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It could mean the end of the TV remote - and even the computer keyboard.

Apple has been granted a patent for 'Minority Report'-style 3D gesture controls.

The system uses a 3D camera to track movement, and use it to control an on screen interface - which could be a computer or the much anticipated Apple TV.

Apple's US Patent 8933876 relates to 'three dimensional user interface session control' - and in this image, the system is being used with a computer to control an on screen interface.

Tom Hanks in Minority Report, which predicted gesture control systems

It was announced late last year that Apple bought  Israeli company Primesense, which developed Microsoft's Kinect sensor, for around $350 million dollars

A representative for PrimseSense confirmed the deal at the time, but so far Apple has only said: 'Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.' 

Although Apple hasn't announced what they'll be using motion-sensor technology for, industry insiders have already begin throwing around ideas - including a rumored Apple manufactured television,

The latest US Patent No. 8933876 relates to 'three dimensional user interface session control.'  

The diagrams included in the patent show the technology being used to control a desktop computer. 

But it could also be applied to Apple TV, or to Apple's iOS devices.

It also details how users would interact.

For example, in a scenario invoking a soft bar (shown in the illustration above as a system dock), a user raises their hand to unlock and activate motion tracking. 

In 2013, the Cupertino company bought the Israeli startup PrimeSense for a reported £360 million — one of its largest acquisitions at the time. PrimeSense had previously helped Microsoft develop its motion-sensing Kinect technology.

If the user drops their hand out of the sensing hardware's field of view, the session is likewise dropped, with the example soft bar falling offscreen. 

The patent suggests users could unlock their Macs by 'swiping' upward in the air. 

In 2013 Apple was also granted a patent for a 3D camera.

The patent details a system capable of capturing low-resolution images that can be refocused even after they've been taken and processed.

A 3D camera - which Apple has also patented - tracks a user's hand

The patent application also reveals the same system being used to control a TV - perhaps the much anticipated Apple TV?

It would do this by capturing the whole light field of an image, similar to the technology seen in Lytro cameras, meaning the shots appear in 3D rather than 2D. 

According to patent papers, which were originally filed in 2011, photographers could take an image and change the main area of focus numerous times to produce different shots.

These images would be taken through what's called a microlens array.

According to Apple's patent, this array would be detachable and could be removed when the user wanted to take a traditional high-resolution photo.

A similar array is already used in Lytro's Light Field Cameras.