Dynamic On-Screen Keyboard Transparency via Eye Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
On-screen keyboards often obscure content on devices with limited display size, requiring users to constantly minimize or reposition the keyboard to view underlying text or buttons, which is inefficient and frustrating.
Innovation Solution
Implementing dynamic transparency in on-screen keyboards using object detection and eye tracking, allowing the keyboard to become transparent when not in use, enabling users to peek underneath or view obscured content without fully closing it.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the keyboard is rendered opaque and fully visible, then keyboard accessibility is improved, but content visibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The keyboard transparency is made dynamic rather than static. The system automatically adjusts the keyboard's transparency level based on detected eye direction, transitioning between opaque and transparent states. This resolves the contradiction by making the keyboard accessible when needed (opaque) and transparent when the user is viewing content, eliminating the need for manual minimize/maximize operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The transparency parameter of the keyboard is changed based on eye tracking data. When the system detects that the user's eyes are directed toward the keyboard area, the keyboard becomes opaque for better accessibility. When eyes are directed elsewhere (toward content), the keyboard becomes transparent. This parameter change resolves the contradiction between accessibility and content visibility.
2Loss of information
If the keyboard is minimized or repositioned, then content visibility is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The keyboard performs self-adjustment of its transparency state based on eye tracking input, eliminating the need for users to manually minimize or reposition it. The system serves itself by automatically transitioning the keyboard between opaque and transparent states based on detected eye direction, resolving the contradiction without user intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses eye tracking feedback to automatically control keyboard transparency. The eye tracking data provides continuous feedback about user attention, and the system responds by adjusting the keyboard's transparency accordingly. This feedback loop resolves the contradiction by making the keyboard transparent when content is being viewed and opaque when keyboard input is needed.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus can include a processor; memory accessibly by the processor; a display operatively coupled to the processor; an object detector operatively coupled to the processor; and display circuitry that controls transparency of a rendered keyboard based at least in part on input sensed via the object detector.