Form Masking Apparatus for Accurate Item Verification

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Solution Overview

Problem

In form approval systems, approvers often struggle to accurately confirm all items due to the overwhelming nature of large forms and short approval timelines, leading to potential oversight of crucial items during the review process.

Innovation Solution

An information processing apparatus that acquires text string information and position information for predetermined items in a form, renders them unrecognizable by superimposing a mask image, and changes the state to recognizable upon user interaction, ensuring all items are confirmed before allowing approval.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the entire form is displayed uniformly for approval, then the approver can see all contents at once, but important items may be overlooked due to the overwhelming nature of large forms

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveaccuracy of item confirmationVSAvoidcomplexity of form review process
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by making different parts of the form have different visual properties. Specifically, it highlights or emphasizes predetermined important items (such as total amount, due date, or key clauses) through visual differentiation like color coding, bolding, or positioning, while displaying other items in a standard manner. This allows the approver to quickly identify and focus on critical items without being overwhelmed by the entire form, thereby improving confirmation accuracy while managing review complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Reliability

If the approver reviews all items in detail, then accuracy of approval increases, but the approval time becomes excessively long

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveaccuracy of approvalVSAvoidapproval time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the form review process by dividing items into different categories or priority levels. It separates predetermined important items that require detailed verification from other items that can be reviewed more quickly or automatically. This segmentation allows the approver to allocate time proportionally based on item importance, ensuring accurate review of critical elements while reducing time spent on less important items, thus resolving the contradiction between approval accuracy and time consumption.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies preliminary action by pre-identifying and marking important items before the approval process begins. The system automatically detects, highlights, or positions key items (such as total amounts, due dates, or critical clauses) in prominent locations prior to the approver's review. This preliminary preparation guides the approver's attention to essential elements from the start, enabling faster and more accurate approval without requiring exhaustive review of all items.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Ease of operation

If uniform display of all form items is used, then simplicity of interface is maintained, but difficulty in detecting important items increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesimplicity of interfaceVSAvoiddifficulty of detecting important items
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The patent employs color changes as a visual differentiation technique to highlight important items. By applying color coding, background shading, or text color variations to predetermined items (such as total amounts, due dates, or key clauses), the system makes these items stand out from the rest of the form content. This approach maintains overall interface simplicity while significantly improving the detectability of critical items, as the color variations provide intuitive visual cues that guide the approver's attention without requiring complex interface elements.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #32Color changes

Data Source

PatentEP4064159A1Information processing apparatus, information processing program, and information processing method
Publication Date: 2022.09.28 FUJIFILM BUSINESS INNOVATION CORP
  • EP4064159A1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4064159A1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4064159A1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

An information processing apparatus includes a processor configured to acquire text string information corresponding to a predetermined item in a digitized form and position information of the text string information, put the acquired text string information into an unrecognizable state in a display of the form by using the acquired position information for the item, and change the unrecognizable state to a recognizable state by performing a predetermined operation on the item.