Future AirPods could get lasers to read the wearer’s lips & process requests

Apple is researching how AirPods could use sensors like the ones used in Face ID to read the user’s lips and process what the user wants, even if there isn’t a spoken request.

Apple’s patent covers both over the ear AirPods Max (left) and in-ear AirPods Pro — image credit: Apple

Apple has been looking into the idea of AirPods detecting gestures for more than five years, including how such detectors could learn a user’s unique movements. In 2024, the first significant result of this research came with how AirPods Pro could detect when a user nods or shakes their head.

Now in a newly granted patent, Apple has revealed that it is aiming to go further. The “Wearable skin vibration or silent skin gesture detector” patent proposes using what it calls self-mixing interferometry to recognize more nuanced gestures.

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