US 11,294,422 · real patent
The Invisible Camera
What it does: Lets a camera take pictures through the phone screen — no hole, no notch, just glass.
Where you’d meet it: iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
For curious minds · ages 10 and up
14 inventions (a.k.a. superpowers).
Every inventor collects ideas. Here are 14 of Manohar’s — each one a real patent, explained like you’re ten. A patent is how inventors call dibs: you write down exactly how your invention works, and the world agrees the idea was yours.
The collection
Pick a superpower.
US 2018/0082482 · real patent
Eyes In and Out
What it does: A headset display with sensors that watch the room and watch you — at the same time.
Where you’d meet it: AR and VR headsets.
US 11,217,021 · real patent
The Screen That Sees
What it does: Builds cameras and sensors right into the screen itself, so the display becomes an input too.
Where you’d meet it: Future phones.
US 10,817,594 · real patent
Your Wrist Is the Password
What it does: A watch camera that recognizes you by the pattern of veins in your wrist — no touching anything.
Where you’d meet it: Future smartwatches.
US 10,657,957 · real patent
Photos You Can Refocus
What it does: Records not just light but the direction light is traveling — so you can change the focus after taking the picture.
Where you’d meet it: Special light-field cameras.
US 11,550,408 · real patent
The Color Detective
What it does: A pen that points at anything — a leaf, a shirt — and captures its exact color.
Where you’d meet it: Drawing styluses.
WO 2024/238704 · real patent
Building the Headset
What it does: Designs for wearing an entire display on your face.
Where you’d meet it: Vision Pro and friends.
US 2025/0181155 · real patent
Eyes Without a Camera
What it does: Figures out where you’re looking with no camera at all — just the display itself.
Where you’d meet it: Future headsets.
WO 2026/072497 · real patent
The Screen Is the Sensor
What it does: Weaves tiny light-sensors into the screen so the display can watch your eyes from inside itself.
Where you’d meet it: Future screens.
WO 2016/097470 · real patent
Blurry Backgrounds Before They Were Cool
What it does: Teamed a main camera with helper cameras to blur photo backgrounds — two years before Portrait mode existed.
Where you’d meet it: Every phone camera today.
US 10,089,740 · real patent
Cleaning Up 3D Vision
What it does: Math that scrubs the noise out of 3D depth maps from light-field cameras.
Where you’d meet it: 3D cameras.
US 9,898,856 · real patent
No More Stretched Faces
What it does: Uses depth to un-stretch faces at the edges of wide-angle selfies. His most-cited invention!
Where you’d meet it: Your phone’s front camera.
US 9,170,580 · real patent
Robot Choreography
What it does: Math for planning the smoothest possible moves for robots with extra joints.
Where you’d meet it: Robots.
US 2012/0068927 · real patent
The Twisty Mouse
What it does: A computer mouse that can sense twisting, not just sliding — his earliest invention on record.
Where you’d meet it: Computer input devices.
Want the grown-up details? Every patent number links to the full text in the grown-up Inventions page.