New Apple Multitouch Patent Enables Typing on a Large Screen

apple_patent Most sci-fi fans remember the movie Minority Report, and the scene where Tom Cruise manipulates data on a large, vertical, virtual screen using only his hands and fingers. Although I prefer to do my computer work sitting down, it was the stuff geek dreams are made of, and now Apple has applied for a patent that sounds eerily similar.

AppleInsider has the details, but the gist of it is this: Apple’s multitouch functions currently implemented on the iPhone and on Macbook trackpads are nice enough, but aren’t good enough for a larger screen (a larger screen on a mythical Apple tablet device, that is).

Therefore, Apple’s new patent describes a far more sophisticated multitouch input method, allowing for use of all ten fingers, complex movements and, yes, proper typing. Built-in sensors should be able to distinguish various hand configurations, detect when the user wants the cursor to move, and enable various types of input (typing, manipulating 2D objects, and handwriting). We can’t say all of this is definite proof that an Apple tablet is coming, but it’s painfully easy to imagine all of this applied on such a device.

Tags: apple, multitouch, Tablet