A new Apple patent application, first discovered by Patently Apple , may disclose the work on the input device for future VR headset company.
The Information and Bloomberg now says that Apple will release its VR headset in 2022 with colour camera for mixed reality. It is expected to be Autonomous, as the Oculus Quest from Facebook, but thinner, lighter, with higher resolution and more powerful.
Reports yet little is said about the input, but “The Information” is mentioned that Apple is exploring “a device resembling a thimble, which can be worn on the finger of a man.”
A patent application filed this week called “Samomassaza system gesture input based on interferometry, including wearable or portable device”, describes an input device consisting of two finger rings, is able “to track the movements of the user’s finger on any surface, including in some cases the surface of other finger, the palm of the user and so on”.
The documentation stated that the device “in some cases can be used to enter data into AR, VR or MR”.
Some believe that modern controllers virtual reality too complex, but hand tracking in itself devoid of any tactile sensations. Keep your hands in the air is not particularly comfortable. Oculus Quest from Facebook uses a squeezing gesture of the index finger , but if your finger is at the wrong angle or the room is poorly lit, it may not work.
In Apple’s patent describes a device that uses a method called samostirayuscheysya by interferometry (SMI). The device contains several of these SMI-sensors. Each of them emits a focused laser beam in the middle of the action. The beam is reflected from nearby objects back to the laser itself, which apparently prevents the light source. A photodetector measures the change “interferometric properties” of the world.
According to this sensor device, apparently, can detect the collision between the fingers, nearby objects, and even the nearby surfaces. Apple could potentially turn any surface into a usable space for tactile input.
In the archive, even provides an example of determining when the user holds the stylus, and may even provide useful information about what is drawn/written.
As always, it is important to note that patent applications rarely lead to real products. Companies such as Apple, explore the many products and technological approach, but implement only a small portion of these ideas.
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