The Apple Pencil allows you to enable some tasks according to gestures. These include switching between the current tool and eraser, switching between the current tool and last used, show color palette, and off. However, a new patent application may give us a few more gestures and something else.

The guys over at Pocket Lint have found an Apple patent application that describes new gestures for the Apple Pencil.
The first patent mentions additional gestures include a triple-tap, swiping motion, and rolling action.

The touch sensor can be used to detect a tap, double tap, triple tap, or another tap gesture by the user […] The sequence of inputs within a span of time can be interpreted by the stylus as a user’s tap gesture. Detected tap gestures can be correlated with preprogrammed functions to be performed by the stylus and/or an external device upon detection of the tap gestures. For example, one or more taps can be interpreted as a user input to change a characteristic (e.g., color, size, width, thickness, shape, etc.) of a marking produced by use of the stylus with the external device. By further example, one or more taps can be interpreted as a user input to perform functions on the external device, such as a copy function, a paste function, an undo function, and/or a redo function. By further example, one or more taps can be interpreted as a user input to change a tool (e.g., drawing, erasing, etc.) setting for generating markings on the external device […]

The touch sensor can be used to detect a sliding gesture by the user […]

The touch sensor can be used to detect a rolling gesture by the user. The rolling gesture can include movement of a finger about a circumference of the housing and/or rolling movement of the housing.

The second patent also mentions a touch sensor that can detect sliding gestures by the user and a capacitive sensor like the one used an iPhone screen or Touch ID buttons. This way, the Apple Pencil would only react to deliberate gestures.

A stylus comprising: a housing defining a grip region of the stylus; and a capacitive touch sensor comprising multiple sensing elements distributed circumferentially and longitudinally along an inner surface of the housing at the grip region, wherein the capacitive touch sensor is configured to detect movement of a finger with respect to the grip region while the grip region is held by other fingers.

A third patent mentions other input devices, and it is here where we find a possible camera.

The external device can include one or more of a processor, a memory, a power supply, one or more sensors, one or more communication interfaces, one or more data connectors, one or more power connectors, one or more input/output devices, such as a speaker, a rotary input device, a microphone, an on/off button, a mute button, a biometric sensor, a camera, a force and/or touch sensitive trackpad, and so on.

Now we only have to wait and see if these new gestures make it to a new Apple Pencil, or if they just stay as patents that never really become true.

Source: 9to5Mac

Via Pocket Link