Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Future iMac with built-in projector could extend its display onto nearby walls

No, you don’t need multiples displays, but you will only need a housing wall behind your computer screen. In a new patent published by Apple, the company explores new and specific ways to improve the iMacs of the future with the possibility of extending the screen on the back wall.

It seems that Paul X. Wang and Joshua P. Song (two engineers who imagined the iMac in a sheet of glass) decided to give free rein to their imagination with an iMac that can project all or part of its screen, directly on a Wall. According to the patent, Apple is seeking to use flat surfaces around a stationary computer, such as “a wall behind it.”

The new iMac is said to have side projectors and other optical sensors that project two virtual monitors onto the nearby wall, so as to create an extension of the desktop without having to buy any other equipment. This can improve productivity and working comfort as it allows more information to be displayed at once. It will help them to keep multiple apps and websites open while they work.

“The rear housing wall may have a glass portion or other transparent structure through which projectors project images onto nearby surfaces and through which image sensors and other optical sensors receive light,” the patent, titled “Housing Structures and Input-Output Devices For Electronic Devices,” explains.

“The housing may be supported by a stand. An electrical component in the stand may interact with an electronic device on the stand. Wireless circuitry in an external item may wirelessly couple to wireless circuitry within the housing.”

However, it should be noted that this patent may never become a product, like many other Apple patents, but it is certainly good to know that Apple is actively exploring new iMac features and designs.