Apple continues to explore ways to extend or improve the iMac, this time working on integrated technology to project the screen onto nearby surfaces such as walls.
Following its previous patent that proposed an iMac made with a single pane of glass, Apple is now considering using the walls to project the iMac display .
” Housing structures and input-output devices for electronic devices “, US patent no. 20200081492 , maintains that currently the frame of a device ” can be formed of unsightly materials or which hinder the operation of input-output devices “.
The solution proposed by Apple to ” unsightly ” materials is instead to use the surfaces around a computer , like a wall behind it. ” In some arrangements ,” says the patent, ” the electronic device can be equipped with projecting screens that help improve the area used to provide the user with visual output .”
While the patent drawings show an ordinary iMac projecting information behind it, Apple would be thinking of a method of ensuring that the device itself does not obstruct projection.
This could only mean that the back of the iMac is made of glass , but Apple suggests that the goal is to actually make the Mac invisible . However, some parts of the screen projected on the walls may be displayed on the Mac itself.
“Although some portions of the screen cannot be directly viewed, a camera on the back of the device or other sensors can capture an image of the entire screen which can be viewed in real time on the display perfectly aligned with the locked portions.”
This projection patent is credited to Paul X. Wang and Joshua P. Song, both of whom are also listed as inventors in the patent application that describes an iMac made from a single glass plate.
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