Apple has filed for a patent for an “Input Device” that involves a new type of computer input device for Macs and iPads.
About the patent filing
The patent filing hints at a device that can response differently if it’s tilted to one sight or if it’s rotated. Conventional computer user input devices include mechanical buttons for data selection and command execution.
The mechanical buttons are disposed near the top front portion of the user input device creating a unidirectional user interaction. In Apple said that, however, conventional input devices are limited in the type and number of input gestures, button presses, or movements available to the user for controlling a computing device or one or more software applications thereof.
In addition, as the variety and complexity of software applications grow and vary, from word processors to video editing programs and from computer coding to computer aided design for engineering applications, conventional input devices fall short of providing a corresponding variety of possible input commands detected and sent by the input device, the tech giant added.
For example, the pressing of mechanical buttons and the translation of the input device across a surface in two-dimensions can be inefficient for controlling and manipulating images and objects in video or music editing software programs or three-dimensional design in CAD software, according to Apple.
Learning how to navigate and control such programs can be non-intuitive and difficult. Apple said that “for these and other reasons, there is a constant need for improvements to input devices.”
Summary of the patent filing
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent filing: “A computer system can include an input device having a housing defining an internal volume. The housing can include a grip portion and a base portion defining an aperture. The computer system can also include a tilt sensor disposed in the internal volume, a position sensor disposed at the aperture, and a processor.
“The processor can be electrically coupled to the position sensor, the tilt sensor, and a memory component storing electronic instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive a first input from the tilt sensor, receive a second input from the position sensor, determine, based on the first and second inputs, if the base is in contact with a support surface and an angle of the base relative to the support surface. The processor can also output a signal based on the angle if the base is in contact with the support surface.”
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