A new patent application from Apple published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office indicates that the Cupertino company is working on bringing Apple Pencil support to the next generation of Magic Trackpad. This will make it possible for Mac owners to also use the Apple Pencil for drawing and sketching purposes.
The patent also details that Apple is working to make the Pencil recognise in-air gestures so that it can be used to control presentation slides in Keynotes, Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. Lastly, the patent — which describes the Pencil as “the stylus” — also mentions using it as a joystick for games. Apple aims to achieve the last two features by using a three- and six-axis sensor inside the stylus.
The inertial sensor allows the stylus to operate as a joystick, a rotational controller, or other input devices in addition to serving as a touch sensor input device. For example, on-screen content may be rotated, tilted, or otherwise manipulated using rotational controller and joystick input from the inertial sensor as noted below in patent FIG. 7 below in conjunction with a next-gen version of Apple’s Magic Trackpad.
The scenarios mentioned by Apple in the patent application include using the Apple Pencil in GarageBand to create music. The motion data received from the Pencil allows it to be used as a drum stick, gong beater, and other similar musical instruments.
The patent application was first filed by Apple in Q4, 2014. If you look at the time in which Apple made some of its patents into reality, I’d say a version of the Apple Pencil with all the functionality mentioned above is still at least 4-5 years away. What do you think?
[Via Patently Apple]
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