Two patent applications recently filed by Apple involve a technology that could automatically scale visual content on a display based on its proximity to a user’s face, and a way to reduce vibration noise from a device. The scaling technology would be able to change the size of visual content on the fly, eliminating the need for using touch gestures to zoom by using sensors to detect the proximity of the user’s face. Two functions are outlined in the patent application: Comfort mode, which would increase the size of visual content when a user’s face is further from the screen, and zoom mode, which would increase the size of content when the user’s face gets closer to the screen.
The other patent application aims to reduce the vibration noise from a device in certain circumstances, such as when the device is on a hard surface, as pictured above in an illustration from the application. Sensors would be able to determine if a device’s vibration is too loud, or if the device is vibrating on a hard surface. Mitigation routines would then be enacted to reduce the vibration and subsequent noise. Both applications were filed in May 2011. [via Apple Insider]