Apple to remain light years ahead of the competition!
New patent describes copy and paste via voice input/MT, motion
sensors/Multi-Touch, visual data/MT fusion.
Apple is looking beyond Multi-Touch
http://digg.com/apple/Apple_Multi_To..._Force_Sensors
When it was first introduced in January 2007, iPhone’s Multi-Touch
interface was a real breakthrough in operation of small portable
devices.
Now, if the ideas sketched out in a new Apple patent application
“Multitouch data fusion” are implemented, we may soon see another
qualitative leap in the usability of user interfaces in various
computing devices.
Multi-Touch (MT) interface is perfectly good for many of the device
control and operation functions. But on-screen 2D object manipulation
has some inherent limitations too, and there are quite a few actions
that can be done better by other input means. And electronic devices
that use MT, usually have quite a few of these other input means. That
can include cameras, microphones, accelerometers, biometric sensors,
temperature sensors, etc;.
What Apple is proposing in it’s patent app, is to fuse these secondary
input means with Multi-Touch to improve the overall user interface.
And it gives quite a few examples of how to do that.
E.g. fusing voice input and multitouch can significantly improve image
editor capabilities:
Snipped from long article at
http://www.unwiredview.com/2008/09/0...d-multi-touch/
REDEFINING THE PC
Camera can also easily track your eye movements and provide the “gaze
vector data” to the device. Fusing gaze vector data with multi-touch
gestures can be used for selecting active windows on screen, control
of the cursor movements and other operations we currently use a mouse
for.
When Multi-touch, finger identification and gaze vector data are
combined it could be used to create an input device that may spell a
doom for our usual keyboard and mouse very soon.
Visual data can also be used to interpret your facial expressions. If
you get stuck trying to perform some task the frustration may show-up
on your face. Your device may understand that and provide some help:
…let’s say that the user is trying to scroll through a document using
a two-finger vertical movement (gesture). Scrolling, however, is not
working for him because he is unknowingly touching the surface with
three fingers instead of the required two. He becomes frustrated with
the “failure” of the device. However, in this case, the system
recognizes the frustration and upon analyzing the multi-touch movement
data concludes he is trying to scroll with three fingers. At this
point, the device could bring the extra-finger problem to the
attention of the user or it could decide to ignore the extra finger
and commence scrolling. Subsequent emotional data via facial
recognition would confirm to the system that the correct remedial
action was taken.
These are just a few of the possibilities described in patent app.
Some of them, like facial expression/MT combination may be pretty far
off. But many others, like voice input/MT, motion sensors/Multi-Touch,
visual data/MT fusion are technically feasible already.
Patent Applied For Copy Paste Using “Multitouch data fusion”
Linear Mode
