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Yesterday, Apple won approval for a patent, initially filed in 2009, on a controversial new camera system that relies on infrared signals, reports Pitchfork via 9to5Mac and Patently Apple.
The patent states that the new technology "can determine whether each image detected by the camera includes an infrared signal with encoded data." These functions could be used in settings such as museums, when pointing the camera at an object could give the user encoded information about the subject. But the infrared data technology could also be used to disable iPhone camera functions at concerts in order to discourage online sharing and copyright infringement, as show in a diagram attached to the patent.
A representative for Apple was not immediately available for comment.
United States Patent and Trademark Office