In April 2019 Apple was granted a patent for a scanning depth engine. Apple's patent covered their invention related to methods and devices for projection and capture of optical radiation, and particularly to optical 3D mapping. The mapping apparatus includes a transmitter, which is configured to emit a beam including pulses of light, and a scanner, which is configured to scan the beam, within a predefined scan range, over a scene. An image from that patent is presented below. The application shown was related to a depth scanner associated with a gaming console. Apple filed a continuation patent for this invention in late June 2019.
Today the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple titled "Calibration of a depth sensing array using color image data," that's a part of Apple's depth scanning device project that stems from Apple's engineers in Israel. The engineers were originally from PrimeSense, a company Apple acquired. Some of their technology helped to invent Face ID.
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This is a highly technical invention that engineers and developers will appreciate. To review the deeper details, see patent application 20210208262 here.
ref.: https://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2021/07/apple-patent-reveals-an-improved-depth-mapping-scanning-engine-for-use-in-future-devices.html