Not all of Apple’s patents are focused on turning the iPhone into something as worthy as a next-gen medical data gathering device. A newly-published document reveals that Apple has considered an invention that would allow iPhone customers to use their handsets for a quick game of laser tag.
Essentially it would work by using the iPhone’s accelerometer — used to tell the orientation of your handset — along with its Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular capabilities, plus Apple’s in-door mapping tools, to set up multiplayer games in which players can compete against one another.
By creating a network between two or more devices, it would be possible to transmit information about exactly where an iPhone was pointed for point-scoring.
Photo: Apple/USPTO
While no Apple patent is ever guaranteed to make it as a product that actually ships, I would suggest that this invention’s likelihood of happening exactly as described here — similar to the other recent gaming patent which saw an arcade-style joystick hidden in an iPhone’s home button — is slim. Apple first filed the patent way back in August 2012, just before the launch of the iPhone 5.
However, Apple has since developed the idea of an accelerometer-based game controller in the form of the Siri remote for the fourth-gen Apple TV.
Personally, I like the idea that this particular laser tag invention was something a few Apple employees dreamed up on a lazy Friday afternoon; only to have to pretend it’s part of a serious investigation when they’re accidentally discovered running around Apple HQ by Tim Cook or some other member of the executive team.
Source: USPTO
Via: Patently Apple
