The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of newly granted patents for Apple and one of the most interesting patent in all of them is the Apple Mouse design with a shape changing body.
The patent covers systems and techniques for changing the shape of a mouse or other input device. This new patent for the shape shifting design could be helpful to provide users with different size hands the ability to altercate the mouse to their liking, by allowing width and height to be adjusted.
It shows that the mouse may include one or more actuators for manipulating the articulating member to change the curvature of the mouse’s exterior surface. It may be changed to optimise the ergonomics of the mouse or deliver tactile feedback to users.
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The mouse may include various sensors to determine if the curvature matches a contour of the user’s hand, and the shape of the mouse may be changed accordingly. For example, a flat curvature may be chosen for tasks that are typically performed on a trackpad while curved surface may be chosen for tasks that are performed using a traditional mouse.
Further, the patent includes that the mouse may come with a display that could receive touch input as well as force input. The mouse could also include a biometric sensor, on/off and mute buttons and a camera.
It goes without saying that there’s no certainty that Apple will go ahead with the production and launching of this shape-shifting mouse as this is just a patent. However, it keeps the door open to have such device in the future.
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(Via)
