Apple hasn't been resting on its laurels with regards to 3D Touch, after the second of two recently-found patents suggests it is still looking into how touch can be used with its devices. Following after an earlier patent relating to detecting fingers hovering over a display, a new discovery suggests Apple may be considering extending the usability of 3D Touch away from the display and down to the Touch ID-enabled home button.
Discovered
by AppleInsider, the
filing at the US Patent and Trademark Office for "Force-sensitive fingerprint sensing input" describes how a device could combine together pressure sensitivity and biometric security. Considering Apple's existing 3D Touch and TouchID systems, it seems plausible to consider it to be an advancement of what is already offered by more recent iPhone releases.
One method outlined would use a mutual capacitance sensor below a fingerprint sensor, using electrodes to measure the distance the button has moved. A resistive material, including elastomer or a spring, would be used to push the button back into place, helping with the pressure measurement.
While it is unclear if Apple truly wants to combine the two technologies on the home button, such a system may have its uses. For example, a user unlocking via Touch ID could press harder and open up a specific app, like the camera to quickly take a photograph.
Earlier this week,
Patently Apple writes the company had picked up a patent for
hover-based usage. Using proximity sensors, the display could be used to detect if a finger or stylus is "hovering" above it, but not actually making contact.
By using photodiodes or infrared LEDs, among other proximity-sensing technologies, the device could in theory detect the position of the finger in relation to the display and perform some sort of interaction, such as loading a menu or to start highlighting text in a word processor, and accepting a touch as a confirmation of a prompted action. The same system could be used for different actions based on whether it detects a finger or a palm. There is even the possibility of allowing the user to access the device without touching the screen at all, preventing smudges or dirt from hands from appearing on the screen.
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