Guide Line Interface for Non-Obstructive Item Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing user interfaces face challenges in allowing intuitive selection of items without overlapping or obscuring objects, leading to confusion and increased selection errors.
Innovation Solution
The enhanced control system uses a guide line to align items relative to an object in a user interface, allowing items to be displayed without obscuring the object, and selects items based on user input, such as cursor position or avatar interaction, with highlighting features to reduce errors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If items are displayed in a group within the user interface, then item selection functionality is provided, but items may overlap or obscure the object leading to selection errors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the display area by introducing a guide line that divides the space between the object and the group of items. This segmentation allows items to be arranged in an organized manner along the guide line, preventing overlap and obscuration while maintaining accessibility for selection.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide line acts as an intermediary element between the object and the group of items. It serves as a visual mediator that organizes item placement, ensuring items are displayed without obscuring the object while still being easily selectable by users.
2Loss of information
If items are aligned along a guide line, then item visibility and object visibility are both maintained, but additional control elements are required
Solution Approach 1:
The guide line serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a visual organizer for item alignment, a spatial reference for maintaining object visibility, and a structural framework for item placement. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional separate control elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts parameters such as item position, guide line orientation, and spacing based on the object's position and the available space. This adaptive parameter adjustment allows the guide line to maintain optimal visibility for both object and items without requiring complex fixed control structures.
Data Source
AI summary
An enhanced control, in which a guide line is defined relative to an object in a user interface, items aligned with the guide line are displayed without obscuring the object. A selected item is output based on receiving a selection of one of the displayed items.