You can apply for a patent. The Patent Law stipulates that as long as the technical solution can be implemented and realized by those skilled in the field, you can apply for a patent. Therefore, the question is not whether the technical solution is a physical object, but whether the technical solution can be truly realized and transformed into a physical object. You can write your idea into a technical briefing and ask the patent agent to expand and add technical solutions to you, and then you can apply. If it is software, just write it as a virtual device when writing the patent. For example, I add GPS when filming, so that my location can be displayed in the video I filmed. But I have not actually completed this physical object, so as long as my technical solution can be technically realized, I can apply for an invention patent. Device claims can be written virtually as camera module, geographical information acquisition module, display module, etc. This way of writing virtual devices is commonly used in communications and electricity, and judging from my practical experience, it can indeed be authorized. Let’s take another real example: MSN chat tool. Microsoft is currently applying for a patent technology that allows you to automatically say a sentence to all your friends (or the friends you designate) when you are offline on the chat tool. If you want to go offline and say goodbye. This is more polite, and you don't have to say polite words like "I'm going offline, 88" from friend to friend. The system will automatically determine whether you are going offline. If so, it will send a message to your friends to indicate that you are offline. This is also virtual, but people are also applying for patents, and if it meets the three characteristics of the patent, it can also be authorized.