External Digital Crown for Smartwatch Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current smartwatch operation requires users to manipulate the crown in combination with touching the display, which can be difficult, awkward, and obstructs content on the screen.
Innovation Solution
An external digital crown system where the digital crown is attached to a smartwatch via a belt or ring device, allowing users to navigate the smartwatch menu without lifting their finger from the crown by moving it along the length and width and rotating it, with a cylindrical roller providing tactile feedback for selection and pressure detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the digital crown is integrated into the smartwatch body, then the device structure is compact and unified, but the user's finger obstructs the display screen during operation
Solution Approach 1:
The digital crown is separated from the smartwatch body and integrated into the watch band instead. This segmentation allows the crown to be positioned away from the display screen, enabling users to operate the crown without their finger blocking the screen content.
Solution Approach 2:
The digital crown is repositioned from the traditional side-mounted location on the watch body to the watch band, which is a different spatial dimension relative to the display. This dimensional relocation resolves the conflict between crown operation and screen visibility.
2Area of stationary object
If the digital crown is moved to the watch band, then the display screen remains unobstructed during operation, but the device structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The watch band serves multiple functions: it secures the watch to the wrist and now also houses the digital crown mechanism. By making the watch band multi-functional, the patent avoids adding separate components, thereby minimizing structural complexity while achieving the desired functionality.
3Ease of operation
If users must move their finger from the display to the crown for navigation, then the crown functionality is accessible, but the operation becomes awkward and interrupts workflow
Solution Approach 1:
The digital crown is integrated into the watch band structure, creating a unified interaction zone. Users can keep their finger on the crown throughout the entire navigation process without needing to transfer their finger to the display, maintaining continuous workflow and improving operational ease.
Data Source
AI summary
An external digital crown for a smartwatch can be implemented using a computer. A smartwatch having a display can receive an electronic cue from a digital crown. The electronic cue can related to a tactile event on the digital crown from a user. The digital crown can be positioned contiguously with the watch. The electronic cue can be analyzed to relate the tactile event to a movement of an indicator on the display for a selection on the display, and a selection can be initiated on the display based on the analysis of the electronic cue.