A newly published patent suggests that the Apple Watch could transform its color to match any object you want.
The Apple Watch currently boasts customization features such as colorful watch straps and changeable watch faces. But the Apple Watch of the future could someday give personalisation a futuristic twist.
A patent from the tech giant, published Wednesday, proposes giving you more control over the design of your watch face by enabling it to match almost anything you want. In theory, this could mean holding an object of choice over the Apple Watch display (say your T-shirt), pushing a button to activate the sensor and then witnessing the watch face color change to match your hue of choice.
More specifically, a future Apple Watch could have a color sampling sensor behind the display, according to the Electronic Devices With Color Sampling Sensors patent. It could determine the color of an object by shining different lights on it and seeing how much light is reflected back, according to the document. The device then uses the “corresponding light reflectance data” to adjust the color of its display to match the object.
Currently, the Apple Watch lets you change the color of elements such as the hour and minutes hands, for example. But you can’t change every single element on the Watch face, nor do all faces have the ability to change color.
“The color may be … matched to the color of an external object such as a watch band, a piece of clothing, or any other suitable external object,” the patent filing says. “This color sampling process may allow the user to customize the appearance of [the Watch] display so that the color scheme on display … matches with the user’s watch band, clothing, or other item.”
The patent also suggests that the color sampling sensor could be used on other jewelry worn by the user, such as rings, necklaces, earrings or bracelets. As with any Apple patent, it doesn’t guarantee the tech giant will release such a feature, but it shows that the company is interested in exploring it.
This patent was filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office in August 2020, but just published on Wednesday. In a similar vein, Apple has previously been granted a patent for a color-changing Apple Watch band that could be controlled with an iPhone app.