Apple Patent Hints at Motion-Sensing, Apple TV Gaming

In November 2006, Apple filed a patent hinting at a gaming console. A particularly interesting aspect about it was a three-dimensional remote control system that could detect an absolute location to which a remote control was pointing in three orthogonal axes (x, y and z-axis), much like Nintendo's Wii Remote. The respective patent has only been published this week, sources inform. It is believed that Apple's digital media receiver, the Apple TV, might just be the device to make use of this motion-sensing remote.

First and second orthogonal axes (horizontal and vertical) are the x- and y-axes. A third orthogonal axis determines an absolute position of the remote control (in space). That's commonly referred to as "the z-axis." Combining the three, a system like Nintendo's Wii can detect changes in the position of the remote control as a user moves it around.

The filing, which obviously refers to the Apple TV, according to the AppleInsider website, states: "[The] remote control system also can include optional console. Console can have controller that can perform some or all of the processing described for controller. Console also can have one or more connectors to which accessories can be coupled. Accessories can include cables and/or, game cartridges, portable memory devices (e.g., memory cards, external hard drives, etc.), adapters for interfacing with another electronic device (e.g., computers, camcorders, cameras, media players, etc.), or combinations thereof."

The same patent talks about "the absolute x- and y-positions of [the] remote control", saying it "can be used, for example, in video games to position a user's character or to otherwise track the movement of the remote control in a user's environment." Yup, that's what the Wii does, alright. However, Apple's motion-sensing remote control can also "zoom into and out of an image or a portion thereof based on the absolute position of the remote control in the third axis."

Just like the aforementioned source notes, this would work perfectly with browsing photos on your Apple TV. It would also be great to be to be able to zoom in and out of an image during a video if you set the system to do just that, when you move the remote towards and away from the Apple TV, which Apple will, undoubtedly, implement as a feature, should this patent materialize.

It has long been suggested that Apple's set-top-box would eventually employ gaming capabilities, just like the iPod did later after it was released.