Apple recently registered a patent for a sensor that can be integrated into headphones, and allows you to control the volume by moving your head. The intention is that moving the head up and down or left and right will allow you to increase or decrease the volume, instead of pressing buttons.
In the latest generation of AirPods Pro, Apple introduced for the first time the possibility of controlling the audio volume of the headphones using a touch pad and not only from the connected device. It seems, then, that the company is aiming for a further expansion of the control options, without the user having to rely on the connected device but on the direct operation of the headphones themselves.
The document briefly describes the process of using the technology. First, the user will be required to create an initial definition, a kind of capture of the nature of his personal use, similar to saving a fingerprint or a facial photograph. After that, when touching the headphones the motion sensor will be activated and will track the movements of the head. The sensor itself, according to the diagram, is located inside the headphones themselves and not in the short rod that is connected to them and is mostly kept for batteries and the antenna for the wireless connection. The design of the headphones, at least the one shown in the diagram, is the same as that of the existing AirPods models.
Since Apple recently upgraded the AirPods Pro and the regular AirPods were also updated less than two years ago, the next big update for these models will probably not come soon. Even then, of course, there is no certainty that the technology described in the patent will actually be incorporated into the headphones, although the level of detail of the document and the relative technical simplicity may strengthen the possibility that the motion sensor will indeed be one of the innovations in Apple’s next headphones.
