Apple Looking To Replace Tour Guides With IPhones

Patently Apple has dug up some interesting patents filed by Apple. The patents describe a land where music venues disable video/audio recording, and museum tour guides are in your iPhone. The patent looks genuinely cool, providing a unique way to control and sell content.

The patent describes a new camera system (again?); one that can not only see visible light, but also infrared light. This new camera technology opens the doors for a whole new experience whether it be in a store, museum, or at a concert.

It may not be the best experience, like when you’re in the front row of a Lady Gaga concert, however, it can be beneficial to musical artists who don’t feel like getting into Copyright lawsuits because a video on YouTube.

The coolest feature, and most touted, is the one that makes your iPhone into a portable museum guide, or even salesperson (it’ll be even better, because it doesn’t get commision!).

This opens up a whole new world for retail and museums alike. However, the patent has an intense focus on giving credit where credit is do. Such an example would be photographing a painting in an art museum. The camera would get data from the IR transmitter and automatically add a watermark to the image.

This change in cameras means that this could not come to the iPhone 4, it would have to wait until the 5. Maybe one of the features in iOS 5 will be called “TourGuide.” I’m just making that up, however, it would be one cool feature.

Do you think Apple will implement this into the next iOS and iPhone? Would you be annoyed by the disabling of your camera and/or the adding of a watermark to the image? Let us know in the comments below,