Dynamic Virtual Button Rearrangement on Wrapped Glass Displays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern portable electronic devices with touch-sensitive displays face challenges in user interaction, particularly when oriented in enclosed spaces like pockets, as the smooth surface makes it difficult to determine the device's orientation and actuate virtual buttons by touch alone.
Innovation Solution
The electronic device employs a wrapped display with a unitary pre-formed glass fascia that can deflect when squeezed, allowing virtual buttons to be dynamically rearranged based on conditions such as being in a pocket or reversed gravity, enabling intuitive control without visual orientation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a smooth touch-sensitive display is used, then the device aesthetic and touch sensitivity are improved, but the ability to determine device orientation by touch alone deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The display surface is segmented into different tactile zones with distinct textures. The first tactile zone has a first texture while the second tactile zone has a second texture different from the first. This segmentation allows users to differentiate between different areas of the display through touch alone, enabling orientation detection without visual feedback while maintaining the overall smooth touch-sensitive surface.
Solution Approach 2:
Different local regions of the display are given different tactile properties. Specifically, the first tactile zone and second tactile zone have different textures, creating local quality variations. This allows users to identify device orientation by feeling which textured zone is in which position, solving the problem of orientation detection on smooth surfaces.
2Device complexity
If virtual buttons are arranged in a fixed layout, then the interface design is simple, but the usability in different device orientations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual button arrangement is made dynamic rather than fixed. The system automatically reconfigures the virtual buttons based on the detected device orientation. When the device is rotated or held in different orientations, the virtual buttons rearrange themselves to maintain ergonomic and intuitive positioning, thereby improving usability across all orientations without significantly increasing interface design complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses tactile feedback from the textured zones to help users understand device orientation, which then triggers appropriate feedback in the form of reconfigured virtual button layouts. The textured zones provide orientation information that feeds into the system's orientation detection, which then adjusts the virtual button arrangement accordingly, creating a feedback loop that improves usability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the device is placed in an enclosed space like a pocket, then portability is improved, but the ability to interact with the device by touch alone deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The display is segmented into tactile zones with distinct textures that can be felt through clothing or in enclosed spaces. This segmentation allows users to locate and identify different areas of the display and control elements through touch alone, enabling effective interaction even when the device is in a pocket without visual feedback.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary orientation detection using the textured zones before user interaction begins. When the device is removed from a pocket or enclosed space, the system has already detected the orientation through tactile zone positioning and pre-configured the virtual button layout accordingly, allowing users to immediately interact with the device in the correct orientation without needing to visually adjust it.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enhances user experience by allowing seamless and intuitive control of electronic devices in various orientations, enabling users to interact with virtual buttons efficiently even when the device is in a pocket or upside down, without needing to visually identify its orientation.
Implementation Method 1
a wrapped display with a unitary pre-formed glass fascia that can deflect when squeezed
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device includes a device housing and one or more displays presenting one or more user actuation targets defining one or more virtual buttons in a predefined arrangement relative to a first end of the device housing. One or more sensors detect a condition of the electronic device, such as an approaching object, change in the direction of gravity, or an object tapping or pushing the electronic device. One or more processors cause, in response to the one or more sensors detecting the condition, the one or more displays to present the one or more user actuation targets defining the one or more virtual buttons in another predefined arrangement that is different from the predefined arrangement.