Apple Patent Filing: Remote Wand for Apple TV?

We've been hearing rumblings about a total retake of the Apple TV since last year, (they say 3's a charm) with a new Wii-like remote. A slew of patent application filings published on Friday show that Apple  is quite interested in such a device. Apple's "remote wand" first appeared in a patent filing last May and resurfaced again in early March with even more details. However, last Friday saw 5 new patent applications related to the remote wand and methods in which it would interact with electronic devices such as the Apple TV. For example, possible feature of the remote wand is the ability to take a person's finger print and load custom settings or preferences on the controlled device.

Interactive and dynamic screen saver for use in a media system

The electronic device may enable or access a screen saver mode in response to determining that the user has not provided inputs before a period of time lapsed. In some embodiments, the electronic device may provide an interactive screen saver. For example, the electronic device may display several selectable images, which may move or float across the display. In response to receiving a user selection of an image, the electronic device may display several listings for media items associated with the selected image. The user may then select a displayed listing to direct the electronic device to play back the selected media item associated with the selected listing without disabling or exiting the screen saver mode.

Scrolling displayed objects using a 3D remote controller in a media system

When an object is displayed by the electronic device, the user may zoom the display to access a more detailed view of the object.The user may also scroll several displayed objects. In some embodiments, the user may provide different instructions to scroll the objects in different manners. For example, the user may provide a first scrolling instruction to perform a fine scroll, and a second scrolling instruction to perform a coarse scroll.

Centering a 3D remote controller in a media system

In some embodiments, the user may wish to re-center the cursor. To do so, the user may select a centering option displayed on screen, provide a particular input using the input mechanism, or move the wand in a particular manner (e.g., swing the wand a particular number of times) to direct the motion detection component to provide an output associated with centering the wand to the electronic device. In some embodiments, the electronic device may detect when the wand is moving unintentionally (e.g., due to hand drift or the wand falling) and may automatically center the cursor or ignore initial subsequent wand movements to overcome the hand drift.

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Use of a remote controller Z-direction input mechanism in a media system

Motion Tracking User Interface

Scroll bar with video region in a media system