Apple patents a multitouch "Fusion Keyboard"

While Apple might have attracted a certain amount of flack over a number of decisions in producing its new MacBook model – chiefly, the choice to use a mobile processor – the firm did introduce something noteworthy: a new butterfly mechanism keyboard that sees the height of the keys reduced by half.
Now, Apple has filed a new keyboard patent that could see the death the modern trackpad altogether: a multitouch keyboard named “Fusion keyboard” that could function as a physical keyboard capable of deploying touch gestures.

The patented file details that the keyboard would function simultaneously as a physical keyboard and next-generation trackpad: users would be able to swipe their fingers across the keys to move or access items on the screen. Similarly to a multitouch screen on an iPhone or iPad, users would also be able to select multiple items, zoom in, and switch between desktops without removing their hands from the keyboard.
Interestingly, it seems as if the patented Fusion Keyboard might also make use of ForceTouch technology, which is rumoured to soon be deployed on the next iPhone: each key would have different levels, so that a light press might trigger the input of a character, while a firm press might register as a specific action or mouse click, for example.

Apple-patent-Fusion-keyboard-drawing-002
An alleged illustration in the patent file

Users would further be able to type and use the keyboard as a multitouch surface concurrently; for example, a users left hand could continue typing while their right could be swiping across keys in multi-touch function.
Apple has cited in the patent that present day keyboards have made numerous attempts to supplant the success of the traditional keyboard – through means such as non-QWERTY layouts or split designs – yet all of which have not succeeded. Apple’s new patent might introduce a new way to control a computer while simultaneously affording the firm more real estate on their MacBook lines through removing the dedicated trackpad.
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