Apple will present three studies at the ACM Human‑Computer Interaction Conference 2026 in Barcelona, Spain, on the redesign of the AirPods Pro 3. The first paper, ‘Improving User Interface Generation from implicit designer feedback,’ trains models with designers’ input to produce interfaces. The second explores variation testing, while the third presents SceneScout, Apple Maps APIs with a multimodal language model to deliver blind users.

Apple’s redesign of the AirPods Pro 3 draws on more than 10,000 3D ear scans and over 100,000 hours of user research across human factors, biomechanics, acoustics, and industrial design. The new fit offers a tighter acoustic seal and refined Active Noise Cancellation, aiming to accommodate a broader range of ear shapes and improve comfort during extended use.

SceneScout leverages Apple Maps APIs and a multimodal large language model to generate interactive, AI‑driven descriptions of street‑view imagery. By translating visual content into natural language, the tool provides blind users with contextual information about their surroundings, enhancing navigation and situational awareness without the need for manual image interpretation.