Those devastating drop tests done by people who have all the money to waste on a brand new iPhone could soon be a thing of the past, as a new Apple patent shows Cupertino is setting its sights on a new technology that will have its future iPhones always landing like a cat, on its feet.
The patent, which was filed on March and awarded to Apple engineers Nicholas King and Fletcher Rothkopf on Tuesday, is for an electronic device equipped with a processor, a sensor linked with the processor and a protective mechanism that is "configured to selectively alter a center of mass of the electronic device."
Simply put, the patent is for a new technology that can sense the device's position in mid-air and shifts its position so that it lands in a way that minimizes damage to the screen and other sensitive components of the device.
As first reported by Apple Insider, the patented system draws upon data gathered by a variety of sensors, including ones that are found in existing iPhones and iPads such as accelerometers, gyroscopes and GPS as well as more advanced technologies not yet being used like ultrasonic sensors to measure variables such as the device's orientation, time to impact and rate of descent and analyze which way to shift the device in mid-air to reduce impact.
Plenty of shifting mechanisms are included in the patent, but the only technology currently available is the vibration motor that can control the device's angle and momentum.
Other more advanced methods patented by Apple are more exotic, such as the using an "air foil" that may slow down the velocity of free fall and reduce the impact of dropping the device on the ground. The patent also calls for a thrust mechanism similar to the way Sandra Bullock's character in "Gravity" used a fire extinguisher to propel herself through empty space, where the device ejects a mass, such as the battery, to change its angle.
Other possibilities include having the headphones jack grip onto the headphone cord once it detects the device has been dropped or ejecting headphones from the socket to serve as a safety cord to prevent the device from dropping to the ground.
While the patent indicates that Apple is working with new ideas for its future devices, it is by no means an indication of the technologies it has already developed. It is common for companies such as Apple to file patents for interesting ideas, but it could take some time before the company transforms these patents from theory to practice. Nonetheless, the patent gives us a clear idea of what user pain points Apple is looking to address.
