By : TODAY
Source : http://www.todayonline.com
Category : Patent News
CALIFORNIA - Apple has applied for patents on an advanced stylus that will sense movement and provide feedback when it passes specific points on screen.
The patents, which were announced yesterday by the United States Patent & Trademark Office, were filed a few months after the original iPad launch in 2010 and show that Apple is considering potentially adding an iPen to its current range of accessories.
An Apple stylus would be a change of direction for the company, whose former CEO, the late Steve Jobs, condemned the accessory in 2007.
The California-based tech giant's patents suggest that the stylus would be able to sense the amount of pressure the user is applying, as well as the angle the user is holding the stylus at, and change what their touch screen devices show. For example, an artist could apply more pressure to the stylus to draw a thicker line.
Similarly the stylus would also be able to provide the user with feedback, such as a vibration, "when the device is over, near or passes the boundary of a window or application." According to Apple's patent this could be used to "emulate the sensation of moving a pen across a smooth surface while a lower frequency signal may emulate the feel of moving a pen across a rougher surface."
Interestingly the patent also references that the stylus would be able to work in mid-air, without actually coming into contact with a touch-screen device, with the use of inbuilt accelerometers and gyroscopes. THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
Source : http://www.todayonline.com/Technology/EDC120528-0000075/Apple-applies-for-patents-on-advanced-stylus--Report
