Malcolm Owen writes for AppleInsider:
Future iPhones and iPads could work without the user touching the display, with Apple exploring the possibility of using the proximity of fingers or the Apple Pencil to the screen to enable selections and gestures in situations where touching the device isn’t desirable.
Granted to Apple by the US Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday, the patent for “Devices, methods, and user interfaces for interacting with user interface objects via proximity-based and contact-based inputs” aims to solve issues in both of those areas.
In Apple’s solution, there are one or more sensors used to detect proximity of an input object, such as a stylus or a finger, above a touch-sensitive surface, as well as for detecting the intensity of contact with the display.
MacDailyNews Take: This could be great for cooking, gardening, auto repairs, camping, public kiosks, and many other situations where users wouldn’t want to physically touch the display for myriad reasons.
Gee, I can hardly pick up my iPad without setting something off that I didn’t want as it is. Same with my Mac and all the key combinations and trackpad gestures. I have to bail out relatives at least once a week to undo something they had no idea how they got into. The user interface is getting worse, which is no longer surprising. No to ideas is no longer 1:1000.
I could use it for finding criminals before they become criminals.