A newsletter by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has revealed that Apple once considered exploring a finger-worn input device. However, the company will rely on hand-tracking and eye-tracking for control in its new Vision Pro headset, which will be released later this year.
Gurman’s newsletter claimed that early on in the creation of the Vision Pro, Apple tested controllers for third-party virtual reality systems made by businesses like HTC. Later, it looked at the finger-worn device; in fact, the company filed a patent for a smart ring in 2015. However, at the time, it appeared that the patent was more for a general wearable device than for a mixed-reality headset.
According to Gurman, the company ultimately decided that employing hand and eye motions to operate the Vision Pro was the “more elegant solution.” The eye tracking is reliable, and you can keep your hands down at your sides or in your lap while tapping your thumb and forefinger together to make selections — there’s no waving your hands around or pointing at things here, according to Nilay Patel, who once tested the headset and called it the “best headset demo ever.”
Evidently, Apple stated at WWDC 2023 that the Vision Pro would continue to support external input devices, such as third-party keyboards and game controllers, so you’ll still have the choice of disregarding the hand controls for some sort of input.
Olagoke Ajibola is a creative writer and content producer with an eye for details and excellence. He has a demonstrated history of telling stories for TV, Film and Online. Aside from being fascinated by the power of imagination, his other interest are travel, sport, reading and meeting people.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
