Multi-user content sharing using anchors in 3D environments

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12470631-B1
Application number	US-202318127270-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Mar 28, 2023
Priority date	Mar 30, 2022
Publication date	Nov 11, 2025
Grant date	Nov 11, 2025

Abstract

Various implementations provide advantages of real-world environments, such as real-world office spaces in which workers have desks or office spaces located within the same floor, hallway, common area, etc., in remote circumstances. Communications sessions between the devices of remote users share content amongst the users. This may involve sharing audio content so that the users can talk to one another or hear the real or virtual sounds from one another's areas (e.g., offices). This may involve sharing visual content of the users, their avatars, or real or virtual objects so that the users can see one another and objects within one another's areas. Some implementations determine to initiate or continue sharing content based on one more criterion. A communication session between users or the sharing of content within a communication session may be initiated or continued based on a spatial relationship amongst anchors of users within a common coordinate system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
at a device having a processor:
determining a relationship between a first anchor associated with a first user operating a first device and a second anchor associated with a second user operating a second device, wherein the first anchor and the second anchor are positioned within a same coordinate system, and wherein at least one of the first anchor or the second anchor corresponds to an area or furnishing within the coordinate system;
determining that the relationship between the first anchor and the second anchor satisfies criterion, wherein the criterion comprises a spatial or clustering requirement; and
automatically initiating a communication session involving sharing content between the first device and the second device based on the relationship satisfying the criterion and a user activity.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the first user and second user are within a same physical environment and the relationship comprises a spatial distance in the same physical environment between the first anchor and the second anchor; or wherein the first user and second user are within separate physical environments and the relationship comprises a spatial distance in a virtual environment between the first anchor and the second anchor.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
a location of the first anchor corresponds to a location of the first user, the first device, a physical desk of the first user, a physical office space of the first user, a virtual avatar of the first user, a virtual desk of the first user, or a virtual office space of the first user; and a location of the second anchor corresponds to a location of the second user, the second device, a physical desk of the second user, a physical office space of the second user, a virtual avatar of the second user, a virtual desk of the second user, or a virtual office space of the second user.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the relationship between the first anchor and the second anchor comprises determining whether the first user and second user are both within a same cluster, wherein the cluster is a predefined group of users or locations in which users can visit within a shared physical or a shared virtual environment.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the relationship between the first anchor and the second anchor satisfies the criterion comprises:
determining whether the first anchor is within a threshold distance of the second anchor; or determining whether the first anchor is within a region of the second anchor.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein sharing content comprises:
sharing virtual content defined for a virtual desk of the first user or the second user with the other of the first user or second user; or sharing audio captured by a microphone or video captured by a camera of the first device or the second device with the other of the first device or second device.

7 . The method of claim 1 further comprising, based on the relationship satisfying the criterion:
determining whether the content is to be shared;
identifying which content is to be shared; or
configuring an attribute of the content.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication session involving sharing content between the first device and the second device is based on determining a volume level of speech of the user.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication session involving sharing content between the first device and the second device is based on determining whether a do-not-disturb indicator is active for the user.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication session involving sharing content between the first device and the second device is based on determining that the content item to be shared is of a particular type.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication session involving sharing content between the first device and the second device is based on receiving a consent from the second user to initiate the communication session.

12 . A system comprising:
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium; and one or more processors coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprises program instructions that, when executed on the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations comprising: determining a relationship between a first anchor associated with a first user operating a first device and a second anchor associated with a second user operating a second device, wherein the first anchor and the second anchor are positioned within a same coordinate system, and wherein at least one of the first anchor or the second anchor corresponds to an area or furnishing within the coordinate system; determining that the relationship between the first anchor and the second anchor satisfies criterion, wherein the criterion comprises a spatial or clustering requirement; and automatically initiating a communication session involving sharing content between the first device and the second device based on the relationship satisfying the criterion and a user activity.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein:
the first user and second user are within a same physical environment and the relationship comprises a spatial distance in the same physical environment between the first anchor and the second anchor; or wherein the first user and second user are within separate physical environments and the relationship comprises a spatial distance in a virtual environment between the first anchor and the second anchor.

14 . The system of claim 12 , wherein:
a location of the first anchor corresponds to a location of the first user, the first device, a physical desk of the first user, a physical office space of the first user, a virtual avatar of the first user, a virtual desk of the first user, or a virtual office space of the first user; and a location of the second anchor corresponds to a location of the second user, the second device, a physical desk of the second user, a physical office space of the second user, a virtual avatar of the second user, a virtual desk of the second user, or a virtual office space of the second user.

15 . The system of claim 12 , wherein determining the relationship between the first anchor and the second anchor comprises determining whether the first user and second user are both within a same cluster, wherein the cluster is a predefined group of users or locations in which users can visit within a shared physical or a shared virtual environment.

16 . The system of claim 12 , wherein determining whether the relationship between the first anchor and the second anchor satisfies the criterion comprises:
determining whether the first anchor is within a threshold distance of the second anchor; or determining whether the first anchor is within a region of the second anchor.

17 . The system of claim 12 , wherein sharing content comprises:
sharing virtual content defined for a virtual desk of the first user or the second user with the other of the first user or second user; or sharing audio captured by a microphone or video captured by a camera of the first device or the second device with the other of the first device or second device.

18 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise, based on the relationship satisfying the criterion:
determining whether the content is to be shared; identifying which content

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Smith Connor A
• Lee Joanne

Classifications

• H04L67/52

  specially adapted for the location of the user terminal · CPC title

• H04L67/141 Primary

  Setup of application sessions (admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70) · CPC title