The Apple Watch already responds to various movements by the person wearing it. However, a newly granted patent for “Interacting With An Electronic Device Through Physical Movement” shows the company is looking into ways to take this a step further.
About the patent
In the patent Apple says that reduced-size electronic devices (e.g., devices that are smaller than typical cellular phones such as smart watches) that are configured to be worn by a user can allow a user to view and respond to various types of alerts, such as text messages, emails, voicemails, and calendar alerts. User interfaces that enable a reduced-size electronic device to be efficiently used for viewing and responding to alerts are desirable.
However, Apple says that some such techniques for “are generally cumbersome and inefficient. For example, some existing techniques use a complex and time-consuming user interface, which can include multiple button presses or finger touches. In the case of devices worn on a user’s arm (e.g., a smart watch) operation of the device via a touchscreen interface effectively requires the use of both of the users hands, restricting their use for other purposes. What’s more,, existing techniques require more time than necessary, wasting user time and device energy.
The newly granted patent is for methods of providing electronic devices with faster, more efficient methods and interfaces for interacting with the devices without touching display screens or other physical input mechanisms. Such methods and interfaces optionally complement or replace other methods for interacting with the devices. And Apple says such methods and interfaces “reduce the cognitive burden on a user and produce a more efficient human-machine interface.”
Summary of the patent
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “The present disclosure generally relates to interacting with an electronic device without touching a display screen or other physical input mechanisms. In some examples, the electronic device performs an operation in response to a positioning of a user’s hand and/or an orientation of the electronic device.”
I hope you’ll help support Apple World Today by becoming a patron. Patreon pricing ranges from $2 to $10 a month. Thanks in advance for your support.
