Apple reveals Thermal Touch technology for a future AR Interface that could amazingly transform any surface into a Touch Screen
Back in June 2015 Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple Acquires Metaio Creator of Thermal Touch - A New Augmented Reality Interface for Wearables." One of Metaio's greatest inventions that Apple has acquired relates to "Thermal Touch" which is a vision of the near future for wearable computing user interfaces. By fusing information from an infrared and standard camera, nearly any surface can be transformed into a touch screen.
The technology is possibly intended for use with Apple's future head-mounted displays (MR headset or glasses) and makes use of the fact that touching an object heats it up slightly and provides a thermal signature. When combined with overlaid information in the display it allows everyday objects to become controls or for controls to be overlaid on surfaces.