Active Keyboard with Dynamic Key Appearance for Web Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing complexity of web browser interfaces and the lack of standard layouts make navigating the web challenging, especially for novice users, as every object on a screen can be clickable without clear cues.
Innovation Solution
A web configurable human input device with dynamically alterable mechanical control elements, such as an active keyboard, that changes appearance in response to an input device web script, allowing web page authors to control key functions and display dynamic menus, enhancing navigation and usability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If web page interfaces use non-standard layouts with every object being potentially clickable, then web page versatility and functionality are improved, but user navigation difficulty increases especially for novice users
Solution Approach 1:
The keyboard provides preliminary cues by displaying underlined text or distinctive visual indicators before users need to interact with elements. This advance signaling helps novice users understand which elements are clickable and what actions are available, reducing navigation difficulty while maintaining web page versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The keyboard acts as an intermediary between the complex web page interface and the user. It translates web page elements into standardized keyboard interactions with clear visual cues, making the interface more accessible while preserving the full functionality of the web page.
2Ease of operation
If standard keyboard functions are used, then ease of operation is maintained, but adaptability to dynamic web page content is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The keyboard incorporates dynamically alterable appearance through web scripts that change key visual indicators based on current web page content. This allows the keyboard to adapt its display to match the context of the web page while maintaining standardized physical layout and operation, achieving both ease of use and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The keyboard changes visual parameters such as text display, highlighting, and iconography on key surfaces in response to web page content. These parameter changes enable the keyboard to provide context-appropriate cues without altering the fundamental keyboard structure or operation, preserving usability while enhancing adaptability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If dynamic content is displayed on keyboard keys, then adaptability to web page context is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The keyboard uses a universal approach where standard keyboard hardware serves multiple functions: traditional typing plus dynamic visual display capabilities. By making the existing keyboard structure multi-functional rather than adding separate display devices, the system achieves context adaptation without proportionally increasing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The keyboard displays visual representations or copies of web page content directly on key surfaces through dynamic display elements. This copying approach allows contextual information to be presented at the point of interaction without requiring additional separate display devices, maintaining simplicity while enhancing adaptability.
Data Source
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AI summary
A web configurable human input device is provided. The device includes at least one mechanical control element having a dynamically alterable appearance. In some embodiments, the appearance of the at least one mechanical control element is dynamically altered in response to the execution of an input device web script. An example of such a web configurable human input device is an active keyboard in which the at least one mechanical control element having a dynamically alterable appearance is one of an array of keys of the active keyboard. When the active keyboard is connected to a web-enabled device, at least one key of the array of keys is configured to alter its appearance in response to the execution of the input device web script.