Contest Input System with Interaction Data Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems that record user selections for contests or voting processes lack accuracy and reliability, as they do not adequately verify the correctness of user inputs, particularly for users with disabilities or in environments where assistance is not available.
Innovation Solution
The system incorporates a range of input devices such as touch screens, bar code readers, card readers, eye tracking cameras, and binary input devices, along with a processor circuit that records user selections and associated interaction data, ensuring accurate and secure recording of user inputs, and provides machine instruction options for user-friendly operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional input methods are used for recording user selections, then the system is simple to operate, but the accuracy and reliability of recording user inputs is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system records user/machine interaction data and uses it to verify that user selections are accurately recorded. This feedback mechanism allows the system to compare the interaction data against the recorded selections, ensuring accuracy and providing verification to the user, thereby resolving the contradiction between reliability and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a copy of the user selection process by recording interaction data that mirrors the user's actions. This copy serves as verification evidence that the original user input was accurately captured, enabling reliability improvement without requiring fundamentally new hardware, thus managing the complexity trade-off.
2Ease of operation
If multiple input devices are provided to accommodate users with disabilities, then the ease of operation is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements multiple input devices (touch screens, bar code readers, card readers, eye tracking cameras, binary input devices) that can serve different user needs. Each device provides a different mode of interaction, making the system universally accessible to users with various disabilities while managing complexity through integrated control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows users to select their preferred input method based on their abilities, enabling self-service operation. Users can independently choose how to interact with the system without requiring assistance, improving ease of operation for disabled users while the system manages the complexity of supporting multiple input modalities.
3Reliability
If user/machine interaction data is recorded for verification purposes, then the reliability of selection recording is improved, but the loss of information and data management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates verification copies of user interactions in the form of recorded interaction data. These copies are essential for verifying that user selections were accurately captured, particularly in voting or contest scenarios. The copying principle allows verification without altering the original selection process, managing the trade-off between reliability and information overhead.
Data Source
AI summary
A machine that operates responsive at least in part to data bearing records (10) presents user selection contest options to users through at least one output device such as a display (14), and receives user contest option selection inputs and machine instruction inputs through input devices such as a touch screen overlay (16), a keypad (18) or other input devices. The machine may further include a device that reads data bearing records such as a bar code reader or a card reader (30). The machine records the user's selections and also user/machine interaction data which describes each user interaction with the machine during the user's session with the machine to facilitate verifying proper operation of the machine and recording of user selections.