Wired
From the patent information published by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Apple Watch may expand the range of operations with touchless gesture control in the future.
Patent content
Apple Insider reported that Apple acquired a patent entitled “Movement and Gesture Input from Wearable Devices” from the US Patent and Trademark Office on June 2, 2020, local time.
The outline of this patent is “Mounting myoelectric sensor on Apple Watch and how to utilize it”. If the myoelectric sensor is installed, it will be possible to read the biological signal generated with the movement of the muscle, and it will be possible to reflect it in the operation of Apple Watch, Apple Insider explains.
The movement of muscles is accompanied by biological signals, that is, electrical signals. The electrocardiogram (ECG) detects and displays the movement of the myocardium, which is the muscle that moves the heart = electrical signals in the myocardium.
What can you do?
According to the media, such a mechanism has already been used for motor control of artificial limbs using myoelectric sensors.In such devices, by controlling the motor of the artificial limb through the movement of muscles, the wrist and finger joints can be moved. It seems that has been realized.
It seems that the myoelectric sensor is installed on the Apple Watch band and the bottom of the Apple Watch body, and it is planned to detect not only the movement of the muscle on the surface of the arm but also the deep one without missing it.
The biometric signal captured by this sensor is combined with the information from the accelerometer built into the Apple Watch itself, which is the user’s intentional movement accompanied by acceleration, “a gesture operation command to the wearable device by the movement of the wrist. It is useful for analyzing and judging whether or not it is a minute biological signal that accompanies a simple life activity.
AppleInsider explains that reducing the false detection of gesture operation also leads to the reflection of accurate gesture input operation based on the user’s intention.
We already have some touchless gesture control
Apple Watch has already adopted touchless gesture control using an acceleration sensor, and even if you do not say “Hey Siri” in models newer than Apple Watch Series 3 equipped with watchOS 5 or later, you can use Apple Watch Just bring it and Siri will respond.
If a myoelectric sensor is installed, it will be possible to read muscle movements in addition to acceleration, and it is expected that the range of touchless gesture control that combines the two will expand.
AppleInsider says that if this is realized, it will be possible to substitute by gesture control even if the Watch body cannot be operated due to carrying luggage in both hands.
Expected to continue to evolve greatly
In addition to touchless gesture control, the following new technologies are likely to be installed in Apple Watch in the future, the following are rumored.
The combination of Apple Watch Series 6 and watchOS7, which is expected to be released this fall, may provide a blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) measurement function, and research is conducted to explore further possibilities for the future. You can also check the situation from the status of patent application and approval.
Is the new technology in Apple products first adopted in Apple Watch?
In addition to expanding healthcare related functions, Apple Watch has the position of the most innovative device among Apple products, such as rumor that it will have a micro LED display ahead of the iPhone, rumor that it has a display embedded Touch ID etc. , I’m supposed to take the place of the iPhone.
Source:USPTO (2019), (2020) via AppleInsider, Fukuda Denshi
Photo:Concepts iPhone/YouTube
(FT729)
Source: iPhone Mania