Apple is working to reinvent the seatbelt for the Apple Car
The typical big red button to release a seatbelt is too old-fashioned for the Apple Car, which instead wants seatbelt buckles to light up, and even display information.
Skoda already has seatbelt buttons that light up, but Apple wants to do more
The familiar interior of a car could see changes because of Apple
Apple has had its eye on seatbelts before, with a 2019 patent proposing that they include speakers and media controls. Now in a newly-granted patent called "Restraint with an indicator area," Apple is going after something more basic.
Seatbelts will still work by your inserting a connector into a buckle, and that buckle will still have a button that snap-releases the belt. But where that release button is typically red, Apple's will change.
When you get into the Apple Car -- which Apple still won't confirm it's doing -- then you will see bright red seatbelt buckles. But then when have put one on, the red light turns off and the belt restraint "may be uncolored (i.e. colored according to the nominal color of the opaque structure."
So the buckle button will light up to help you find it. That could actually be useful in situations where it's not clear whose seatbelt is whose, or which buckle they should be inserted into.
It's potentially so useful that Skoda has already done it, or at least a version of it. Apple's patent proposes hiding the red light until its needed, by putting the illumination behind myriad invisible holes in the material.
"The description herein relates to a safety restraint that utilizes light emitted through an array of very small holes through an otherwise opaque surface to provide information to users regarding operation of the safety restraint," says the patent. "As one example, many seat belt buckles include red-colored release buttons to allow the user to easily discern the location and function of the button."
"[Small] holes are formed through opaque structures allow transmission of light," it explains. "In particular, portions of the restraint use light that is emitted through the holes (either empty or filled with a translucent material), which are formed through an otherwise opaque portion of the safety restraint."
"The size of the holes is sufficiently small such that they are not readily visible to the naked eve of a vehicle occupant on casual inspection," says Apple.
So a seatbelt and buckle could light up red when you need to see them, and turn back to being the same color as the rest of the seat when you're wearing them.
Detail from the patent showing that Apple designers may not have heard of Norman doors
There is just a little more, though. While the actual text of the patent doesn't use this word once, four of its nine illustrations clearly show that a seatbelt could say "Push."
It's not clear whether that word would light up as you draw the seatbelt near to its buckle, or whether it's what could be displayed on the buckle's release.
What is clear is that in either case, you're already either about to push the seatbelt's tongue into the buckle, or to press to release it. So in either case, "Push" bordering on patronizing.
It is always good to know that you have correctly secured a seat belt, so maybe the "Push" sign switching off could be confirmation. Except with existing seatbelts, there is a distinctive click when you get it right.
Or perhaps Apple intends to add haptic feedback, too.
Curiously, this newly-granted patent is actually a second one regarding lighting or lit-up regions in a car. In 2019, Apple was also awarded a patent for "Lighting systems of vehicle seats," which could light up when a seat is being adjusted, for instance.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
How about a friendly reminder in the voice of Siri to Please, fasten your seat belt instead of an annoying chime?
Whenever this vehicle comes to market I think it's gonna be like Apple Vision Pro. It'll be so far out there people will mock it like crazy because it's something incredibly different and not just the same as what everyone else is doing. This is what Apple does. They shake things up and push competitors to do things they couldn't imagine doing.
Don't get me wrong. I think not wearing a seatbelt is a stupid idea, and I personally choose to wear one. But forcing people to wear one when they don't want to, that never works. If they want to live dangerously, fine, let them. If they don't, they're only endangering themselves.
Sitting on a buckled belt is a very bad idea and not having one cross your shoulder is a very quick way to get fined.
In the context presented here, the word 'reinvent' is stretching things a lot.
https://youtu.be/SD3g9iGlceU
America’s approach was unique, and it was wildly successful. Whatever complaints people have about it today, life has never been more plentiful and abundant for a wider selection of people. People want things to be even better, and that’s great!
Except that forced compliance eventually results in the same thing, every time. Those trying to force compliance become an elite group and are pushed more and more toward a heavy-handedness “for the people’s good”. And eventually the people rebel. Those pushing this today are pushing hard because they see the masses starting to wake up.
So while you see something harmless like forcing seatbelt compliance, keep in mind that America became great on the heels of personal liberty and responsibility. There are drawbacks, part of personal responsibility is seeing your failures. But the alternative is worse no matter how well meaning forced compliance may be.
Also, contrary to your suggestion, the reality is that in the US, seatbelts became standard items in the 1970s and compulsory to use starting in the 1980s. Failure or refusal to use them was greatest at the start of that and the least at the present. Combined with standard inclusion of airbags, crumple zones, anti-lock brakes and safety glass, the results are profound. There's no great uproar demanding that those built-in safety features be made optional. It's actually culturally awkward at this point to insist that you're not going to wear a seat belt. Even though total population has increased and total miles driven have increased, not only have traffic fatalities per capita and per mile driven dropped in that time, the total actual number of traffic fatalities have declined significantly since the peak in the early 1970s.
America is at its greatest when personal liberty and personal responsibility are connected.
One could imagine that a magnetic fastener designed to do the opposite would have to come with a warning about threats to pacemakers and data storage.
I still think Apple is building a car *experience* that it will license to car makers in exactly the same way CarPlay has become de rigeur in modern automobiles. CarPlay has been one of Apple’s unsung but resounding successes, and any company without CarPlay is about to get a BIG lesson in consumer preference. I personally wouldn’t even rent, much less own, a vehicle that didn’t support CarPlay, and I think that once the fuller CarPlay experience comes out (was disappointed to hear nothing about it at this year’s WWDC), I think most of the industry will embrace it because they will have to — they’ve got nothing even remotely close to the experience Apple showed off at least year’s WWDC.
The most annoying thing before the ultimate demise of MacRumors were all the morons jumping into every single thread screaming, "Mac Pro!" Perhaps there would be a better place for your mirror-based rants.