Voice and Facial Recognition Coming to Apple Products?

A new patent, unearthed by Unwired View, highlights Apple's potential plan for expanding on its Multi-Touch interface -- titled, Multitouch Data Fusion. Using varied and complex mechanisms, Apple hopes to enhance user experience through innovative Multi-Touch design. Specifically cited -- voice, biometric, and facial inputs could be used in tandem with touch interactions to create and signal new action commands. From the patent:

In accordance with other embodiments, the results of voice recognition and speech understanding can be fused with multi-touch movement data in such a way as to significantly enhance electronic device performance.

Biometric inputs include, but are limited to, hand size, fingerprint input, body temperature, heart rate, skin impedance, and pupil size.

Facial expressions conveying emotional state can also be fused advantageously with multi-touch movement data during creative activities such as music composition.

In theory, a device could detect where you're looking ("gaze") to determine what object to perform an action on (see diagram above), or obtain an image of your hand to determine who you are and what contact information to display. The iPhone's revolutionary Multi-Touch interface has really opened up an entirely new world of user experience and interface, and with Apple leading the charge, we're sure to be "wow'd" in the near-future.

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