Apple files patents for haptic car seats, trick sunroof

It’s still unlikely that Apple, the world’s largest technology company, will come out with a full-fledged car, but recent patent-filing history has some scratching their heads regardless. iDrop News reported last week that Apple was awarded two car-related patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. 

The two patents, which are for haptic seats and a trick sunroof, reimagine two central pieces of a car, with a sunroof that would feature “moveable panels with nonlinear tracks” according to the patent.

MORE: Apple’s self-driving car rear-ended

The design would reportedly allow for a sunroof to open no matter its shape or size, and would allow a company to create even larger sunroofs than currently found.

In terms of the seats, the patent designs feature a system that would allow the seats to automatically “adjust the comfort and safety levels of the passengers based on data from the car,” as well as provide warnings to the driver like notifying them of hazards in the road or buzzing to wake up a drowsy driver.

This isn’t novel technology, as General Motors uses similar technology it calls "Safety Alert Seat" in many of its vehicles, but the Apple patent leaves room for speculation as to what’s possible with a seat that can send notifications through your backside.

Granted, this news should be taken with a heaping of salt, as Apple has a history of filing patents en masse for a number of ideas,with more than 2,000 filed last year alone.