Apple obtained a patent for an optical sensor which would replace the digital crown and would be used in particular for gesture recognition.
Apple has obtained a patent for an optical sensor capable of recognizing user gestures // Source: USPTO
Along with the square screen, it is arguably the most iconic element of the Apple Watch that others have tried to copy without success: the digital crown. This small multifunction button on the side is used for almost everything, from navigation to zoom through the validation of a function and of course for the ECG (on compatible watches).
However, Apple would consider getting rid of it. The site Patently Apple spotted among the patents published in recent days by the USPTO, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, a request formulated by Apple in July 2019 for its Apple Watch and for the introduction on the connected watch of an optical sensor replacing the current crown.
An optical sensor capable of everything
Several diagrams thus show an optical sensor which is positioned on the right of the dial. And its objective is clearly specified: to be able to understand the user’s gestures. It can also be used to measure numerous biometric data such as heart rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygenation level, arterial pressure or even the estimation of blood volume.
The optical sensor will replace the digital crown // Source: USPTO
Things already allowed by current Apple Watch. Others not yet like the blood pressure measurement on which the firm has been working for many years.
The presence of this optical sensor would make all this possible by managing to “decipher” the user’s gestures for commands such as measurements. This would not prevent the Watch from taking on board another “user input component” – to serve as controls – such as buttons and / or a touch dial to validate commands. Removing the crown would however have the merit of leaving room for other components and therefore providing other functions and possibilities.
Space saving for the arrival of new functions
Apple also argues that removing the crown, the only protruding element of the watch, would also prevent material breakage in the event of the user falling and then damaging the overall operation. The optical sensor appears indeed very smooth on the side.
The use of the optical sensor on the Apple Watch // Source: USPTO
The use of the optical sensor on the Apple Watch // Source: USPTO
According to the elements worn by Tim Cook and his family in their patent application entitled “Watch with optical sensor for user input”, the detection of gestures would be as effective and intuitive as the use of the crown to validate actions. . The component’s optical system would manage to differentiate a slide on the sensor from a simple press, a finger approaching a control tap. Control the device without needing to touch it in a certain way.
Getting rid of the crown could have the merit of leaving more room for new health sensors, but also for the battery for greater autonomy, as Apple itself admits in its request.
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