Apple Patents a Touch Panel
It's no secret that Apple is researching three-dimensional technology; I recall that in late 2014 the company patented a 3D interface for the iPhone. Now they're reportedly working on a thinner touch panel that would also be capable of detecting 3D gestures in the air, which, in my opinion, would be something like augmented reality.
We all know that Apple holds many patents , but lately, we've noticed that several of them focus on displays. In October, Apple secured a patent for flexible displays, leading us to believe they might use it in future generations of the iPhone or even the Apple Watch.
Now, Apple is looking to go a step further with its new pressure-sensitive input method, known as Force Touch technology, or as I believe it's more accurately described, augmented reality, since we don't yet have the technology we see in movies. I think that in the future they could create something that allows users to make hand gestures in front of the device without having to touch the screen.
Apple patents a 3D air gesture system for touch panels
They filed two new patents last week with the United States Patent and Trademark Office related to touch panels. The first, titled “Touch and Hover Sensor Compensation,” describes how the device can use multiple sensors together to detect movement and gestures on a screen from a distance.
"Air gestures" are three-dimensional movements that could open up new ways for users to interact with a device.
The second patent relates to a thinner touch panel.
On the other hand, the second patent registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office is titled “On-Cell Touch Architecture .” It describes how to make touch panels for devices like the iPhone or iPad even thinner.
This patent not only mentions their intention to create an even thinner touchscreen than what's currently available, but it also discusses 3D air gestures . Apple states that some capacitive touch detection systems require electric fields to detect not only what's being touched on the screen, but also fingertips moving beyond the screen's surface.
The patent description states that "objects approaching close to the surface can be detected near the surface without touching the screen . "
Both patents were discovered by AppleInsider , especially considering that in 2013 Apple acquired PrimeSense for $360 million, a company known worldwide for creating the technology used by Microsoft's first-generation Kinect sensor . This technology detects the user's movements to control games on the Xbox 360 console.
Perhaps they could include some kind of advanced motion input in the next generation of Apple TV. Thanks to these capabilities, users could control the Apple TV without having to use the remote, iPhone, or any other accessory.
