Directional Search Filtering for Portable Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current online search systems for geographical information, such as phone numbers and directions, are inefficient due to limited searchable fields and slow results, especially when searching for individuals or businesses with common names, and require users to sift through multiple pages or slow map navigation.
Innovation Solution
A portable electronic device method that uses a communication system with a server and positioning hardware to determine the user's geographical location, allowing users to input search criteria and radius, and displays relevant results within a defined search area based on the device's pointing direction, reducing unnecessary search results by filtering results based on the user's current direction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If online search systems display all search results to ensure completeness, then information completeness is improved, but search time and user effort increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by determining the user's geographical location and pointing direction before displaying search results. The processor calculates which results fall within the forward search area defined by the device's orientation, pre-filtering results before presentation to the user. This eliminates the need for users to manually sift through irrelevant results, resolving the contradiction between showing all results and minimizing search time.
2Measurement precision
If online search systems provide comprehensive search results for common names, then search accuracy is improved, but the number of results to review increases, reducing operational efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by making search results spatially differentiated based on their geographical location relative to the user's pointing direction. Results are categorized into those within the forward search area and those outside it, with only the relevant local subset displayed prominently. This allows the system to maintain high search accuracy for common names while improving operational efficiency by presenting only locally relevant results first.
Solution Approach 2:
The search results are segmented into multiple categories: results within the forward search area, results outside the forward area but within the search radius, and results beyond the search radius. This segmentation allows users to quickly access the most relevant results while knowing that other results are available if needed, resolving the contradiction between accuracy and efficiency.
3Device complexity
If search systems use fixed search areas to simplify processing, then device complexity is reduced, but adaptability to user context decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements dynamics by making the search area adaptive rather than fixed. The forward search area is dynamically determined based on the portable electronic device's pointing direction, which can change as the user moves or reorients the device. The processor continuously updates which results fall within the forward area based on the current device orientation, providing adaptability without requiring complex manual configuration from the user.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of sorting and displaying data on a portable electronic device includes: determining geographical coordinates of the portable electronic device, providing search criteria to the portable electronic device, performing a search in a database based on the search criteria resulting in a list of database records, determining a search area of the portable electronic device and displaying selected records from the list of database records on a display screen of the portable electronic device. Each of the selected records is located within a search radius, which originates at the geographical coordinates of the portable electronic device, and within the search area, which is determined based on a pointing direction of the portable electronic device.