Apple has just been granted multiple patent grants, a total of 54, of which a couple are particularly important to note, as they are indicators that Apple is making safety and priority among its user-base, implementing personal safety protocols into its accessories.
One of the most important patents that have been submitted by the company is a smart dock device that uses voice recognition and also works in tandem with Siri for complete control of the iPhone as well, among other features. Among the other patents are present ones that come with a protocol for dialling 911 in an emergency situation. Another useful patent by Apple is one that determines and knows when the user left the vehicle during the navigation process.
The dock patent comes with wireless charging and has a dedicated touch display that provides feedback to the user. A built-in processor would serve as the mediator for the user to communicate with the dock through voice recognition. Apple’s main reasoning for creating the dock is to serve as a kind of hands-free functionality for the user to access their phone. Other patents included new around-the-ear headphones, a foldable iPad cover and other such innovations.
Apple has made calling 911 easier just through biometric verification. The feature would sense a series of fingerprints in a specific order that would activate a call to 911 that bypasses the screen lock and goes straight to the dialer. Not only will the phone call 911, but will also send the location of the user to the authorities as well. The 911 calling method, while unconventional could be proven useful during extremely dire and emergency situations and also be a discreet way to alert the authorities in the case of a hostage situation.
These patents may not make their way to the next iPhone iteration right away but is a good sign for things to come by the company. Some reports have claimed that the next iPhone may not even feature a fingerprint sensor and could go straight to facial recognition tech instead. That would make sense as sources have speculated that the elongated design of the side power button as seen on the mock iPhone 8 render could also double as the Touch ID, when in fact, the iPhone 8 could well come with facial recognition as the new norm for personal security. The world first saw retinal scanning on the Note 7, and while facial recognition was not something new, it was a slow process. Perhaps the iPhone 8 could be the one to perfect it?
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