Apple to Develop Two New Touch Gestures

Apple has filed a patent application that will make use of new touch gestures to display visual information on their devices, Patently Apple wrote yesterday. The two new methods, called ‘swipe then hold’ and ‘hold then swipe,’ are designed to aid navigation by displaying important information on the screen without requiring panning and zooming or, on smaller devices, obscuring the screen with fingers.

Instead of the monotonous panning and zooming technique that often makes browsing websites and reading text a cumbersome endeavor, the new techniques will enable users to draw out a path that will then be viewed in greater detail.  For example, instead of gesturing each time to scroll through photos, swiping then holding will initiate a more hands-off process of viewing the gallery. In small devices, this could be especially helpful to preserve screen real estate by not obscuring the display with fingers.

Touch movements won’t be the only new additions though. It appears that Apple is also investigating a method for browsing content using the devices’ accelerometer. With this addition, devices will surely get less smudgy with prints – by just tilting the device back or rocking from side to side, users will be able to navigate content.

Via Patently Apple. Photo credit: United States Patent and Trademark Office.

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