Haptic Grid Pushbutton for Non-Visual Menu Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional grid or tile-shaped menus on remote controls are difficult to navigate without visual contact, as they require direct visual interaction with both the screen and the touchscreen, making it cumbersome to control menus with many items, especially when accessing sub-menus.
Innovation Solution
A pushbutton with haptically perceptible segments arranged in a grid, allowing users to control menu items on a screen without visual contact by receiving position signals from a user's finger, enabling intuitive navigation similar to smartphones, with optional enlargement of menu items and background information for guidance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a touchscreen is used for menu control, then direct visual contact with menu items is enabled, but visual contact with both the screen and finger is required simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a camera as an intermediary device that captures images of the user's finger on the touchscreen and transmits them to a remote control or other display device. This mediator allows the user to see their finger position and menu item selections without needing to maintain direct visual contact with the original touchscreen, thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and device complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If grid-shaped menus with many items are used, then menu functionality is improved, but navigation time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the camera continuously captures and transmits images of the user's finger position on the touchscreen. This real-time visual feedback allows users to quickly locate and select menu items in grid-shaped menus without time-consuming manual searching, thereby maintaining high menu functionality while reducing navigation time.
3Adaptability or versatility
If sub-menus are added to increase functionality, then menu adaptability is improved, but memorization difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The camera-based intermediary system provides visual feedback that displays the user's current position within the menu hierarchy. This allows users to navigate complex sub-menus and track their location without needing to memorize the entire menu structure, thereby maintaining high menu adaptability while reducing memorization difficulty.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for controlling a menu displayed on a screen from a number of menu elements arranged in a grid with an input interface containing a pushbutton with a number of haptically detectable segments arranged in the grid, wherein the number of menu elements corresponds to the number of haptically detectable segments so that a haptically detectable segment on the pushbutton is assigned to each menu element of the menu, comprising receiving a position signal that depends on the position of a user's finger on the pushbutton; highlighting the menu element assigned to the haptically detectable menu element located at the finger's position; and activating a function assigned to the highlighted menu element if the pushbutton is pressed.