Electronic Document Page Turning via Thickness Region Interaction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for turning pages in electronic documents with large numbers of pages on mobile terminals and personal computers are inefficient, requiring multiple flick actions or prolonged waiting times to reach a target page.
Innovation Solution
A document reader system with a display, action detection, and display control means that allows page turning by specifying points on a region representing page contents and a region simulating the thickness of pages, enabling direct navigation to a specified page position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If multiple flick actions are performed to reach a target page in an electronic document with many pages, then the target page can be accessed, but the operation time and user effort increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a new spatial dimension by adding a thickness region beside the page content region. This thickness region represents the stack of pages and allows users to specify page positions vertically along the thickness axis. By mapping page navigation from a one-dimensional horizontal flick gesture to a two-dimensional interaction involving both content area and thickness area, the system enables direct access to any page without sequential flicking through all intermediate pages.
Solution Approach 2:
The thickness region acts as an intermediary interface between the user and the page navigation system. Instead of directly interacting with page content to navigate, users interact with the thickness region which mediates the navigation request. The thickness region visually represents the page stack and allows users to specify target pages by touching at different vertical positions, translating this into direct page jumps without requiring multiple flick actions.
2Speed
If a user strongly touches the image simulating book thickness to turn over pages speedily, then page turning speed increases, but the user must wait a long time to reach the target page in documents with many pages
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by allowing users to pre-specify the target page position through touch input on the thickness region before the actual page turning begins. Unlike sequential page turning where each page must be flipped one by one, the user's initial touch on the thickness region determines the final destination page in advance, and the system then navigates directly to that page, eliminating the waiting time for intermediate pages.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements skipping by enabling direct navigation to the target page specified by the user's touch position on the thickness region. When a user touches a specific vertical position on the thickness area, the system calculates the corresponding target page and rushes through all intermediate pages to reach the destination directly, rather than turning pages sequentially. This skipping mechanism eliminates the prolonged waiting time experienced in traditional fast page turning of multi-page documents.
3Ease of operation
If the interface provides a region representing page contents and a region representing thickness of pages, then direct navigation to specified pages becomes possible, but the display complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a visual copy or representation of the physical book's thickness as a two-dimensional region on the display screen. This thickness region is a graphical copy of the three-dimensional page stack, allowing users to interact with it as if touching the actual book edge. By copying the essential visual characteristic of book thickness into a flat display region, the system provides intuitive page navigation without requiring complex three-dimensional display hardware.
Data Source
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AI summary
A document reader is provided that has an interface which may be used to advantage for reading an electronic document containing a larger number of pages. A method for turning over the pages of the electronic document and a program are also provided. The document reader includes a display unit for demonstrating a region representing contents of a page selected by a user of an electronic document of a style composed by a plurality of pages held together and a region which is provided neighboring to the region representing the page contents and which represents the thickness of a plurality of pages held together. The document reader also includes an action detection unit for detecting contents of an action on the electronic document performed by specifying an arbitrary point in each of the regions, and a display control unit. In case an action of specifying two points, namely an arbitrary position in the region representing the page contents and an arbitrary position in the region representing the thickness of the pages held together, is carried out by a user so that the two points are specified in succession, the display control unit performs a processing of turning over pages up to a page corresponding to the position specified in the region representing the thickness of the pages held together.