23 April 2021, 10:04 am
Apple wins a patent that combines augmented reality (AR) with thermal technology to turn any surface into a virtual touchscreen.
The recently approved AR technology patent, which would use thermal cameras built into AR glasses, could go to market as early as 2022.
Apple s Thermal Touch: Creating Touchscreens From Almost Everything
Apple s patent titled Method and Device for Detecting a Touch Between a First Object and a Second Object, is made possible through the tech giant s acquisition of the German AR software maker Metaio in 2015.
The Apple patent, which was granted on Apr. 22, perfectly described the technical details on how to turn Metaio s 2014 demo to reality, which Patently Apple explained.