Samsung patents bezel-spinning smartwatch ring control
The quest for sticking a phone’s load of tech onto your wrist has raised an interesting question – what’s the best way of inputting commands on a smartwatch?
Samsung has patented what it reckons might the perfect solution, namely a rotating bezel that would acts as an input for the software.
While rotating bezels aren’t an uncommon sight in the analogue watch world, smartwatch manufacturers have yet to take up the idea on wrist-borne gadgetry.
Many sports watches use the bezel-spinning design to show different time zones, but the translation to wearable tech means it’s good for patenting.
It’s not yet clear how much of an onus would be put on the rotating bezel. Samsung could use it as a corollary input, or perhaps ditch the touchscreen altogether and use the bezel as the main way to interact.
The likeliest scenario is that the bezel would be used to scroll through options or menus, while another button or touchscreen would offer command selection.
It’s also worth mentioning that Samsung is yet to produce a round smartwatch, which makes the fact that the firm has opted for a circular design in the patent drawings all the more interesting.
A rotating bezel pretty much necessitates a round screen, so this patent could mark the beginnings of a more favourable design approach for Samsung’s wearable fare.
Unfortunately there’s a chance we might not even see the rotating bezel ever come to fruition, as all clues to its existence lie solely with this patent.
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Via: Sammobile