Fingertip-Aware UI Rendering for Small-Screen Selectability
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Solution Overview
Problem
The smaller size of electronic device display screens complicates human-computer interaction, particularly for users with disabilities or those with larger fingers, as the dense screen layout often leads to incorrect object selection due to increased complexity and smaller icon sizes.
Innovation Solution
An electronic device determines the number and area of UI objects, calculates screen complexity based on object density and user interaction errors, estimates fingertip size, and renders modified UI screens with enhanced objects to improve operability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the number of UI objects on a small display screen is increased to provide more functionality, then the device becomes more feature-rich, but the screen density increases making it difficult for users to accurately select objects
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the interaction process into multiple stages: first determining screen complexity level, then estimating fingertip size, and finally adjusting UI object characteristics accordingly. This segmentation allows the system to handle the contradiction by breaking down the complex interaction into manageable steps with specific adjustments at each stage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies dynamics by making UI object characteristics adjustable rather than fixed. The system dynamically modifies UI object properties (such as size, spacing, or highlighting) based on real-time assessment of screen complexity and user fingerprint characteristics, allowing the interface to adapt its behavior to resolve the contradiction between functionality and ease of operation.
2Volume of moving object
If the display screen size is reduced to make the device more compact, then the device portability improves, but the UI object size becomes too small for users with fat fingers or disabilities to accurately interact with
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by adjusting specific UI object properties (such as increasing size or modifying visual characteristics) only in the regions where interaction is needed, rather than changing the entire display layout. This allows the screen to remain compact overall while providing enhanced interactability in critical areas, resolving the contradiction between device compactness and ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes parameters of UI objects (size, spacing, visual weight) based on the estimated fingertip size and screen complexity level. By dynamically adjusting these parameters, the system maintains compact device dimensions while ensuring that UI objects remain sufficiently large and distinct for users with larger fingers or disabilities to interact accurately.
3Ease of operation
If the UI objects are made larger to improve visibility and selectability, then the ease of operation improves, but the screen density decreases reducing the number of objects that can fit on the display
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts UI object characteristics based on the estimated fingertip size and screen complexity level. Rather than using a fixed uniform size, the system modifies object properties in real-time to optimize both selectability and the number of objects that can fit on the display, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and quantity of available objects.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary assessment of screen complexity and fingertip size before finalizing UI object characteristics. This preliminary action allows the system to pre-adjust object properties to optimal values that balance selectability with the number of objects that can fit, rather than reacting after the contradiction has fully developed.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for managing a user interface (UI) comprises: determining total number of UI objects on a screen of an electronic device, an area covered by each of the UI objects, and a total area covered by the UI objects; obtaining a screen complexity level based on the determination; obtaining a frequency of occurrence of an error while performing at least one user operation on at least one of the UI objects; estimating a size of a fingertip of a user used for operation on one or more of the UI objects; determining a difficulty level for operating the at least one of the UI objects based on the screen complexity level, the frequency of occurrence of an error, and the size of the fingertip of the user; and rendering one or more UI screens with at least one modified UI object based on the determined difficulty level.