Apple's efforts to produce augmented reality or virtual reality devices could be improved by knowing which eye is dominant for the user, a piece of information that could help improve how eye detection systems work and make the overall experience better for the wearer.
Light-emitting elements on Apple devices like the flood illuminator and dot projectors of the iPhone's TrueDepth camera system could benefit from a new diffuser system in the future, one that could switch between different modes by using the same technology that drives liquid crystal displays.
Self-driving vehicles in Apple's "Project Titan" could reduce the amount of processing required to recognize objects and to understand the layout of the road ahead, using a "confidence" algorithm that can allow a car's computer to get just enough data from sensors to perform the processing.
Perhaps reflecting a desire to maximize power efficiency in all areas, a newly-published Apple patent application showcases a "hybrid" display mixing OLED and quantum-dot LEDs.
Touch ID could make a return to the iPhone without requiring a fingerprint reader in a home button tat can ruin the clean appearance of the smartphone's screen, as Apple has considered the potential for turning the entire display into a fingerprint reader by taking advantage of acoustic imaging.
A future iPhone or Apple Watch could determine its general location by gases, Apple has proposed, with the use of miniature sensors inspecting the air to determine if the user is inside or outdoors, and potentially even narrowing down to a specific room, without relying on GPS or signals from communication networks.
The HomePod could offer support for Siri with multiple users in the future without worrying about a user's personal data being accessed, with Apple coming up with a method to authenticate the speaker is authorized to make potentially sensitive queries using the presence of a nearby iPhone.
Apple wants people to be able to interact with devices using gloves and other items of clothing, by taking advantage of conductive strands in the fabric to give the wearable garments a force-sensing capability that could be used by an iPhone or another connected device.
A future HomePod audio system may take a nearby user's position into account when playing sound, including creating separate stereo experiences for individuals in different places, and automatically adjusting the audio or even turning it off if the listener moves out of the room.
Apple's thin MacBooks and iOS devices could have sections of their enclosures that automatically expand in the future, as a measure to help prevent components from being damaged by overheating through high usage, or to prevent damage from the movement of parts.
Group portraits could be made from multiple selfies taken on a number of different devices and digitally stitched together, Apple suggests, with an automated system creating a synthetic group selfie from separate self-portraits, one that could also be rearranged to the user's wishes.
The iPhone or Apple Watch could warn users of dangerous gases in the air or warn diabetics of high or low levels of blood sugar in the future, with Apple considering ways to add the ability for its mobile devices to "smell" the local environment, as well as to detect extremely fine dust particles or pollution.
Apple's self-driving vehicle technology has the potential to make being a passenger even safer than before, with the company coming up with ways to determine how fast the car is moving along a road without using traditional sensing technology, as well as how the wheels slip in hazardous conditions.
Adventurous iPhone users wanting to use their devices to take photographs underwater may enjoy better results in the future, as Apple is exploring ways to automatically adjust an image when the smartphone is immersed in water to offer the best picture possible.
Future versions of the Apple Watch could authenticate the wearer's identity by scanning elements under the skin of a user's wrist, a biometric security feature that could eliminate the need for owners to enter a security code each time they put on the wearable device.
Apple is still coming up with new design ideas it could incorporate into a self-produced vehicle, despite the seemingly self-driving nature of "Project Titan" in its current state, by creating a version of a car sunroof that offers a considerable number of position combinations compared to currently-used sunroof designs.
Wearable devices like the Apple Watch and Internet of Things hardware could have an easier time connecting to iPhones and other devices in the future, with Apple coming up with multiple ways to deal with inter-device connectivity, including the ability to make a wide-area network where Internet access isn't available.
Mac peripherals including keyboards could work without needing to be recharged with a cable or have new batteries installed, as Apple has been working on a wireless power supply system capable of transmitting power to peripherals like keyboards and trackpads over short distances.
Apple is continuing to work on ways to improve the experience of typing on a keyboard, including data overlays either on the key, or by harnessing augmented reality and virtual reality to overlay symbols on a physical keyboard, and a system that could allow users to adjust the resistance when pressing a key to their personal preference.
Apple is continuing to work on areas of car design and self-driving vehicle systems as part of "Project Titan," including how to improve a car's ability to detect its immediate surroundings using sensors, and to automatically determine nearby points of interest that other car systems need to know about.
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Malcolm Owen
Roger Fingas
