Apple Watch 3D force sensing can turn the digital crown into a joystick

The digital crown of the Apple Watch can provide additional interaction methods for wearable devices in future versions. By adding three-dimensional force sensing, it can be used as a joystick. Apple Watch has many ways to interact with this compact wearable device, one of which is the digital crown.

The digital crown is a retrospective of the early watch design. It uses the crown to set the time and wind the mechanism. The digital crown can be pressed and rotated to provide more interactive options. Although its use is currently limited, Apple believes that it can be upgraded in some ways to make it more practical.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office granted Apple a patent entitled “Three-Axis Force Sensor” on Tuesday. Apple envisions the ability to press or move the digital crown in different directions. This is based on the existing functions, the crown is pressed like a button, and the controller can be rotated. In fact, this will turn the digital crown into a form of a joystick, with lateral movement accompanied by the existing rotation and pressing mechanism.

Apple proposes in the patent that the input device can check the input of force along three axes relative to the electric device. In order to achieve this goal, Apple believes that force or displacement sensors can be used in the component to detect the direction and magnitude of the input force.

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The displacement of the force sensor can help detect the lateral movement of the digital crown. According to different implementations, these sensors can be placed and positioned in different ways. For example, a version may involve a force sensor under the surface of the digital crown, which can detect the pressure of the press-in, or it can be displaced in multiple positions to detect lateral or oblique forces.

This first configuration uses a cap on the large stem, with the force sensor sandwiched between the stem and the cap. The second version takes a more traditional design, that is, the crown that actually moves the valve stem.

In this second configuration, some force sensors are located deeper and sense the movement of the other end of the stem. Some electrodes will still be used under the cap to detect rotation, but most of the sensing will be on the other end of the stem. To help waterproof, the second configuration will use an O-ring in the middle to achieve a tight seal on the valve stem.

Apple submits many patent applications every week, but although the existence of patents indicates areas of interest in Apple’s R&D work, it does not guarantee that this idea will appear in future products or services.

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