Remote Control Hotkeys for Context-Aware Smart TV Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Smart TVs lack seamless and intuitive user interfaces for navigating and executing various features, leading to cumbersome device management and inefficient user interaction.
Innovation Solution
An Intelligent TV system with dynamically assigned hotkeys on a remote control, allowing functions to change based on the currently selected silo, and a moveable joystick for proportional window displacement, along with features like social network integration and social volume visualization, to enhance user interaction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional remote controls with fixed button functions are used, then the device structure is simple, but the user interface is not intuitive and navigation is cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic button functionality where the same physical button performs different operations depending on the current context (silo). For example, the OK button navigates within panels in one context but selects silos in another context. This dynamic reassignment eliminates the need for separate buttons for each function, maintaining simple hardware while achieving intuitive context-aware operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes each button universal by enabling it to perform multiple functions based on the active silo. A single button can serve as a selection button, navigation button, or confirmation button depending on whether the user is in Live TV, VOD, Media Center, or Application Center silos. This multi-functionality reduces the total button count while expanding operational capabilities.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate devices are used for different functions, then each device has dedicated functionality, but device management becomes cumbersome and portability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent consolidates multiple content delivery functions (Live TV, VOD, Media Center, Application Center) into a single television device with unified remote control. The silo-based architecture allows these previously separate functionalities to coexist in one device while maintaining distinct operational modes, eliminating the need for multiple standalone devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the unified device into distinct silos (Live TV, VOD, Media Center, Application Center), each representing a separate functional domain. This segmentation allows complex multi-functional integration while maintaining clear organizational boundaries and context-specific operation, making the integrated system manageable despite its versatility.
3Reliability
If context-specific buttons are provided for each function, then button functionality is precise, but the number of buttons increases and remote control size grows
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dynamic button reassignment where the function of each button changes based on the active silo context. The same physical button provides context-appropriate functions: in Live TV silo it changes channels, in VOD silo it selects movies, in Media Center silo it navigates files, and in Application Center silo it launches apps. This dynamic behavior ensures precise function execution without requiring separate buttons for each context-specific operation.
Data Source
AI summary
An intelligent television system provides an operating system and an application framework for controlling a user interface to handle user input events from a handheld remote control. The remote control includes color keys that are configured for triggering different functions in different application panels displayed on the television.