number: 11922652
    Abstract: An augmented reality collaboration system comprises a first system configured to display virtual content, comprising: a structure comprising a plurality of radiation emitters arranged in a predetermined pattern, and a user device comprising: one or more sensors configured to sense outputs of the plurality of radiation emitters, and one or more displays; one or more hardware processors; and a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable by the one or more hardware processors to, for the user device: determine a pose of the user device with respect to the structure based on the sensed outputs of the plurality of radiation emitters, and generate an image of virtual content based on the pose of the user device with respect to the structure, wherein the image of the virtual content is projected by the one or more displays of the user device in a predetermined location relative to the structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: Campfire 3D, Inc.
    Inventors: Avi Bar-Zeev, Alexander Tyurin, Gerald V. Wright, Jr.
  • Patent number: 11914152
    Abstract: A mixed reality system including a head-mounted display (HMD) and a base station. Information collected by HMD sensors may be transmitted to the base via a wired or wireless connection. On the base, a rendering engine renders frames including virtual content based in part on the sensor information, and an encoder compresses the frames according to an encoding protocol before sending the frames to the HMD over the connection. Instead of using a previous frame to estimate motion vectors in the encoder, motion vectors from the HMD and the rendering engine are input to the encoder and used in compressing the frame. The motion vectors may be embedded in the data stream along with the encoded frame data and transmitted to the HMD over the connection. If a frame is not received at the HMD, the HMD may synthesize a frame from a previous frame using the motion vectors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Geoffrey Stahl, Avi Bar-Zeev
  • Publication number: 20240007790
    Abstract: In one implementation, a method of transforming a sound into a virtual sound for a synthesized reality (SR) setting is performed by a head-mounted device (HMD) including one or more processors, non-transitory memory, a microphone, a speaker, and a display. The method includes displaying, on the display, an image representation of a synthesized reality (SR) setting including a plurality of surfaces associated with an acoustic reverberation property of the SR setting. The method includes recording, via the microphone, a real sound produced in a physical setting. The method further includes generating, using the one or more processors, a virtual sound by transforming the real sound based on the acoustic reverberation property of the SR setting. The method further includes playing, via the speaker, the virtual sound.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 12, 2023
    Publication date: January 4, 2024
    Inventor: Avi Bar-Zeev
  • Patent number: 11861265
    Abstract: In an exemplary technique, speech input including one or more instructions is received. After the speech input has stopped, if it is determined that one or more visual characteristics indicate that further speech input is not expected, a response to the one or more instructions is provided. If it is determined that one or more visual characteristics indicate that further speech input is expected, a response to the one or more instructions is not provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Rahul Nair, Golnaz Abdollahian, Avi Bar-Zeev, Niranjan Manjunath
  • Publication number: 20230419622
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to techniques for providing tangibility visualization of virtual objects within a computer-generated reality (CGR) environment, such as a CGR environment based on virtual reality and/or a CGR environment based on mixed reality. A visual feedback indicating tangibility is provided for a virtual object within a CGR environment that does not correspond to a real, tangible object in the real environment. A visual feedback indicating tangibility is not provided for a virtual representation of a real object within a CGR environment that corresponds to a real, tangible object in the real environment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 11, 2023
    Publication date: December 28, 2023
    Inventors: Alexis PALANGIE, Avi BAR-ZEEV