Aiming Tool Trajectory for Multi-User Touchscreen Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Large-scale touch-sensitive devices like touch walls and touch tables face challenges in allowing users to select and interact with user interface objects without moving, leading to potential disruptions and duplicate changes when multiple users attempt to interact simultaneously.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a multiple touch selection control program that identifies individual users, assigns workspaces, and utilizes an aiming tool to enable users to select and interact with objects from their current location, calculating trajectories based on input orientation and force, allowing precise targeting and minimizing disruptions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple users interact with the touchscreen simultaneously without user identification, then the touchscreen supports multi-user interaction, but duplicate changes and conflicts occur when multiple users attempt to interact with the same objects
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the multi-user interaction space by identifying and assigning unique user identifiers to different users. Each user is given a distinct workspace area on the touchscreen, dividing the shared interaction space into individual zones. This segmentation prevents users from accidentally modifying each other's work while still allowing simultaneous interaction with different portions of the touchscreen.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies local quality by customizing the touchscreen interface for each user based on their identified workspace. Each user experiences a tailored interaction environment with their own selected objects and preferences, while the overall system maintains global coordination to prevent conflicts. This allows the touchscreen to adapt its behavior locally for each user while maintaining system-wide consistency.
2Area of stationary object
If users must move physically to interact with different objects on large touchscreens, then the touchscreen can display multiple objects, but user convenience decreases and disruptions increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system adds a virtual dimension to the interaction model by implementing an aiming tool that projects a trajectory from the user's current position to the target object. Instead of requiring physical movement across the touchscreen surface, users interact by defining a directional vector in the virtual space. This dimensional transformation allows users to access any object on the large touchscreen without physical displacement, maintaining both large display area and ease of operation.
3Ease of operation
If an aiming tool with trajectory calculation is implemented, then users can select objects from their current position, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an aiming tool as an intermediary between the user's touch input and the object selection. This mediator calculates the trajectory and determines the target object based on the user's current position, the direction of the swipe gesture, and the projected path. The aiming tool abstracts the complex calculation logic from the core touchscreen functionality, adding remote selection capability while managing system complexity through modular design.
Data Source
AI summary
In an approach for managing a user interface a computer identifies a first user that is utilizing the user interface. The computer determines the identified first user is utilizing an aiming tool. The computer receives an input, the input including at least: an orientation of the aiming tool, wherein the orientation includes at least one of: a direction and a force to be applied upon release of the aiming tool. The computer calculates a trajectory from the aiming tool to a first location on the user interface based on the received input.