Apple's angled camera concept could enable virtual keyboard docks
Apple on Tuesday was granted a patent for a new type of camera that could capture images at indirect angles --?a concept that the company says could be used to enable projected, virtual keyboards on any flat surface.
In the newly awarded invention, published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple states that electronic devices often have front and rear cameras, but that these cameras are normally fixed in a direction perpendicular to the surface they're embedded in. This makes them impractical for recording some subjects.
The iPhone maker's proposed solution, a patent entitled "Camera Accessory for Angled Camera Viewing," would use a system of reflectors to bounce light into the camera lens, and might attach via methods like magnets, clamps, a suction cup, or even removable adhesive. Apple also suggests the possibility of using rotational mechanisms or fiber bundles in the accessory's construction.
Apple further offers the possibility of using a stand. Significantly, a featured diagram depicts an iPad-sized device sitting in a dock that can image both a person's face and their hands, the latter for detecting input from a person's fingers, for instance when typing on a projected virtual keyboard.
Apple originally applied for the patent in September of 2012. It is credited to a single inventor, Nicholas G.L. Merz, and is officially identified as U.S. Patent No. 9,154,677.
The invention isn't the only interest Apple has shown in virtual keyboard and input methods. AppleInsider also detailed another patent earlier this year that would use a 3D camera system to allow users to type in the air, without the need for a surface to place their fingertips.
Apple's interest in virtual input methods led the company to acquire Israeli 3D sensor firm PrimeSense in 2013. Though PrimeSense technology has yet to appear in any Apple products in obvious ways, the company's creations are perhaps most famous for powering the first-generation Kinect sensor for Microsoft's Xbox 360.
In the newly awarded invention, published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple states that electronic devices often have front and rear cameras, but that these cameras are normally fixed in a direction perpendicular to the surface they're embedded in. This makes them impractical for recording some subjects.
The iPhone maker's proposed solution, a patent entitled "Camera Accessory for Angled Camera Viewing," would use a system of reflectors to bounce light into the camera lens, and might attach via methods like magnets, clamps, a suction cup, or even removable adhesive. Apple also suggests the possibility of using rotational mechanisms or fiber bundles in the accessory's construction.
Apple further offers the possibility of using a stand. Significantly, a featured diagram depicts an iPad-sized device sitting in a dock that can image both a person's face and their hands, the latter for detecting input from a person's fingers, for instance when typing on a projected virtual keyboard.
Apple originally applied for the patent in September of 2012. It is credited to a single inventor, Nicholas G.L. Merz, and is officially identified as U.S. Patent No. 9,154,677.
The invention isn't the only interest Apple has shown in virtual keyboard and input methods. AppleInsider also detailed another patent earlier this year that would use a 3D camera system to allow users to type in the air, without the need for a surface to place their fingertips.
Apple's interest in virtual input methods led the company to acquire Israeli 3D sensor firm PrimeSense in 2013. Though PrimeSense technology has yet to appear in any Apple products in obvious ways, the company's creations are perhaps most famous for powering the first-generation Kinect sensor for Microsoft's Xbox 360.
Comments
See https://www.playosmo.com/en/
It sounds like Osmo already does what this invention claims.
We have one and my daughter really enjoys the "Masterpiece" app.
Nothing will replace the keyboard for 'serious amount of typing'. Like no tablet will replace the traditional computer (laptop or desk top) for 'serious computer work', and electric commuter cars will never replace pro grade trucks for the kind of work those trucks are designed to do. I thought we had established this a long time ago. And then again repeatedly.
it wasn't possible when you suggested it. that this will one day change doesn't negate that person's statement of what was possible.
whether it is a good idea is another question altogether.
not the same implementation, thus it being a different patent, even if the idea is similar.
I think there's a difference between intending not to use something, and tucking it away for when/if there's an appropriate time to use it.
You have obviously never played around in Second Life.
not the same implementation, thus it being a different patent, even if the idea is similar.
"The iPhone maker's proposed solution, a patent entitled "Camera Accessory for Angled Camera Viewing," would use a system of reflectors to bounce light into the camera lens, and might attach via methods like magnets, clamps, a suction cup, or even removable adhesive."
This is exactly what the Osmo is. It's a mirror in a housing that hangs on the top of an iPad.
"Apple further offers the possibility of using a stand."
For the Osmo, the iPad sits in a stand holding it vertical so the camera can see the area in front of the iPad.
I think this is the key difference between Apple's patent and the Osmo:
"A camera accessory configured to be mounted over first and second cameras in an electronic device having an electronic device housing, wherein the electronic device housing has first and second opposing sides, the camera accessory comprising: a camera accessory housing; a first reflector in the camera accessory housing that is configured to reflect light for the first camera to point a portion of a field of view of the first camera in a first off-axis direction; a second reflector in the camera accessory housing that is configured to reflect light for the second camera to point a portion of a field of view of the second camera in a second off-axis direction;"
So it is not an accessory that deals with a single camera - like the Osmo. But an accessory that interacts with two cameras, one on each side of the device.
I think I shall submit a patent for a device that interacts with three cameras!
Nothing will replace the keyboard for 'serious amount of typing'. Like no tablet will replace the traditional computer (laptop or desk top) for 'serious computer work', and electric commuter cars will never replace pro grade trucks for the kind of work those trucks are designed to do. I thought we had established this a long time ago. And then again repeatedly.
Dictation and predictive typing will very much replace the keyboard. Also, over the next 10 years, laptop and desktop hardware will be all but non-existent. The cloud has already made huge strides to see that productivity will be handled off-site. Companies like Adobe are already in the process of making their productivity tools fully cloud based. Meaning, all you will need is input devices, a screen, and a network connection. All the processing is done server side. For a time, World of Warcraft had the option to run strictly as a client. You could essentially stream the full game using crap hardware.
I don't think so. As long as people type out personal, and very sensitive material the keyboard will exist.
I don't think so. As long as people type out personal, and very sensitive material the keyboard will exist.
As hardware though? I've seen people type near 60 wpm on a virtual keyboard. Even coding software, arguably the most keyboard intensive task, is relying less on alpha-numerics, in favor of gestures. Plus in a world of customization and preference, the ability to change input methods on the fly is almost a necessity. Show me an emoji on a physical keyboard. Keeping a niche design because you might get a theoretical 1% increase in production is a poor trade off. Physical keyboards left the cell phone even though we all agree it's more comfortable. Design wise, it lost. Laptop/desktop keyboards are soon to follow.
Back to the thin client idea. Makes sense to me but I can't see media work being done on a cloud based system for the foreseeable future. To edit a video, or create a graphic campaign (or just about anything at all, for that matter), in a graphics software package is unlikely to ever happen. I also struggle to see when this kind of work will ever be entirely cloud based.
Or just make the entire surface of whatever is being typed on a camera.
But who knows where tablets will go. I have been toying with the idea of switching to a Mac Mini with a monitor at my home office and the same at my work office. But there are so many ways of achieving pretty much the same thing so I perpetually vacillate and never act
Back to the thin client idea. Makes sense to me but I can't see media work being done on a cloud based system for the foreseeable future. To edit a video, or create a graphic campaign (or just about anything at all, for that matter), in a graphics software package is unlikely to ever happen. I also struggle to see when this kind of work will ever be entirely cloud based.
Media work is the ultimate concept for cloud. Consider editing video. The number one bottleneck for video production is rendering. This often takes hours and even days on some of the most high end home desktops. Now imagine using the same hardware that was used for Avatar. You could get the same result in a fraction of the time. You upload the raw footage to the cloud, edit it in real time on the remote servers, render it, and download it or serve it up from the cloud. The user NEVER needs to update any hardware since it's all server side. This IS the essence of cloud computing. Getting the same result, no matter the platform. Google itself is entirely cloud. You can search their entire database in nano-seconds from your refrigerator, car touch screen, or watch...and get exactly the same result. The only thing you need is a connection. The same with online multi-player games. Your computer keeps some basic info and textures, but the intense data crunching is all done in a giant warehouse somewhere.