Swipe Gesture Lock via Region Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Portable electronic devices with touch-sensitive displays face challenges in accurately detecting gestures due to imprecision in touch location determination, which can lead to unintended device activation and security breaches, particularly when used in handheld form factors with limited space for user input.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a method that uses touch attributes, such as swipe gestures, to lock the device by defining thresholds and virtual touch areas on the touch-sensitive display, allowing users to activate multiple lock functions with a single gesture, thereby enhancing security and reducing accidental device activation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If touch location determination is used for gesture detection, then gesture control functionality is enabled, but imprecision in touch location leads to unintended device activation and security breaches
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the touch-sensitive display into multiple discrete regions (first region, second region, third region) with different functions. By dividing the display area into distinct zones, the system can accurately determine which region was touched, eliminating ambiguity from imprecise touch location data. Each region is assigned specific gestures or commands, so even if touch location is imprecise, the gesture intent can be reliably determined by identifying which region received the touch input.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the touch-sensitive display are assigned different qualities or functions. The first region may respond to swipe gestures for navigation, while the second region may respond to tap gestures for selection. This local differentiation allows the system to interpret touch inputs more accurately by considering both the location and the specific functional quality of the region touched, thereby improving reliability while maintaining ease of operation.
2Ease of operation
If multiple lock functions are activated with a single gesture, then user convenience is improved, but gesture detection accuracy requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-configuring multiple lock functions to be associated with specific regions or gesture patterns. When a user performs a gesture in a predetermined region, the system has already prepared multiple lock functions to be activated. This preliminary setup allows the system to reliably detect and execute multiple functions from a single gesture without requiring extremely high measurement precision, as the gesture intent is determined by the region rather than precise movement parameters.
Solution Approach 2:
A single gesture input can trigger multiple lock functions depending on the region where the gesture occurs. The system is designed with multi-functionality, where one gesture type (e.g., swipe) can activate different lock functions based on which region it occurs in. This universal approach improves user convenience by allowing multiple functions to be accessed through a single gesture type, while the region-based differentiation maintains sufficient detection accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes detecting a swipe gesture from an initial touch location on a touch-sensitive display of an electronic device; determining touch attributes for the swipe gesture; and performing a lock function if the touch attributes correspond to a stored swipe gesture associated with the lock function. Further lock functions may be activated by detection of attributes of a further stored swipe gesture.