- Microsoft has filed a patent for a ‘haptic trackpad loudspeaker’
- It describes a touchpad using haptic feedback that doubles as a speaker
- It could potentially augment a laptop’s existing speakers, or replace one to create more space for other components
A future Surface Laptop could sport a fresh innovation in the form of a trackpad that also acts as a speaker.
The potential move was noticed by Windows Latest as a patent filed by Microsoft (with the US Patent and Trademark Office) for a ‘haptic trackpad loudspeaker’.
As the name indicates, the idea is a laptop touchpad featuring haptic (tactile) feedback and an integrated speaker.
The proposed implementation of the trackpad involves a touch sensor that functions as a haptic surface – so it simulates a physical ‘click’ when the pad is pressed, to avoid having a mechanical switch for the pad to register a click – and that sensor also acts as a diaphragm for the touchpad speaker.
The patent notes that the speaker can produce audio over a frequency range of 400Hz to 10KHz.
Analysis: A touch of genius?
The idea, then, is to either provide an extra speaker built into the touchpad to enhance the laptop’s other speakers, or to replace a speaker in the notebook chassis, giving more room for other components – a bigger battery, say – or to allow for a slimmer device perhaps.
The Surface Laptop already offers a good level of sound quality, and this could improve its audio chops further (the device currently tops our ranking of the best laptops, incidentally).
The dual-use trackpad – which can provide haptic feedback via low frequency vibrations under 400Hz, and audio using frequencies above that – is a clever twist on the traditional formula, and as such, we can imagine Microsoft might want to use it in a future Surface device.
As ever, though, the thing with patents is that they’re often never realized – they are just concepts, after all, which may not pan out when it comes to the physical design and implementation, or cost. Or indeed they may not work as well as planned. Patents are often filed speculatively, too, so whether we will ever get a Surface Laptop with a speaker integrated into a haptic trackpad remains to be seen.
My worry, if this idea does come to fruition, is whether employing the trackpad’s touch sensor in this dual-use way could lead to an increased chance of it going wrong, as when you complicate designs, that’s the obvious danger. But ensuring that this isn’t the case should be part of the R&D process in developing the trackpad, and part of the judgement about whether to proceed with the invention, or not.