If you’ve been outside at all this winter, you’ll know that trying to type a message or email on your iPhone in the freezing cold can lead to some pretty numb fingers, because, of course, we need to take our gloves off in order to use the iPhone’s touch screen. Well, it seems Apple may currently be developing a solution to this little winter worry, as the Cupertino company has just been granted a patent for gloves designed especially for use with iDevice touch screens.
The patent for these rather bizarre gloves details two layers of fabric on the thumb and the index and middle fingers, with peepholes at the tips of the outer layer. When you want to use your iPhone, iPad, or any one of Apple’s touch screen devices, you simply pull back the top layer to reveal the second conductive layer underneath.
The touch screens on all of Apple’s iOS devices are designed to respond to the change in electrical current when your skin makes contact with the screen, completing a circuit. This prevents them from being operated whilst rubbing against items in the inside of your pocket or rucksack. Of course, when you have nice big gloves on to keep your hands warm, your skin isn’t triggering that change in electrical current.
The only way around this is by using a conductive material at the fingertips of your gloves through which your device can still complete a circuit with your finger. The easiest way to do this, if you’d like to make your own, is to sew some conductive thread into the fingertips of your gloves – it’s that simple!
News & image via: Cult of Mac
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TAGS: Apple, Patent
