Head-Worn Navigation Cues Triggered by User Gaze Shift
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Solution Overview
Problem
Looking at a mobile device map while walking to a destination can be distracting for the user.
Innovation Solution
A mobile device sends direction instructions to a head-mounted device when the user looks away, allowing the head-mounted device to present navigation directions, enabling the user to focus on the surroundings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the user looks at the mobile device map while walking to the destination, then the user can see navigation directions, but the user becomes distracted from the surrounding physical environment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the navigation direction information from the mobile device display and presents it through the head-mounted device's display or audio output. This separates the navigation information delivery from the mobile device that the user needs to hold and reference, allowing the user to extract only the essential directional guidance while keeping the full map information available on the mobile device for when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The head-mounted device acts as an intermediary between the mobile device and the user's eyes. It receives navigation data from the mobile device via wireless communication and presents it in a format that doesn't require the user to look down at the phone screen. This intermediary transfers the critical navigation information to a position where it can be viewed without removing attention from the surrounding environment.
2Reliability
If the mobile device presents the map continuously, then the user has constant access to location information, but the user must maintain attention on the device screen
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of continuous map display requiring constant user attention, the system uses periodic action by triggering direction instructions only when the user looks away from the mobile device. The head-mounted device receives and displays directional information at these periodic intervals rather than continuously, reducing the attention burden while maintaining navigation reliability through on-demand information delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the navigation information presentation based on user behavior. When the user is looking at the mobile device, full map information is available. When the user looks away, the head-mounted device dynamically provides simplified direction instructions. This dynamic adaptation optimizes both information availability and ease of operation by matching the presentation mode to the user's current attention state.
3Ease of operation
If the system transfers direction instructions to the head-mounted device, then the user can view directions without looking at the mobile device, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The head-mounted device is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as a wearable computing platform and a navigation display device. By leveraging existing head-mounted device capabilities (display, audio output, wireless communication) rather than creating a specialized navigation accessory, the system achieves navigation viewing convenience while minimizing the increase in overall system complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables navigation without distracting the user from the environment by transferring navigation instructions to a head-mounted device when the user looks away from the mobile device.
Implementation Method 1
The orientation of the head-mounted device relative to ground or the horizon exceeds a predetermined threshold angle
Implementation Method 2
The angle of the head-mounted device relative to ground or the horizon may be measured by at least one sensor of the head-mounted device such as an inertial measurement unit (IMU), an accelerometer, a gyroscope and/or a magnetometer
Implementation Method 3
determining that the user has looked away from the mobile device may include determining that a speed or an acceleration of the mobile device and/or the head-mounted device exceeds a predetermined threshold speed or acceleration (e.g., based on values measured by an IMU sensor of the head-mounted device). The determining that the user has looked away from the mobile device may also be performed based on data of an optical sensor of the mobile device and/or the head-mounted device. For example, the optical sensor comprises or consists of a camera of the mobile device and/or the head-mounted device
Data Source
AI summary
A mobile device may present a map, the map including a location indication, the location indication indicating a location of a destination. The mobile device may determine that a user has looked away from the mobile device. The mobile device may, in response to determining that the user has looked away from the mobile device, send a direction instruction to a head-mounted device, the direction instruction instructing the head-mounted device to present a direction indication, the direction indication indicating a direction for the user to travel to arrive at the destination, the head-mounted device being mounted on a head of the user.