( WIRED ) -- Forget relying solely on touch to control your Apple device . On future iPads , you may be able to control your tablet from across the room using 3-D gestures , such as a swirl or swipe of the hand . As suggested by a newly uncovered Apple patent , you would be able to manipulate and control graphical elements on your display , such as icons , media files , text and images . The gestures themselves could take many forms : geometric shapes ( e.g. , a half-circle or square ) , symbols ( like a check mark or question mark ) , the letters of the alphabet , and other sorts of predetermined patterns . One interesting application the patent highlights is video annotation and editing via a gesture-based toolbar . The toolbar would provide pre-set options for beginners , but would also allow more advanced users to customize their own gestures . A previously discovered patent indicates that Apple could be working on an integrated projector for iDevices that would incorporate physical gestures as a method to manipulate a projected image . This newer patent , however , focuses more on the gestures themselves and other ways they could be used to control onscreen images and video . There 's no mention of Siri or combining voice control with physical gestures . The 3-D gesture-capturing method would employ a device 's front-facing camera . The iPad 2 , iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S all include a front-facing camera , so if Apple , say , decided to integrate this feature in an upcoming version of iOS , it 's possible that legacy iDevice models could employ the technology as well . That said , the patent does suggest that older iPhones may not have enough processing power for the gesture-capturing workload , as it shows a way to transfer video from the iPhone to an iPad for more advanced editing options . The patent pre-defines a number of gestures , such as ones for facial recognition , a selection gesture and a pointing gesture ( to identify a specific section of an onscreen image ) . The patent was originally filed in mid-2010 . Subscribe to WIRED magazine for less than $ 1 an issue and get a FREE GIFT ! Click here ! Copyright 2011 Wired.com .
On future iPads , you may be able to control your tablet from across the room . 3-D gestures could be in geometric shapes , symbols , letters or patterns . Comment: Older iPhones may not have enough processing power for the gesture-capturing .