'Project Titan' could use True Tone to even out interior lighting

News
By Oliver Haslam
published

What you need to know

  • A new Apple patent could point to True Tone-like tech being used in "Project Titan."
  • True Tone is currently used to ensure iPads and iPhone screens aren't too blue or yellow.
  • Ambient light could be measured with car interior lighting adjusted to match.

A newly granted patent could point to Apple using True Tone-like tech in its ongoing "Project Titan." The project is believed to be related to a car of car automation system, with True Tone likely to allow interior lighting to be altered to suit ambient light levels.

The new patent, titled "Adjustable lighting systems" and spotted by Apple Insider, was granted to Apple by the US Patent and Trademark Office and outlines how ambient light data could be used to adjust interior lighting.

Apple lighting patent

Apple lighting patent (Image credit: Apple Insider)

In the filing, Apple suggests the use of internal sensors within an enclosure to sense an internal light condition and generate a signal based on that status. It is suggested this could be a camera which collects data from an image, comparing what it receives against known values for the image to determine differences in lighting.This data is then fed to a lighting controller and control components to adjust the lighting, in a bid to bring the data gleamed from the camera sensor closer to the preconfigured values.

True Tone does something similar on iPhones and iPads, allowing sensors to detect the ambient light. The display output is then adjusted accordingly to ensure it doesn't appear too blue or yellow when viewed. Having a car interior that does something similar, ensuring an even light throughout a journey, is definitely something that sounds distinctly Apple-like and isn't something car manufacturers offer right now.

Of course, and as always, it's important to remember that Apple is granted many patents each year. They don't all turn into products that we can buy so this might not go anywhere at all.

Or it might be the next big thing in cars. Who knows?

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.