Gaze-Driven Visual Element Scaling for Touch Interfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Selecting small, closely displayed content items on touch screens and other devices can be difficult due to their size, requiring additional user effort and gestures, which are not suitable for all user interfaces, such as televisions and wearable displays.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that uses gaze tracking and depth tracking data to lock a gaze location on a visual element, allowing it to be programmatically scaled to an enlarged size for easier selection, independent of the user's hand position, using a display device with integrated sensors like gaze tracking systems, depth cameras, and position sensors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If touch gestures are used to enlarge content items, then the content item size is increased for easier selection, but user effort and time delay are increased
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by automatically enlarging the content item before the user needs to select it. The gaze tracking system detects when the user is looking at a small content item and proactively scales it up, eliminating the need for the user to first perform enlargement gestures and then select the item. This preliminary enlargement action resolves the contradiction by providing both easy selection and reduced time delay.
2Ease of operation
If touch gestures are used to enlarge content items, then the content item size is increased, but additional user effort and movement are required
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies self-service by automatically detecting user intent through gaze tracking and performing the enlargement operation without user initiation. The computing device serves itself by monitoring where the user is looking and autonomously scaling up the relevant content item, thereby eliminating the need for users to perform complex touch gestures and reducing overall user effort.
3Measurement precision
If gaze tracking is used to detect user intent, then selection accuracy is improved, but computational resources are consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by focusing computational resources only on processing gaze data when and where it is needed. Rather than continuously processing gaze information, the system activates gaze tracking processing specifically when a user's gaze is detected near small or difficult-to-select content items, thereby improving measurement precision for critical selections while minimizing overall computational resource consumption.
Data Source
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AI summary
Embodiments that relate to scaling a visual element displayed via a display device are disclosed. In one embodiment a method includes receiving and using gaze tracking data to determine gaze locations at which a user is gazing on the display device. Depth tracking data is received and used to determine that a user's pointer is at a predetermined location. In response, a locked gaze location on the screen is locked, where the locked gaze location includes at least a portion of the visual element. In response to locking the locked gaze location, the visual element is programmatically scaled by a predetermined amount to an enlarged size. A user input selecting the visual element is then received.