In-Plane Gesture Indicator for Precise Vehicle Display Interaction

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing user-vehicle interfaces, particularly those using gesture control, face challenges in visualizing interaction with content, making it difficult for users to intuitively understand how to interact with displayed content due to floating appendage visualizations, leading to user fatigue and potential errors.

Innovation Solution

A user-vehicle interface with a gesture control system that senses and processes gestures to control an indicator on a display in the same plane as the content, allowing intuitive and precise interaction by aligning the indicator's movement with the sensed direction, optionally with additional representations, and incorporating a gesture control support to physically support the user's body part during interaction.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If gesture control systems use floating appendage visualizations to indicate interaction points, then the interface appears modern and intuitive, but users cannot accurately understand the spatial relationship between their gestures and the display content, leading to interaction errors

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveintuitiveness of gesture interactionVSAvoidaccuracy of gesture-to-content mapping
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an indicator as an intermediary element that is projected onto the display surface itself, serving as a mediator between the user's gesture and the content. This indicator clearly shows the current interaction point on the display, eliminating the ambiguity of floating appendage visualizations while maintaining intuitive gesture control.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent transitions from three-dimensional floating hand visualizations to a two-dimensional indicator projected onto the display surface. This dimensional change places the interaction indicator in the same plane as the content, making the spatial relationship immediately apparent and improving measurement precision.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Measurement precision

If gesture control requires precise hand positioning and continuous gesture execution, then interaction accuracy improves, but user fatigue increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprecision of gesture controlVSAvoiduser fatigue level
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system provides real-time feedback by projecting an indicator that moves in response to user gestures. This visual feedback loop allows users to see the immediate effect of their gestures on the indicator position, enabling precise control with less physical effort and reducing fatigue through better spatial awareness.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The patent creates an equipotential interaction surface by projecting the indicator onto the display plane, making the interaction space uniform and predictable. This eliminates the need for users to mentally calculate complex spatial relationships, reducing cognitive and physical load while maintaining precision.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #12Equipotentiality

3Adaptability or versatility

If the indicator is placed in a plane different from the content plane, then gesture freedom is increased, but spatial understanding and interaction accuracy deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvegesture freedomVSAvoidspatial alignment accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the indicator plane with the content plane by projecting the indicator directly onto the display surface. This combination ensures that the indicator and content share the same spatial reference frame, improving spatial alignment accuracy while preserving gesture freedom through the maintained coupling between gesture direction and indicator movement.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentEP4025978B1User-vehicle interface
Publication Date: 2025.08.06 BAE SYSTEMS PLC
  • EP4025978B1 patent drawingFigure 1A~3B
  • EP4025978B1 patent drawingFigure 4A~5B
  • EP4025978B1 patent drawingFigure 6A~8B

AI summary

There is provided a user-vehicle interface, comprising a gesture control system that is arranged to: sense a direction of a gesture of a user of the vehicle; and process the sensed gesture to control a location of an indicator on a display in accordance with that sensed direction, such that a location of the indicator is arranged to move in accordance with changes in the sensed direction, the indicator being used to show a current position for user interaction with content on the display, and being in a plane in which that content resides.