gestures
While accelerometers and gyros are generally the way that smartwatches detect hand movements, a new release patent He hints that Apple may be considering scanning veins on his wrist through the Apple Watch to detect non-tactile gestures in the future.
First seen by AppleInsider, the patent describes a scenario in which a device with one or more sensors to “capture one or more images of the user’s hand” and then use those images to determine the positions of the veins in that user’s hand. From these “venous postures”, theoretically you could interpret gestures or finger positions.
The patent was originally filed in August 2018, but these days, contactless gestures seem like a good idea given the global pandemic. And as explained in the patent background, non-touch gestures could actually be useful in terms of accessibility, as there may be times when a user is unable to speak or does not want or can use touch inputs to control a device. (Let’s say you’re cooking and your hands are covered in dirty dirt.)
Current Apple watches could be able to do this kind of thing already. In addition to the typical green light used by most wrist-based wearable devices, the Apple Watch Optical Heart Sensor you can also use infrared, and both sensors are referenced in the patent. If you are unfamiliar with how the watch currently uses these sensors, in a nutshell, they are used to detect the amount of blood flowing through your wrist and therefore calculate heart related metrics. So it’s not entirely far-fetched to think that the Apple Watch’s optical sensor could also be used to scan veins. That said, it may not be accurate enough on its own, as the patent suggests using additional sensors embedded in the strap or even a camera.
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In addition to its typical gesture-related technology, this could be useful for AR and VR. From Apple interest in AR it’s an open secret at this point, and using the Apple Watch for gesture control would be one way to do a Apple AR Headphones or a pair of smart glasses that are easier to adopt for skeptical consumers. Most AR headsets and smart glasses include some form of physical touch control in the form of gloves or discrete ring-shaped loops. However, they take a while to get used to and are a far cry from the manual movements you’d expect from science fiction movies like Minority Report.
The document primarily describes this technology in relation to a wrist-based wearable device, but there is no reason why it should not work with phones as well. The LG G8, for example, allows you to unlock the phone scanning the veins in your hand through an IR sensor. All you have to do is run your hand over the phone’s camera. That said, we have tried This feature And in practice, it’s a little more unreliable and difficult to use than you’d like.
As always, patents offer an idea of what a company might be exploring, but should not be seen as inevitable. Apple is constantly filing dozens of patents, many of which never see the light of day on a real product. On the other hand, some do. In any case, this particular patent is one of the coldest, if only because it pokes fun at a possible portable AR ecosystem.
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