Foldable Screen Display Switching Using Gaze-Directed Area Adjustment

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Solution Overview

Problem

Flexible foldable touchscreens in electronic devices often experience application restarts, unexpected exits, or crashes when switching between display areas due to inconsistent notch specifications and resolutions, leading to poor user experience.

Innovation Solution

A display method that adjusts the display area of application interfaces based on notch areas and user gaze direction, using a foldable screen with a processor to detect changes and adjust display parameters to maintain application continuity.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If the screen is folded to create different display areas, then the device can meet user requirements for different screen sizes, but application restarts and crashes occur when switching between display areas

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvescreen size adaptabilityVSAvoidapplication stability
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system pre-adjusts the display area of the application interface based on the notch area information before the application actually switches between display areas. This preliminary adjustment ensures that the display parameters are properly configured in advance, preventing application restarts and crashes when transitioning between different screen configurations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Adaptability or versatility

If different display areas have different notch specifications and resolutions, then the device can support diverse display configurations, but the application interface becomes incompatible causing crashes

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedisplay configuration flexibilityVSAvoidinterface compatibility
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies different display adjustments to different display areas based on their specific notch specifications and resolutions. Each display area receives customized display parameters tailored to its local characteristics, ensuring compatibility and preventing crashes while maintaining the ability to support diverse display configurations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system dynamically changes display parameters such as display area size and position based on the target display area's notch specifications and resolution. By adjusting these parameters before application switching, the system ensures interface compatibility across different display configurations without causing application crashes.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

3Productivity

If the application interface display area is not adjusted based on notch area, then the application can run without additional processing, but the display is incompatible with the first display area's notch specifications

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveapplication execution efficiencyVSAvoiddisplay compatibility
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs display area adjustment as a preliminary action before the application interface is rendered in the first display area. By pre-calculating and setting the appropriate display parameters based on notch area information, the system ensures display compatibility is established in advance, allowing the application to run smoothly without additional processing during execution.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP4220390B1Display method and electronic device
Publication Date: 2025.07.09 HUAWEI TECH CO LTD
  • EP4220390B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4220390B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4220390B1 patent drawingFigure 3A~3B

AI summary

This application provides a display method and an electronic device, to resolve a problem that an application is prone to restart, unexpected exit, crash, or the like when a user powers the electronic device on or performs screen switching. The method may be applied to an electronic device configured with a foldable screen. The foldable screen may also be understood as a foldable display screen, for example, a foldable touchscreen. The foldable screen includes at least a first display area and a second display area. The method includes: determining the first display area as a display area at which the user gazes; adjusting a display direction of the first display area to match with a gaze direction of the user; and moving, to the display direction-adjusted first display area for display, an interface that is being presented in the second display area. In embodiments of this application, display may be performed in a body direction without restarting an application, so that a life cycle of the application continues, and user experience can be improved.