New Apple patents show 'iPen' stylus for iPad, iPhone

25.05.2012
Apple has filed new patent applications for a stylus, dubbed the iPen, which will work with the company's iOS devices.

The US Patent and Trademark Office published the applications on Thursday, which detail plans for a new stylus being designed by Apple for its touchscreen devices.

reports that shows that the company is thinking of creating a stylus that uses haptics, a technology that Apple has . The advanced haptics in the iPen would allow the user to feel brush strokes, line thicknesses and more.

"An input device capable of generating haptic feedback may help a user navigate content displayed on the display screen, and may further serve to enhance content of various applications by creating a more appealing and realistic user interface," reads the patent's background description. "Haptic feedback may be any tactile feedback. Examples include forces, vibrations, and/or motions that may be sensed by the user."

"Haptic feedback may confirm the user's selection of a particular item, such as a virtual icon or a button, or may be provided when the user's iPen is positioned over a selectable item," says Patently Apple in its report. "The iPen may also provide a haptic output when the device is over, near or passes the boundary of a window or application shown on a display, or when the device is over, near or passes a graphic item having a particular texture."

Haptics in the stylus could also be used in gaming, says Apple. When playing a multiplayer game, the actions of one user could cause another user's pen to emit particular haptic output.