Samsung has applied for a patent over a new smartwatch technology that enables the wrist-mounted device to project a small UI over the back of the user’s palm.
While applying for a patent has never been known to be a sure fire indicator of it becoming a market reality, it sure makes for an interesting concept to begin with. For instance, one of the biggest bane of smartwatches is the cramped displays it comes with. This again severely limits the scope of interaction one can get into with the smartwatch.
Now with the means of extending the same over a larger surface area – read the back of the wearer’s hands or a nearby flat surface – users have a precious few millimetres more of space to get into any meaningful dialogue with their wrist-mounted devices. The smartwatch projector though would be paired with a suitable camera and a sensor suite to pick out the exact spot on the UI where the user has tapped on to invoke the matching response.
Further, the patent filing also includes mention of enough tech wizardry built into it to take into account the shape and contours of the surface before projecting onto it.
That is not all as the technology could also find the application on AR and VR headsets with the corresponding display projected onto a nearby wall or a flat surface.
Needless to say, all of it is still far from entering the real world which again could be a vastly different ball game. For instance, battery life has always been the biggest shortcoming of smart mobile devices. The same will no doubt pose an even bigger challenge on a device as small as the smartwatch; more so with additional hardware element added to it.
In short, it will be really interesting to see how Samsung eventually makes a real case scenario out of the concept, no matter how promising it might seem at the moment.
