"Apple Socks" with touch simulation patented for future AR/VR devices
The hybrid concept where both sock and platform have fittings
The purpose of these socks would be to provide touch simulation enhancing a user's AR or VR experience. Haptic feedback is when technology artificially conveys the sensation of touch to a user through vibration or other means. iPhones already feature haptic feedback (using what Apple calls a Taptic Engine) through the ability to have your phone vibrate at certain UI interactions, or when soft keys are tapped.
During operation, shear forces and forces normal to the inner surfaces of a foot-shaped support surface and/or the exterior surface of a foot platform may be generated. These forces may provide a user with a sensation of resting or sliding across a tiled surface or other surface with surface irregularities. Friction effects (e.g., resistance to lateral motion) and other effects may also be produced using the haptic output devices.
The patent also says that the socks' functionality may connect to and be controlled by devices such as smartphones, computers, and "eyeglasses or other head-mounted equipment worn on a user's head." In other words, if we aren't reaching too far, this may have something to do with Apple's upcoming VR/AR line of products, such as next year's rumored VR Headset and the Apple Glass projected for 2025. We might also have a science fiction-y Apple Lens coming in 2030 or later, according to top Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, but maybe that's still a little too far to get excited about.
