Apple has unveiled a new smartphone technology that allows you to seamlessly control future iPhones where most current smartphones will fail, such as in the rain or even underwater.
In a recently-granted patent, Apple describes new technology that will allow a portable device, such as an iPhone, to deal with what it calls a “humidity event” by automatically adapting its on-screen display, control buttons and sensors to suit the environment. .
Apple’s new iPhone technology allows you to use your phone more easily underwater or in the rain.
A humidity event can be defined as anything from a small amount of liquid detected on the outside of a smartphone to the device being completely submerged in underwater use.
Using pressure and humidity sensors, the technology will detect and eliminate any “false touches” that may be triggered by liquid touch to the screen and then change the on-screen control layout accordingly. This may involve moving the control buttons further away, changing their size and functionality, or removing them altogether.
In addition to changing the layout of the buttons, the phone will switch from using its normal capacitive touch-sensitive mode, which only works well in dry conditions, using pressure sensors to detect the force and position of the on-screen button tip, Apple’s Force Touch and 3D Touch. Like the technology that was used in the latest iPhone XS range. In order for a touch to be registered, it must apply more pressure than the predefined threshold which can be adjusted according to the type of humidity event currently detected.
Apple’s proposed underwater mode automatically reconfigures the user interface, controls and camera … [+]
For example, Apple’s patent document shows a smartphone camera app that works in isolated “dry”, “wet” and “underwater” modes, presenting different versions of the interface suitable for each use.
In wet mode, certain camera features are automatically removed from the interface, so they cannot be activated, where in underwater mode, the normal set of camera controls is completely removed and replaced with a pair of extra-large buttons. These are much easier to activate underwater but are limited to simple photo or video capture without any access to the camera settings. In this case, the camera will be automatically configured with the best underwater photography settings. The smartphone’s on-screen display also adapts the camera’s current depth to show underwater, which will help you stay within the device’s water resistance range.
While underwater photography is not a common use for most iPhone users, having a smartphone that can adapt to and overcome challenging weather will give Apple a distinct advantage over competition, especially where humidity is a daily occurrence. On the other hand, the interfaces that change without warning and move the buttons around can be very confusing to some users, so great care must be taken with the design.
You can read the full description here Apple’s patent filing.
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