Recently, Apple patented a new touch bar technology with Force Touch technology. The US Patent & Trademark Office has granted Apple another patent for its new keyboard technology. Apple patents with the title “Electronic Devices Having Keys With Coherent Fiber Bundles,” which suggests a keyboard with configurable buttons. In other words, a dynamic keyboard.
A Mac keyboard built with small displays as each key, which are reconfigurable. So then the keyboard can change according to the user preference. It may sound like a touch bar but a completely different piece of tech. For example, the touch bar is a long touch display that shows the keys to touch. But this new patent shows that each key is a tiny individual display. As a regular keyboard comes with pre-printed labels on it, the new tech can solve that problem. Users can change the layout to get new key labels on the keys.
The patent description reads as follows:
The user may, for example, desire to switch a keyboard between a first format (e.g., an English-language format) and a second format (e.g., a Greek-language format). In response to user input to switch the keyboard, control circuitry in an electronic device can adjust the key labels being displayed by the key displays from English letters to Greek letters, thereby switching the keyboard from the first format to the second format.
Apple’s new dynamic keyboard proposal will provide visual, and possibly tactile, feedback without diminishing the normal typing experience.
The reconfigurable keyboard may not be used accordingly for languages or work tasks; it can also be used for games. The keyboard may adjust to each game’s required properties, which would improve the gaming experience as well.
But do keep in mind that Apple patents very often, so this doesn’t necessarily mean Apple will add this keyboard technology to a real product in the future. However, these registrations show us that Apple is continuously working on innovation and new technology, which it is good at.
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