The US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) recently granted Apple a patent for a hovering technology that allows users to manipulate their dev...
The US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) recently granted Apple a patent for a hovering technology that allows users to manipulate their devices with their fingers or Apple Pencil.
The patent, titled "Devices, methods, and user interfaces for interacting with user interface objects via proximity-based and contact-based inputs," is designed to explore the use of a finger or Apple Pencil to access the screen and operate without touching the screen.
This hover-based gesture that does not depend on constant touch screens will undoubtedly offer users a whole fresh experience in control. Because in many cases, it needs to be solved by not touching the screen, such as the hands are disturbing or the position of the device is placed, cause the angle is not suitable for finger touch.
While some smart devices are currently supporting gesture control, the features are highly restricted and have not reached the level of universal use. Their problem is that traditional touch interfaces cannot function seamlessly. In addition, two sets of gesture schemes can be adopted by the touch screen and the non-contact screen, which improves the learning cost of the user.
In Apple's solution, one or more sensors are used to detect the proximity and contact intensity of an input object (such as a stylus or finger) above the surface of the screen and to see how far the stylus or finger is from the screen, the angle and position of the stylus and when to touch the screen with a specific intensity or pressure.
The patent also shows how to move an interface object around to monitor the stylus or finger's floating position to produce the same impact as a straight-contact screen.
Apple stated that the technology will support future iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, iMac, MacBook, MacBook, Magic Keyboard, and Magic Trackpad. Naturally, like in the case of previous technology patents, no guarantee exists that in future products or services Apple actually will reference the technology.
Image Via Cult of Mac
The patent, titled "Devices, methods, and user interfaces for interacting with user interface objects via proximity-based and contact-based inputs," is designed to explore the use of a finger or Apple Pencil to access the screen and operate without touching the screen.
This hover-based gesture that does not depend on constant touch screens will undoubtedly offer users a whole fresh experience in control. Because in many cases, it needs to be solved by not touching the screen, such as the hands are disturbing or the position of the device is placed, cause the angle is not suitable for finger touch.
While some smart devices are currently supporting gesture control, the features are highly restricted and have not reached the level of universal use. Their problem is that traditional touch interfaces cannot function seamlessly. In addition, two sets of gesture schemes can be adopted by the touch screen and the non-contact screen, which improves the learning cost of the user.
In Apple's solution, one or more sensors are used to detect the proximity and contact intensity of an input object (such as a stylus or finger) above the surface of the screen and to see how far the stylus or finger is from the screen, the angle and position of the stylus and when to touch the screen with a specific intensity or pressure.
The patent also shows how to move an interface object around to monitor the stylus or finger's floating position to produce the same impact as a straight-contact screen.
Apple stated that the technology will support future iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, iMac, MacBook, MacBook, Magic Keyboard, and Magic Trackpad. Naturally, like in the case of previous technology patents, no guarantee exists that in future products or services Apple actually will reference the technology.
Image Via Cult of Mac
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