Microsoft may be looking to add touch sensitivity to the bezel and rear casing of future tablets — at least if they plan on bringing the concepts pictured in a newly-published patent application to life.
Filed back in May of this year, the application shows an array of skin-sensitive sensors embedded in the bezel of a tablet. They’d allow the tablet — like a Surface or Surface Pro — to figure out exactly how it’s being held by a user and dynamically re-position UI elements to offer a better experience.
A system like this would allows Windows to make sure that the split on-screen keyboard was always sitting within easy reach of your thumbs. You wouldn’t have to grip in the same spot on both sides, either — although that’s certainly a natural tendency when holding a tablet. With some of today’s larger Windows tablets, however, a split grip does help balance out the additional weight.
It may offer other conveniences, too. The sensors could keep the screen awake as long as they’re detecting contact, for example.
Microsoft’s system appears to take things even further on the back of the device. The diagram above looks a lot like the rear trackpad on the PlayStation Vita. Instead of having to remove one hand to tap the touchscreen on the front of a Surface tablet, a back panel that’s wired up like this one would allow you to mouse around without adjusting your grip (not much, anyway).
The Grip-Based Device Adaptations patent also mentions detecting specific gestures. The touch-sensitive back could also allow users to perform Windows 8 swipe gestures — like pulling up the share menu or switching applications.
Obviously, the creations we see in patent applications don’t always wind up in consumer devices. This one, however, doesn’t seem like a long shot. It should be easy enough to implement in the Surface and Surface Pro and the cost shouldn’t be prohibitive either.
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