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Crazy patent shows how future iPhones could actually copy… the Fire Phone?

Published Dec 9th, 2014 2:20PM EST

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Amazon’s Fire Phone has shown that consumers aren’t exactly clamoring to have 3D displays on their smartphones. However, 9to5Mac has spotted a new patent that Apple recently won that shows the company is working on iPhone technology that will incorporate 3D displays that bear a resemblance to the ones that are languishing in an Amazon warehouse somewhere right now.

RELATED: This might be Apple’s most incredible iPhone invention yet

Granted, what Apple has in mind sounds a lot more complex and interesting than what Amazon unleashed with the first-generation Fire Phone.

“As pictured in the patent drawings above, Apple’s patent describes 3D user interfaces that utilize ‘onboard sensors to automatically determine and display perspective projection of the 3D display environment based on the orientation data without the user physically (e.g., touching) the display,'” 9to5Mac explains. “In one scenario described in the patent, gestures ‘made a distance above a touch sensitive display’ are detected by proximity sensors built into a device.”

So in reality, this sounds a little bit like the future iPhone will be able to almost project a 3D image that you will be able to manipulate without touching the device’s display thanks to its Kinect-like sensors.

To learn more about this intriguing iPhone patent, read 9to5Mac’s full report by clicking the source link below.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.