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Apple Patents Woven Fabric Display For Bands, Tethers, Etc.

Apple Patents Woven Fabric Display For Bands, Tethers, Etc.

December 3, 2015

Mikey Campbell, AppleInsider:

Aptly titled “Woven display,” Apple’s application details a technique of weaving light pipe fibers into conventional fabrics, a clever amalgam of traditional textile production and modern materials. The resulting smart fabric would have a multitude of uses, one being an Apple Watch band that doubles as a simple secondary display.

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Sheesh.

While this silly business will likely never come to market, it’s interesting to see where Apple’s head was back in 2014 when it applied for this patent. On the surface, it seems to be an obvious (if slight) admission that Apple Watch’s small screen was an ongoing philosophical problem for the software engineers charged with making the thing useful in terms of data density and relevance. And to be fair, half a year into its wearable’s first release cycle, Apple still hasn’t really come close to cracking that nut.

And woven fabric displays won’t be the tool to help them do it.

Of course, Apple’s openly interested in fashion now, and connected, color-/design-changing clothing might help them get another foothold into the industry. (Heck, even I might buy an Apple Belt if it’d let me wrap the Gadsden snake around it and then switch to Gonzales cannons with a quick swipe of my iPhone…or, I guess, my Apple Watch.)

[Image via AppleInsider]