Edge Input Regions for Touch Interaction on Electronic Displays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic devices with displays and touch-sensitive input regions face challenges in providing efficient and intuitive user interactions, as they often rely on fixed position buttons that offer limited feedback and occupy valuable display space.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of one or more input regions on the edges or peripheral sides of electronic devices, which detect touch inputs and provide visual, haptic, and/or audio feedback, allowing for dynamic control interfaces and reduced input requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If fixed position buttons (mechanical or solid-state) are used for user input, then the device provides control functionality, but the display area is reduced and user feedback is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves input controls from the two-dimensional display surface to the three-dimensional edge surface of the device. By placing input regions on the edges and corners, the solution utilizes previously unused spatial dimensions, allowing full display area to remain available for visual information while providing tactile input controls on the device perimeter.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the device surface into distinct functional zones: the display area for visual output and the edge/corner regions for input control. This segmentation allows each area to serve its primary function independently, with input regions positioned on edges and corners separate from the main display surface.
2Reliability
If fixed position buttons are used, then control functionality is provided, but user feedback is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements multiple feedback mechanisms for the edge input regions, including visual feedback through the display, haptic feedback through tactile output generators, and audio feedback through speakers. This multi-sensory feedback system provides reliable confirmation of user input and enhances the intuitiveness of interaction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical buttons with a combination of touch-sensitive display regions and tactile output generators. This substitution eliminates the need for physical mechanical components while providing equivalent and enhanced feedback through visual, haptic, and audio channels.
3Adaptability or versatility
If virtual controls are added to the display, then functionality is enhanced, but the display is cluttered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent relocates physical controls to the edge surface dimension, separating them from the display surface. This spatial separation allows virtual controls to be displayed on the full display area without clutter, as the physical input regions are positioned on the device perimeter rather than overlapping with display content.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device includes a display. The electronic device detects an input along a device edge. In response to detecting the input and in accordance with a determination that the input meets one or more criteria and is detected at a first input location, the device displays a user interface at a first display location on the display that corresponds to the first input location. In response to detecting the input and in accordance with a determination that the input meets the one or more criteria and is detected at a second input location, the device displays the user interface at a second display location on the display that corresponds to the second input location. While the user interface is displayed, the device detects another input and, in response, the device adjusts a parameter for a function represented in the user interface in accordance with the other input.