The industry patent watch reveals that Apple has filed patent applications that seek to patent certain user interface ideas for the iPhone, including the use of movement, vibration, and pleasure.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark office published two patents Thursday that give a glimpse into some of the user interface experimentation going on at Apple. These ideas hint at the future capabilities of iPhones and the look-and-feel aspects of future versions of Mac OS X. These applications show that Apple is investigating truly new and different user interface ideas, including motion-based function selection and multi-layered interface elements that change appearance during use, according to a story in The Register.

The first of the two applications, “Movement-based interfaces for personal media device,” describes how the functions of a handheld could be controlled by motion sensing performed by an internal “position, orientation, or movement (POM) sensor.” Essentially, it details a way to control a handheld device such as an iPhone or iPod without needing to look at its display.

The patent uses the example of a runner with a desire to change the tune playing on her iPod without having to take her eyes off her path, which could risk her running into a tree. Instead of taking a chance on breaking her nose, she could just grasp her iPod, which would tell it to awaken its POM and prepare it to accept a command. She would then move the device in a programmed pattern that the iPod would be translated into a request to skip to the next song.

The second patent application, titled “Varying user interface element based on movement,” describes how a multi-layered graphical interface element, such as a scroll bar, could change appearance in response manipulations by a user. This filing centers on what it refers to as providing a “more aesthetically pleasing” GUI, hinting at manipulation via pleasure.

In an example contained in the application, a scroll bar could change appearance, while it was being moved, in such as way as to indicate the direction in which it is being moved. The application focuses largely on scroll bars, but also discusses windows, buttons, scroll bars, icons, sliders, tabs, toolbars, and so on. In addition to user input, the filing also describes how the same multi-layered system could be used to modify GUI elements based on the time of day, how long the computer has been in use or idle, or in response to any other condition.

The patent applications are not limited to just computers and handheld devices. They are also written to cover “servers, electronics, media players, game devices, mobile phones, smart phones, email devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), embedded devices, televisions, other consumer electronic devices, set top boxes, etc.” Thats quite an array of devices to consider for a company that started building as-yet-unknown “personal computers” in a garage.

Related:

Entry was posted on Friday, April 3rd, 2009 at 2:24 pm under News, iPhone, iPod Touch.  Print This Post

Read more entries by Michael W. Jones.
Stumble It!