A recent report suggests that we might see some form of Apple Pencil for the Vision Pro, and that idea seems to be supported Apple patent application published this week.
The lack of a physical surface to press against means things like drawing and handwriting can be more difficult in a virtual environment, and Apple describes some interesting solutions to this problem. #8230;
Previous reports
Previous history said this week that Apple plans to bring Apple Pencil support to Vision Pro, apparently through a new version of the device.
The report doesn't reveal many details, but it does say that Apple has “conducted internal testing of the new Apple Pencil with VisionOS support.” This feature can work for both text input and drawing in apps like Freeform and Pixelmator.
Last year, it was reported that the Apple Pencil 3 was on the way and likely to be released along with the new iPad Pro models in May. One possibility is that this model will also add support for Vision Pro.
Apple Pencil for Vision About the patent
Patentially Apple has discovered a patent application filed last September and published yesterday. The document does not mention the Apple Pencil by name, but rather an “input device.” for “virtual pointer” but such general language is usually found in Apple patents.
Apple notes that the lack of physical surface resistance may result in unwanted processing motion.
In some examples, due to a one-to-one relationship between the motion of the input device and movement of a virtual pointer element, the corresponding movements are accurately mapped, which may cause unwanted artifacts (such as defects due to handshake and/or oscillation) to appear in the generated virtual object.
One solution , as the document says, is to introduce some “elasticity”; into the physics model being used, so that some micro-motions are effectively ignored.
In some examples, to reduce unwanted artifacts (for example, defects due to handshaking) and/or oscillation) from occurring in a virtual object, the virtual pointer element is moved away from part of the input device and is used to create a virtual object in a three-dimensional environment. In some examples, an elasticity model that includes different physics modes can be applied to improve the visual performance of the virtual object being created.
Apple also suggests that audio feedback can help the user ensure they are creating the desired movements.
In some examples, sound is generated in response to movements of a virtual pointer element.
As with all Apple patents , as always, we caution that the company is patenting far more things than it ever made into products.
Photo by Koji Tsuru on Unsplash
