The Apple Pencil Professional was unveiled in Could 2024 with customized haptic response, a ‘squeeze’ operate, and a built-in gyroscope. It’s at the moment the flagship stylus obtainable to clients who need to use a writing accent with their iPad. Apple’s stylus at the moment wants a contact delicate floor for enter, however this won’t be a requirement sooner or later. The corporate may ultimately supply an Apple Pencil with a trackball tip and optical sensors that may permit customers to create content material on any floor, and not using a touchscreen. The US Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO) has granted the tech large a patent for an Apple Pencil that makes use of a number of applied sciences to supply the identical performance.
Apple Pencil Patent Hints at Know-how That Permits Writing And not using a Touchscreen
In line with a patent doc, first noticed by Patently Apple, the Cupertino firm may need been engaged on a brand new Apple Pencil that may draw on any floor. The stylus would use a trackball tip and two optical sensors that may allow the rumoured Apple Pencil to create content material on a number of surfaces, with out requiring a touchscreen.
The patent reveals that the optical sensors that Apple is probably going to make use of may both be an optical stream sensor and/or a laser speckle stream sensor. The patent design exhibits that the optical sensors could be positioned on high of the trackball tip. To map the motion of the floor, it would detect spatial-temporal picture brightness variation, in response to the doc.
Optical stream sensors may seize the picture of the setting to detect gentle mirrored from the floor on which a person is drawing, the patent doc cited for example. It additional added that the laser speckle stream sensors can probably detect speckle patterns emitting from coherent illumination to estimate movement of the enter gadget or a tool that doesn’t have a contact delicate display.
The patent doc additionally revealed that the optical sensors can be utilized for producing content material or drawing on a makeshift enter gadget, reminiscent of a tabletop or a wall. Moreover, Apple can utilise the optical sensors to detect traits of the floor together with place, orientation, and movement of the enter gadget.
If Apple decides to proceed with improvement of its patented stylus design, it may probably be an improve from the present Apple Pencil Professional. For context, the US-based tech large had launched the Apple Pencil Professional in 2024 with customized haptic suggestions, squeeze operate, a gyroscope, and assist for Discover My know-how.