{
  "patent_number": "US 10564770",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Touchscreens Predict Where Your Finger Will Land Before You Touch",
  "original_title": "Predictive touch detection",
  "summary": "Apple's patent describes a touch controller that tracks an object's path through the air to predict where it will land on a screen before it actually makes physical contact.",
  "what_it_does": "This technology uses proximity sensors to detect a finger or stylus while it is still approaching the screen, rather than waiting for physical contact. By calculating the trajectory of the object at a first distance, the processor generates a predicted touch location. As the object gets closer to a second distance, the system refines this prediction to determine the final identified touch location. This allows the device to pre-calculate which button or interface element the user intends to select, potentially speeding up responsiveness or improving accuracy in complex user interfaces.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover touch detection that only triggers upon physical contact with the screen surface.",
    "Does not cover systems that rely solely on the centroid of the object at the moment of contact without considering the approach trajectory.",
    "Does not cover touchscreens that lack proximity-sensing capabilities to track objects before they land."
  ],
  "filed": "2016-06-09",
  "granted": "2020-02-18",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Apple Inc",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/apple-inc",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Kevin M. Keeler",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/kevin-m-keeler"
    },
    {
      "name": "Randal Marsden",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/randal-marsden"
    },
    {
      "name": "Brian C. Menzel",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/brian-c-menzel"
    },
    {
      "name": "Alvin J. Hilario",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/alvin-j-hilario"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 8,
  "tags": [
    "consumer_electronics",
    "semiconductors"
  ],
  "abstract": "A touch controller is disclosed. The touch controller can comprise sense circuitry configured to sense an object at a touch sensor panel, and a touch processor. The touch processor can be capable of, when the object is a first distance from the touch sensor panel, determining a predicted touch location associated with the object on the touch sensor panel based on at least a trajectory of the object towards the touch sensor panel, and when the object is a second distance from the touch sensor panel, less than the first distance, determining an identified touch location associated with the object on the touch sensor panel based on at least the predicted touch location.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10564770/airpods-wireless-earbuds",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10564770/airpods-wireless-earbuds/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US10564770",
  "relatedPatents": []
}