One of the options that have always been considered, not only for Apple, is the possibility of having a laptop that can be fitted with a keyboard and / or controls wherever we want. This new Apple patent establishes it. Being able to expand a giant screen on any wall or solid element with which we can interact and manage what is being played at that moment. This is what Apple proposes to connect a laser to the Mac.
"2D / 3D User Input Detection and Scanning Laser System Based on Auto Mix"
En this new Apple patent, called "2D / 3D User Input Detection and Scanning Laser System Based on Auto Mix" it establishes the possibility of turning a wall or any surface into a touch input device. In this way, it is a way to add touch interactions to surfaces that do not have any touch sensing capabilities. Which can be very useful for those who are constantly with the Mac making presentations.
In the patent, Apple suggests that such interactions could take place on a wall or other surface onto which it is projected. In theory, it would allow interactions with a projection on a flat brick wall. The patent revolves around the transmission of light and the detection of any light reflected back to the device. Such as a projected surface or an object that obscures the path to the surface. For patent purposes, this obscuring object can be a pencil or the user, which can be an object that needs to be traced. To achieve this, the light emitted by the projector used for detection could be a laser diode. Apple suggests that it may be a vertical cavity surface emitting laser. The same type used for Face ID.
The system could determine not only the distance traveled by the light to reach a projection surface, but also the distance. By tracking the position and distance from the projection surface, the system may attempt to determine which objects are moving with the intention of interacting with the projected screen.
Connecting a laser to the Mac would be easily usable on virtually any surface
In theory, such a system would be easily usable on practically any surface, given a short period of time for the system to calibrate the projected screen to the new environment. It may not even require a flat surface to function. It might even work on curved or uneven surfaces if enough distance data points are collected.
The biggest problem they face with this patent is precision of interactions with the elements projected on the wall. So far, existing devices project red light onto a flat surface. When a user touches a surface that is being projected onto, the accessories can detect keystrokes. However, they have not been largely adopted by users for reasons including lack of precision and speed compared to a physical keyboard.
Apple files numerous patent applications weekly, but this does not mean that they end up becoming reality. They may be left with just a few ideas. At other times, they become reality and devices appear on the market that have emerged from these ideas. We do not know if this will come true or not, but what is clear is that it is an element that has been sought by many companies on other occasions, including Apple.
A 2013 patent devised a desktop setup that used a projector instead of an LCD screen. IIt even eliminated the cables by using inductive charging, but it hasn't been seen to come true so far and I'm afraid we'll keep waiting, though you never know what might happen.