Macnn.com is reporting that Apple has been granted several patents for technology for it's Mighty Mouse, and most interestingly, for me, one for an integrated sensor display, and one that Macnn says could theoretically simplify or expand various Apple products.
Quoting Macnn, "The end result could be used by any number of Apple devices, ranging from handhelds to desktop and notebook Macs. It would theoretically support a variety of purposes, such as integrating a webcam directly into a display, allowing for more natural conversations and eliminating the need for separate design space. By extension it could be used in an optically-based interface, thanks to more precise gesture tracking than would be possible with a smaller sensor."
I like the part of integrating a web cam directly into the display ever since I read about it some time ago. Such a system would give the Mac, iPhone, iPod and other Apple devices, yet another leg up on the competition, especially in the area of making them more user-friendly.
But could it actually be used and lead to something far more important - like a much more secure OS X, for example?
I can see Apple integrating a type of facial recognition ability with such a display, and one that could be used to log into your Mac and administrative accounts. Such a live facial recognition ability, combined with this integrated sensor display, would make it next to impossible for fraudsters to hack and log into your Mac accounts, since they wouldn't have a clue as to what you looked like. Trying to guess or steal your password is hard enough, but trying to fool your system with a live facial recognition system, well, good luck on that.
Of course, even if hackers knew what you looked like (bloody unlikely), I would expect that such an integrated display sensor could also be combined with other security measures to make it even more complicated for anyone to circumvent the security of your Mac or other Apple device. Not that it would be impossible, mind you, but it certainly could make it so incredibly difficult that it wouldn't be worth the time and effort for criminals to even try to circumvent your now super ultra-secure OS X device!
As cool as being able to use such a display system as a web cam for chatting, etc., the security implications for such an integrated display sensing monitor could take OS X's security to a level that Windows 7 and Linux OS's could only dream of.
Whether or not Apple finally comes out with such an integrated sensor display, or whether or not it will be adapted for security purposes remains to be seen. However, I, for one, will be keeping my fingers crossed on this one. Such a security feature on the Mac (and other Apple devices) would make it one of Apple's biggest selling points, and would give it a big leg up on the competition and could advance the Mac, and other Apple devices, over all market share at the same time.
And that's my 2 cents 4 this Wednesday, May 20, 2009
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