Apple recently filed a patent about how its Digital Crown will have light and touch sensors in future Apple Watch models.
The patent, titled ‘Crown for an Electronic Watch’, discussed how it would extend from the housing and ‘define’ an imaging surface. The patent went on to explain how a ‘light-directing feature’ would land on a sensor, and that its rotation may only be limited to a full turn instead of the current free rotation. For image sensing, the patent said that biometric data could determine if the Crown is allowed to rotate or not.
For the light sensor, the patent said that it could get an ‘internal reflection’ and a reflective material so light could pass to the Watch. Apple launched the Vision Pro, which has a Digital Crown and could use the new patent when applied. It’s worth noting that patents may or may not show up on future Apple devices.
