Displaced Touch Area Representation for Occlusion-Free Interaction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Touch screens, especially on portable devices like PDAs and mobile phones, face difficulties in tasks such as text entry and selection due to the unreliability of handwriting recognition and the need for a stylus to operate small virtual keyboard buttons, which are often obscured by the pointing object, making accurate interaction challenging.
Innovation Solution
The system measures the distance between the pointing object and the screen, altering the display of objects based on this distance to provide early feedback and allow corrective action, by displaying a representation of the touch area at a distance from the touch position, which can be magnified, highlighted, or animated to improve interaction accuracy and visibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a virtual keyboard with small buttons is displayed on the touch screen, then the device can function without a physical keyboard, but the buttons become too small to be operated with a finger and require a stylus
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a new spatial dimension by displaying a representation of the touch area at a displaced position on the screen rather than directly at the touch location. This allows the interface to provide feedback in a different spatial plane, enabling finger operation of small buttons by showing the target area elsewhere on the screen where it can be seen and targeted more easily.
2Ease of operation
If the touch area is magnified to make buttons easier to operate, then button operability improves, but the magnification mechanism adds system complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a visual copy or representation of the touch area and displays it at a displaced position on the screen. This copy shows the buttons and their locations without requiring actual magnification of the touch-sensitive area, thereby improving operability while avoiding the complexity of implementing zoom and focus mechanisms.
3Productivity
If the pointing object is used to touch the screen, then text entry and selection can be performed, but the pointing object partially or completely covers the objects around the touch position
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary visual representation that mediates between the user's finger and the actual buttons on the screen. By displaying the touch area representation at a displaced position, the system provides visual feedback about which buttons are near the touch position without requiring the user to see the buttons directly under or near their finger, thus eliminating the occlusion problem.
4Measurement precision
If a stylus is used to operate small buttons, then accuracy improves, but the ease of operation decreases due to requiring a separate tool
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the touch screen interface to serve itself by providing visual feedback about the touch target area through the displaced representation. This self-service mechanism allows users to operate small buttons with their fingers alone, without needing an external stylus tool, by showing them where their finger is pointing relative to the buttons through the visual representation.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a data processing system comprising a display screen (102), a graphical user interface for displaying objects on the display screen, and detection means (102) for detecting a touch position of a pointing object (103) on the display screen. The detection means (102) is capable of measuring a distance between the pointing object and the display screen. A property of the displayed objects is dependent on the measured distance between the pointing object and the display screen.