Foldable Display Notification Area Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Foldable electronic devices face challenges in notifying users effectively about changes in their geometrical shape, leading to potential power wastage and usability issues due to inconsistent display area recognition when folded or unfolded.
Innovation Solution
An electronic device with a flexible display and sensor module that determines the angle between housing structures to display notifications appropriately on edge or folding areas, ensuring user recognition of shape changes and optimizing power usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If notifications are delivered regardless of the degree of unfolding, then notification delivery is consistent, but power consumption increases and user recognition fails
Solution Approach 1:
The notification system dynamically adapts its behavior based on the real-time folding state of the device. The processor continuously monitors the angle between housing structures and adjusts notification display parameters accordingly, transitioning from static notification delivery to a dynamic state-responsive system that optimizes power consumption while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes notification display parameters (such as display area, brightness, or notification method) based on the folding angle parameter. When the device is folded to a specific angle, the notification parameters are adjusted to ensure visibility while minimizing power consumption, rather than using fixed notification settings.
2Reliability
If notifications are delivered regardless of the degree of unfolding, then notification delivery is consistent, but user recognition of notification fails
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates feedback from angle sensors that continuously monitor the folding state and provide this information to the processor. Based on this feedback, the system intelligently determines the appropriate notification display area and method, ensuring that notifications are always delivered to visible regions regardless of the device's folding configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The notification display location and parameters dynamically adjust according to the real-time folding state. The system transitions from static notification delivery to a dynamic system that continuously adapts notification presentation based on the current geometric configuration, ensuring user recognition while maintaining delivery consistency.
3Ease of operation
If the display area is expanded in unfolded state, then user convenience is improved, but device volume increases
Solution Approach 1:
The display area dynamically changes based on the folding state. When unfolded, the display expands to provide maximum user convenience; when folded, the display area reduces accordingly. This dynamic adaptation allows the device to offer large display functionality when needed while maintaining a compact form factor during storage or portability.
Solution Approach 2:
The display is segmented into different active areas that can be independently controlled based on folding state. The flexible display technology allows different portions of the display to be activated or deactivated, enabling the device to provide expanded display area for user convenience while minimizing the physical volume when folded for portability.
4Volume of moving object
If the housing is folded to reduce volume, then portability is improved, but user recognition of shape change fails
Solution Approach 1:
The display utilizes color changes or visual indicators to communicate the folding state to the user. When the device transitions between folded and unfolded states, the display changes its visual presentation (such as showing different colors, patterns, or notifications) to inform the user of the shape change, ensuring awareness while maintaining portability.
Solution Approach 2:
The display acts as an intermediary between the mechanical folding action and user perception. It translates the physical shape change into visual information that the user can recognize, bridging the gap between the mechanical transformation and user awareness of the device's geometric state.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device according to various embodiments of the disclosure comprises: a foldable housing, a flexible display, a communication circuit, a sensor module, a processor, and a memory. The memory can store instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to sense whether an event configured to display a user interface has occurred, identify an angle between a first housing and a second housing using the sensor module, determine, based on the identified angle, at least one area for displaying the user interface from among at least one edge area or folding area of the flexible display, and control the display to display the user interface in the determined at least one area.