Haptic Mixer for Overlapping Tactile Output Prioritization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electronic devices with touch-sensitive surfaces face challenges in efficiently generating and prioritizing multiple tactile outputs, leading to user interface inefficiencies and power consumption issues due to physical limitations of tactile output generators and user understanding of overlapping tactile sensations.
Innovation Solution
Implementing methods and interfaces that allow for the mixing and prioritization of tactile outputs based on thresholds and priorities, including combining overlapping tactile outputs and adjusting their scale, to enhance user interaction and conserve power in battery-operated devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If multiple tactile outputs are generated concurrently to provide comprehensive feedback, then information completeness is improved, but device complexity and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple tactile outputs into a single mixed tactile output by superimposing their waveforms. The haptic mixer receives multiple tactile output requests and merges them into one composite tactile output that preserves essential information from all inputs while simplifying the physical output mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The haptic mixer serves multiple functions: it prioritizes tactile outputs based on importance, mixes waveforms from different sources, applies scaling factors, and manages timing. This single component handles what would otherwise require multiple separate haptic actuators and control systems.
2Loss of information
If multiple tactile outputs are generated concurrently to provide comprehensive feedback, then information completeness is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple tactile outputs into a single mixed tactile output by superimposing their waveforms. The haptic mixer receives multiple tactile output requests and merges them into one composite tactile output that preserves essential information from all inputs while simplifying the physical output mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies scaling factors to reduce the amplitude of less important tactile outputs when mixing. By using partial action (reduced amplitude) for secondary tactile outputs and full action only for high-priority outputs, the system maintains information completeness while reducing overall power consumption.
3Device complexity
If the number of tactile outputs is limited to simplify processing, then device complexity is reduced, but information completeness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple tactile outputs into a single mixed tactile output by superimposing their waveforms. The haptic mixer receives multiple tactile output requests and merges them into one composite tactile output that preserves essential information from all inputs while simplifying the physical output mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The haptic mixer acts as an intermediary component between multiple tactile output sources and the single tactile output generator. It receives multiple inputs, processes them through prioritization and mixing algorithms, and produces a single output that encapsulates information from all sources.
4Loss of information
If all tactile outputs are processed equally without prioritization, then information completeness is improved, but response time for critical events deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent assigns priority levels to different tactile output sources in advance, before actual tactile output generation occurs. This preliminary prioritization allows the haptic mixer to immediately determine which tactile outputs should be emphasized or reduced when conflicts arise, ensuring critical events receive appropriate response time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different scaling factors to different tactile outputs based on their priority and timing. High-priority tactile outputs receive full amplitude while lower-priority outputs are scaled down or suppressed, creating local quality variations in the mixed output that preserve critical information while maintaining response speed.
Data Source
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AI summary
An electronic device receives a plurality of requests to generate a plurality of tactile outputs, including two or more overlapping tactile outputs, using the one or more tactile output generators. In response, the device generates and outputs combined tactile outputs. If the plurality of tactile outputs exceeds a threshold number of tactile outputs that is permitted to be mixed together for concurrent output, the device mixes a subset of the plurality of tactile outputs together into a combined tactile output that excludes at least one of the plurality of tactile outputs to produce a combined tactile output that is output via the device's one or more tactile output generators.