Today the U.S. Patent Office published a patent application of Apple's that relates to a proposed glass shell Apple Watch with illuminated side controls with variable interfaces to control music, to act as a stop watch and to add biometric sensors.

Apple Watch with a Glass Shell

Apple's patent application is generally directed to a possible future Apple Watch having housings that include glass shells that define multiple sides of the devices.

Conventionally, glass has been used in Apple Watch to provide a transparent window over a touchscreen on a front of the device. Described herein, however is an Apple Watch with housings that use glass to define front surfaces as well as multiple side exterior surfaces of the housing.

This configuration allows a significant amount of mechanical overlap between the chassis and the glass shell, and thus may increase the strength of the mechanical coupling between the glass shell and the chassis.

Further, by forming the side walls of the watch entirely or substantially entirely out of glass, additional functional and aesthetic benefits are realized.

For example, displays may be positioned adjacent the side walls to display graphical outputs on (or through) the side walls. Sensors, such as touch sensors, biometric sensors, etc., may leverage the transparent and/or dielectric properties of the glass side walls to sense or detect inputs applied to the side walls.

The configuration of the side walls of the glass shell also result in the seams or joints between the glass structure and the chassis being positioned further towards the rear of the watch (as compared to conventional watch configurations), away from the user-facing surfaces. This may result in a less distracting, more attractive aesthetic appearance, as there may be fewer distracting seams or other discontinuities between housing components. 

The glass shell may also improve the water resistance of the watch, as the seams between housing components, where water or other liquids may accumulate, may be positioned further away from the source of the liquid (e.g., rain, sweat, splashes, etc., that may primarily or initially contact the front surface of a watch).

Apple's patent FIG. 4C below, for example, illustrates the watch #400 while displaying a first set of graphical outputs on a side display region #425 of the watch. For example, the graphical outputs may include buttons #422, #424, and #426, where the buttons #424 and #426 are configured as directional buttons (e.g., arrows).

The buttons #422, #424 and #426 may be used to navigate within a graphical user interface that is displayed on a front display region #423 of the watch (e.g., to move a cursor or other “active” element indicator with the directional buttons, and select particular affordances, functions, or other elements with the button #422). The directional buttons #424 and #426 may control functions such as volume (e.g., of a speaker of the watch or of other devices that may be controlled by the watch such as a phone, headphones, a tablet computer, a wireless speaker unit, or the like). 

Notably, the display can produce various types of graphical outputs on the sides of the device, and can dynamically change or vary the graphical outputs based on factors such as time of day, an active application of the watch, a current activity of the wearer (e.g., exercise, listening to music, watching video media, sleeping, working, running, swimming, etc.), or any other suitable factor.

Further, the watch may include touch sensing systems, force sensing systems, or other types of sensing systems that can detect inputs applied to the front and/or side walls of the watch (e.g., touch inputs applied by a user). Accordingly, the graphical outputs displayed on the sides of the watch may be buttons, sliders, or other affordances.

Apple's patent FIG. 4D above illustrates the watch while displaying a second set of graphical outputs on the side display region #425 of the watch. For example, the graphical outputs in FIG. 4D may include a start button #428 and a stop button #430. The watch may transition from the first set of graphical outputs (e.g., those shown in FIG. 4C or any other graphical outputs or even a blank side display region) to the second set of graphical outputs upon activation of an application, detection of an activity of the wearer, or the like. For example, the start and stop buttons may control a stop watch or other fitness tracker, or it may control music or other media playback.

In today's published patent application, Apple listed the lead inventor being Erik de Jong, Apple Watch Product Design Lead.