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Apple’s new patent may solve the texting & walking problem

Most of us are guilty of texting and walking and the truth is, doing so can be dangerous as our alertness of our surroundings are hampered, which could mean walking into a busy road or an object without noticing it. Now, a patent recently granted to Apple may just be the solution to this.

The patent is for a device called ‘Transparent Texting’, which uses your iPhone’s video camera to capture images and show them as a background while you’re busy with a text message. So for example if you’re busy sending a text on WhatsApp, you’ll see images of your surroundings in real-time in the background.

“An electronic communication device’s camera can continuously capture and present video images as a background within a text messaging session currently being displayed by the device. The camera can be a rear-facing camera on the device, so that the video images represent the views that the device’s user would see if the device’s display were transparent.” reads the patent’s abstract paragraph.

“The camera can continuously capture and present the video images as the background in the text messaging session, so that the device’s user continuously can be aware of the environment beyond the device’s display while still focusing on the text messages being communicated… Consequently, the device’s user is less likely to collide with or stumble over an object while participating in a text messaging session. ”

It’s important to note that Apple says with the Transparent Texting device, a user is “less likely collide with or stumble over an object”. So it’s not guaranteed that you’ll avoid any collisions with a stranger at the mall. Also, unless you text with the back of your phone facing forward instead of downwards, you’ll probably be seeing objects that are below you and are very near and not anything a few metres away.

It will be interesting however to see how effective the Transparent Texting device will be should it make its way into the market.

[Source: Cult of Mac. Image: Shutterstock]

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