Apple invention uses wrist gestures to control Apple Watch, iPhone

Apple invention uses wrist gestures to control Apple Watch, iPhone:

Force Touch gets redefined in the iPhone 6s with 3D Touch

Force Touch gets redefined in the iPhone 6s with 3D Touch:

Apple brought depth to its user interfaces with Force Touch, and Wednesday's launch of the iPhone 6s added another layer in the form of 3D Touch. AppleInsider looks at how it works and what you can do with it.

Apple's multitouch 'fusion keyboard' invention with multitouch keys could replace touchpads

Apple's multitouch 'fusion keyboard' invention with multitouch keys could replace touchpads:



'via Blog this'

Apple Patents Learning Computer Vision For Gesture Control | TechCrunch

TechCrunch Reports:

Apple has a new patent (via AppleInsider) for 3D gesture control, specifically describing the tech used to help a computer identify hand motions made by a user. The patent goes into detail about how the system can not only recognize gestures, but learn them so well that it can even spot them when part of the hand making the gesture is blocked or not visible by the camera, leading to greater accuracy overall.

Apple Patents Learning Computer Vision For Gesture Control | TechCrunch:

Apple new touchscreen tech would use IR light to discern hard presses from soft

Appleinsider reports that Apple new touchscreen tech would use IR light to discern hard presses from soft: "Apple's proposed invention, as described by a patent application published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday, uses frustrated total internal reflection in conjunction with other touch sensing technology to determine how hard a user is pressing on a device screen. "

Apple patents headphones with 'head gesture' control

From recent Apple's patent filing report:

"As the activity monitor also incorporates accelerometers, Apple proposes a novel means of hands-free navigation involving head gestures. For example, users can change music tracks and adjust volume by tilting or rotating their head in predefined manners. To avoid accidental activation, a priming procedure like a button press may be used to initiate the gesture sequence." 

It was filled in 2007.

IK Multimedia brings spatial gesture controls to iOS with 'iRing'

IK Multimedia brings spatial gesture controls to iOS with 'iRing' (via AppleInsider).

It is using front-facing camera and special "ring" with easy to detect pictogram.
Far from groundbreaking but smart.

New 'Sensus' case adds pressure-sensitive touchpads to Apple's iPhone

AppleInsider reports that New 'Sensus' case adds pressure-sensitive touchpads to Apple's iPhone.

"The Sensus case uses a proprietary new touch detecton system that parent company Canopy calls Variable Pressure Technology. Canopy's technology differs from traditional capacitive and resistive touch sensors, the company says, because it combines both touch detection and force detection into a single, rubber-like surface. "

Apple patents accurate touch and hover panel, embedded heart rate monitor

Appleisider, our reliable Apple watchdog reports that Apple patents accurate touch and hover panel, embedded heart rate monitor.

The hovering part is described as:

A number of modern computing devices, like Apple's iPhone and iPad, incorporate touch-sensitive panels that enhance and define the user experience by affording unprecedented GUI manipulation and control. Some systems also incorporate what is known as "hover" controls, which allow users to interface with a device without actually touching it. 
Using specialized internal components, these touch sensitive devices can recognize an object hovering above a display panel, like a user's finger or stylus. Once a hover event has been detected, the device may process it as a touch event, handling subsequent actions according to the general rules of traditional touch input. For example, if a hover event occurs over a specific app, that app may be opened.

This capability is not new. Modern mobile phones equipped with proximity-sensitive touch screens include Samsung Galaxy S4 and Sony Xperia. Sony calls this feature “Floating Touch” while Samsung calls it “AirView.” This patent shows that Apple is considering incorporating this feature into their devices.

A team of researches from CMU which I was part of recently submitted a paper on a system implementing passive user authentication using proximity information. I will add the link to the paper to this post once it is published.

Apple patents tech for making curved touch surfaces, displays

Apple patents tech for making curved touch surfaces, displays:

"The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday awarded Apple a patent that describes a method for efficiently manufacturing curved touch surfaces, suggesting the company may be experimenting with curved iOS device displays."

Massive new Apple patent filing details multi-user support, trackpad controls with Touch ID

Massive new Apple patent filing details multi-user support, trackpad controls with Touch ID.

"Apple's first set of claims revolve around enabling the home button's Touch ID sensor to identify and process gestures, essentially acting as a miniature trackpad for navigating within and switching between applications"

(Via AppleInsider)

AppleInsider reports:

With its U.S. Patent No. 8,581,870 for "Touch-sensitive button with two levels," Apple may be on the verge of introducing a new form of input; one that could change the face of iOS.
While a majority of the patent refers to a "button," a notation buried near the end of the document points out that a touch screen operatively coupled to an actuator can be considered a "touch-sensitive depressible button".

Amazon planning 2014 smartphone with advanced 3D gesture & eye tracking input - source

AppleInsider reports:

Amazon's rumored flagship smartphone is said to include a total of six compact camera modules. Four of them are reportedly VGA cameras, located at the four corners of the device, that will allow for 3D gesture and eye tracking.

Robotic testing finds touchscreen inaccuracies at edge of iPhone display

Appleinsider reports: Robotic testing finds touchscreen inaccuracies at edge of iPhone display:

Agawi TouchMark contrasts iPad's fast screen response to laggy Android tablets

Appleinsider reports :

"Cross platform mobile ad vendor Agawi has released test results from its TouchMarks study of various tablets, including Microsoft's Surface, Amazon's Kindle and Amazon tablets by Nvidia, Samsung and Google's Nexus-branded tablet built by Asus." 

Apple investigating advanced velocity-sensitive touch input methods

AppleInsider reports new Apple's patent application they have spotted:

Apple's touchscreens can measure not only where you tap, but also how hard you tap — and that velocity sensing functionality may become even more advanced in the future, a new patent application reveals. The filing, entitled "System and Method for Enhancing Touch Input," describes a processing algorithm that would estimate the velocity of a touch input. The sensors within an iOS device or otherwise allow the system to determine velocity, even though the screen may not be pressure sensitive.

The patent abstract provides more technical detail:

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for processing user input. A system configured to practice the method first receives, via a touch screen of a computing device, input from a user. Then the system fetches data associated with the input from at least two sensors other than the touch screen and adjusts an input processing algorithm based on the input and the data to yield an adjusted input processing algorithm. Then the system can process the input according the adjusted input processing algorithm. The adjusted input processing algorithm can estimate a velocity of the input and/or filter out invalid inputs. The other sensors besides the touch screen can be an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a microphone, a Hall Effect sensor, a compass, an ambient light sensor, a proximity sensor, a camera, and/or a positioning system. The data can relate to the input based on a temporal relationship.

Apple experimenting with multitouch swipe gestures for keyboard in iOS

Appleinsider reports on Apple's U.S. Patent No. 8,542,206 for "Swipe gestures for touch screen keyboards". The patent deals in part with using various swipe-like gestures as keyboard input shortcuts.