Smartwatches have certainly become the next big mobile smart gadget people are adopting to, that is after smartphones. The growing love for smartwatches makes it only fitting that its interface also grows robust with a wider range of inputs like the smartphones have become of late. Well, a recent patent granted to Huawei by World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) hints at something like that. The patent reveals that Huawei is working on touch-sensitive smartwatch bezels.
According to the patent document, the bezel will be divided into eight symmetric zones, that can send commands when triggered in various combinations. Each zone will be able to recognise taps, swipes and force touches. This will eradicate the need of physical buttons, giving out some extra space for added features.
While the current physical rotating bezels, as available in Samsung Gear gadgets, offer scroll only, the touch-sensitive edge will also be able to zoom in and out. Much like the actual display, the bezel will also have click and force touch features. The patent document also mentions a “screw” gesture, although it’s not exactly clear what that is or how it works.
The new technology by Huawei will be functional regardless of the material of the bezel. The bezel could be stainless steel, plastic, aluminium or ceramic, while the strap can be even rubber or leather. The rotating bezel and its functionality are designed to be comfortable for both left and right-handed users. The possibility that this technology can eradicate the need to tap on the smartwatch’s screen makes it all very interesting.
Whether or not Huawei ends up implementing any of these features in its next watch is unclear at this point. But if it does, it would be one of the more interesting smartwatches in the market. The Huawei Watch 2 with Android Wear 2.0 was introduced at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017, Barcelona. We could see more on this at MWC 2018 next month if Huawei has actual plans to implement these features in its next watch.
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