Runtime Graphical Distortion for Curved Interactive Displays

Solution Overview

Problem

Current touch screen technologies face challenges in designing interactive applications for irregular display surfaces, such as spherical displays, as they require significant development time and computational resources to ensure aesthetically pleasing graphics and multi-touch functionality, limiting the interactive capabilities of such systems.

Innovation Solution

The solution involves pre-distorting graphical objects at runtime to maintain an aesthetically pleasing appearance on irregular surfaces, using a system that includes a receiver, distorter, projector, and detector components to project and orient graphical objects on a curved display surface, allowing multiple users to interact with them in a multi-touch environment without needing specific code for each position.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Manufacturing precision

If developers generate code for all possible positions of graphical objects on irregular display surfaces, then the graphical objects appear aesthetically pleasing, but the development time and computational expense increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveaesthetic quality of graphical objectsVSAvoiddevelopment time

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by pre-calculating and storing distortion parameters for various positions on the irregular display surface during application development. These pre-computed parameters are then retrieved and applied at runtime without requiring recalculation, thus maintaining aesthetic quality while significantly reducing both development time and runtime computational expense

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes parameters by representing graphical objects in a normalized coordinate system that maps to the irregular display surface. By transforming coordinates and applying pre-computed distortion parameters based on object position, the system maintains visual consistency across different locations without regenerating code for each position

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Manufacturing precision

If developers generate code for all possible positions of graphical objects on irregular display surfaces, then the graphical objects appear aesthetically pleasing, but the computational expense increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveaesthetic quality of graphical objectsVSAvoidcomputational expense

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by pre-calculating and storing distortion parameters for various positions on the irregular display surface during application development. These pre-computed parameters are then retrieved and applied at runtime without requiring recalculation, thus maintaining aesthetic quality while significantly reducing both development time and runtime computational expense

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses copying by creating a virtual model of the irregular display surface with pre-computed distortion characteristics. This virtual model serves as a template that can be reused across different positions and applications, eliminating the need for repeated computational analysis and reducing overall computational expense

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

3Use of energy by moving object

If limited applications with canned image data are used, then the computational expense is reduced, but the interactive functionality of the touch-screen apparatus is limited

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecomputational expenseVSAvoidinteractive functionality

Core Design Contradiction:

Use of energy by moving objectVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies universality by creating a general-purpose framework that works with any graphical object type and any irregular display surface geometry. The system uses standardized coordinate transformations and pre-computed distortion parameters that can be applied universally across different applications and objects, maintaining full interactive functionality while reducing computational expense

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes parameters by representing graphical objects in a normalized coordinate system that maps to the irregular display surface. By transforming coordinates and applying pre-computed distortion parameters based on object position, the system maintains visual consistency across different locations without regenerating code for each position

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS8884883B2Projection of graphical objects on interactive irregular displays

Publication Date: 2014.11.11 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

AI summary

A method for displaying images on a curved display surface is described herein. The method includes receiving a graphical object and distorting the graphical object at run-time such that an appearance of the graphical object on the curved display surface will be substantially similar regardless of a position of the graphical object on the curved display surface when viewed at a viewing axis that is approximately orthogonal to a plane that is tangential to the curved display surface at a center of the graphical object. The method may further include displaying the graphical object on the curved display surface.