We really don’t know what Apple has in store for us with the next iPhone, there are things popping up around the web all the time with new information and rumors about the 4th generation iPhone from Apple. A Patent Application from Apple filed in August 2008 showed that Apple were looking into controlling an iPhone or other handheld device by swiping one’s finger across the camera lens.
One of the main things the document suggests is the use of gesture controls to control voicemail options such as rewind, fast forward, pause and other options while the handset is held to the user’s ear.
The patent application also describes integration of an accelerometer to detect tapping input to supplement the finger swipes.
In one embodiment, to access his voice mailbox, a user may tap the phone to cause playback of a message to pause, tap the phone again to resume playback, swipe his finger over the camera lens in one direction to fast forward playback, and swipe his finger over the camera lens in another direction to rewind playback. These actions allow the user to control functions of voicemail review without removing the device from over his ear.
In another embodiment, functions for controlling call features utilize similar user actions or motions. Features such as merging multiple calls, putting a call on hold, and switching between or among multiple simultaneous calls may be controlled by single or double (or any number of) taps of the device, as detected by an accelerometer of the device. These taps may be preprogrammed by a manufacturer, or selected and programmed by a user.
I’m not really sure I would fancy controlling my iPhone like this, I would also have my doubts over how accurate it would be as well. There are also several implications such as the camera having to be turned on and off, which would have to be done by touching the screen more than likely, defeating the whole purpose of gesture controls.
I fear this may be more of a novelty idea and just another of Apple’s research patents that we wont be seeing any time in the near future. So I doubt we will be seeing this in the 4th Gen iPhone or iPhone 4G or whatever it will be called
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