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Apple's patent applications are always exciting - especially when it comes to the further development of existing technologies. Would you like a MacBook with a screen-based keyboard?
Apple's latest idea involves a screen-based keyboard in the MacBook that not only feels like a real keyboard but also looks like a real one. Despite the realistic look and feel, touch gestures should also be no problem. This patent proves once again that Apple wants to do away with physical keyboards in the future. The company is coming up with various ideas for this. The iPhone used to have a mechanical home button, which was eventually replaced by a haptic button – the last iPhone with such a button was released in 2017. Now, with the help of various patents and the TrackPad, we can observe a similar development in the MacBook sector. But what might a screen-based keyboard look like? Apple describes the technology as follows:
A virtual keyboard device includes a surface, a static pattern electrostatic haptic electrode disposed on a region of the surface, the static pattern electrostatic haptic electrode defining voids on the region of the surface between adjacent portions of the static pattern electrostatic haptic electrode, insulating material disposed on the static pattern electrostatic haptic electrode, and a controller adapted to apply a voltage to the static pattern electrostatic haptic electrode. Applying the voltage to the static pattern electrostatic haptic electrode may create variable friction between a conductive object and the insulating material as the conductive object moves across the insulating material. In some implementations, the surface may be part of a display device configured to display a virtual key of a virtual keyboard in the region.
What is immediately noticeable here is that Apple gives a lot more details in this patent and explains the processes more precisely. This is not the case in many other patent descriptions. But what exactly does that mean? While haptic motors have been the solution so far, in this case a mixture of haptic motors and electrostatic charge seems to enable the simulation. The result is a screen-based keyboard that feels like a real keyboard. In addition to the pressure simulation, high-quality 3D graphics would make the keyboard look like a real one, Apple explains later in the patent. Whether Cupertino will succeed in implementing such a technology remains to be seen, of course. However, like any other, the patent should be treated with caution. It is not uncommon for many such ideas to never make it into finished products. (Photo by GaudiLab / Bigstockphoto)
