Apple has been granted with a new patent on Tuesday, 2nd February 2016 by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that avails the a design with multi-touch display technology in beyond the plane. To say simply, it allows the user to experience 3D touch which provides new input options for the user.
Three-Dimensional access to the screen
This feature requires the measure of pressure and presence of the object (used for giving input) from the screen in opposite direction.
‘Proximity and multi-touch sensor detection and demodulation’ is the title of the patent stating, “The use of one or more proximity sensors in combination with one or more touch sensors in a multi touch panel to detect the presence of a finger, body part or other object and control or trigger one or more functions in accordance with the “image” of touch provided by the sensor outputs is disclosed”
This technology or feature allows the user to move to virtual buttons into air, press them and access the content on the screen without touching the screen, control the functionalities of the phone without touching the screen.
The patent also states about the inclusion of Infrared LED’s and photodiodes which is required in its design to capture the generated LED light bounced off user’s finger and hence gives the output accordingly. To mention in one statement, the technology works with the combination of IR proximity sensors providing a complete “image” of touch inputs by delivering hover gesture detection.
By this patent we can’t confirm that the company uses it in its next coming products, but we can make sure that we need to wait for experiencing this feature to be released by the Apple, as other companies can’t use it as Apple made it a patent.
