After the raging success that the Double Tap gesture for commanding its Watch has become, Apple apparently has other big plans for granular gesture controls of its timepiece. It has now filed a patent that envisions a set of electrodes embedded in the Apple Watch bands that will help the wearer control it without false positives from other type of body movements.
In the beginning of the patent filing, unearthed by Apple Insider, the Watch maker goes through all possible interface navigation and command types for electronic devices, including buttons, keyboards, mice, trackball, joysticks, touch sensors, touchscreens, and even voice commands and accelerometer commands that result from moving or shaking the device itself.
It then moves to bodily movements, including eye gaze or hand gestures. In addition, movement can be detected by touch and proximity sensors, or even a set of cameras like on the Apple Vision Pro AR/VR headset, as well as by more exotic contraptions like gloves or wand controllers. All of these, it argues, have inherent limitations, from limited detection range, to social acceptability.
Apparently that is why it is now proposing a method for precise and unobtrusive gesture control of the Apple Watch via its attached wristband and electrodes detecting hand motion sequences:
Electrodes that can be formed in a flexible band of a wrist-worn device to detect hand gestures are disclosed. Multiple rows of electrodes can be configured to detect electromyography (EMG) signals produced by activity of muscles and tendons. The band can include removable electrical connections (e.g., pogo pins) to enable the electrode signals to be routed to processing circuitry in the housing of the wrist-worn device. Measurements between signals from the active electrodes and one or more reference electrodes can be obtained to capture EMG signals at a number of locations on the band. The measurement method and mode of operation (lower power coarse detection or higher power fine detection) can determine the location and number of electrodes to be measured. These EMG signals can be processed to identify hand movements and recognize gestures associated with those hand movements.
Apple patent N12056285, August '24
Apple is envisioning all kinds of hand gestures that can be detected by the electrodes in the Watch band and make it react accordingly.
Apple Watch gesture commands patent" | Image credit – Apple
These range from the clutching of fingers to making wave gestures, though we fail to see how would those be less dorky and more subtle than the Double Tap gesture in social circumstances. The Apple Watch accessibility options now allow such gestures to command it anyway. Making a fist could stop the Apple Watch alarm, for instance, and the movement works, as evidenced by its inclusion in the patent filing schematics here.
It remains to be seen if such a gesture control suite aided by electrodes in the Apple Watch band will get wider recognition and acceptance, but at least Apple is trying to make the whole process less dorky and more precise.
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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.
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