Apple appears to have patented a new technology that could replace Digital Crown of future Apple Watch, as discovered Patently apple through a new registration published in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The digital crown, located on the side of the company’s current smartwatches, allows you to navigate through the interface (do scroll, enlarge icons, etc.) without touching the screen, which greatly facilitates the user experience. However, it is a physical element and it occupies space inside the watch that can be used for other sensors and components.
Apple’s goal with the patent called “Optical Sensor Clock for User Input” is replace this Apple Watch digital crown with an optical sensor “capable of reading the user’s gestures as a form of input” according to the aforementioned portal. That is, the sensor could recognize the different gestures and perform an action associated with that movement. For example, one tap to open an app, two to close it, a downward gesture to scroll, etc.
“The user can provide movements and gestures near the input component. It can detect and interpret and the user’s input to control an aspect of the watch.”
Describe the patent.
More sensors and more spaces inside the Apple Watch for other components
The inclusion of this sensor would also allow the ability to perform heart rate measurements. Also blood oxygen level, blood pressure and more. The digital crown, on the other hand, only allows us to measure the electrical activity of the heart, which we know as an electrocardiogram.
In the patent, Apple describes that this sensor is more durable than the digital crown of the Apple Watch. It also allows you to free up internal space for the use of other components. Precisely, Apple has been trying to optimize the space of its smart watches for some time. An example is the miniaturization of the SoC that the device includes. More space means a larger and therefore longer battery life, or new components and technologies.
We must bear in mind, of course, that the registration of this patent does not mean that Apple is going to implement this technology in its future smart watches. At the moment, it is early to know technical details about the next Apple Watch and if it will say goodbye to the classic Digital Crown.