Hybrid Feedback Processing for Low-Latency User Input
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing user input systems suffer from high latency, which negatively impacts the user experience and perception, particularly in direct manipulation interfaces such as touch and stylus inputs, due to various sources of delay including sensors, software processing, display, data transmission, and system resources.
Innovation Solution
A hybrid feedback system is implemented, combining a low-latency input sensor and display with a dedicated processing system, such as an FPGA or ASIC, to achieve near-instantaneous feedback, while maintaining traditional high-latency responses, using a hybrid feedback approach that blends low-latency and high-latency modalities to provide seamless user interaction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If traditional software processing systems are used, then system complexity is reduced and ease of manufacture is improved, but latency increases and user experience deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into two distinct processing paths: a low-latency path using dedicated hardware (FPGA/ASIC) for time-critical operations, and a traditional software path for complex processing. This segmentation allows the system to achieve low latency for essential feedback while maintaining manageable complexity through specialized components.
Solution Approach 2:
A dedicated processing system (FPGA or ASIC) acts as an intermediary between the input sensor and display, handling time-critical processing independently from the main software system. This intermediary component reduces latency by bypassing the slower software processing stack for essential feedback operations.
2Loss of time
If dedicated processing systems like FPGA or ASIC are implemented, then latency is reduced and user experience is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) which can be reconfigured and replaced more easily than fixed ASICs. FPGAs offer a practical compromise between the low latency of dedicated hardware and the flexibility/manufacturability of software systems, serving as a cost-effective solution for low-latency processing.
3Speed
If low-latency processing is implemented, then feedback speed is improved, but system complexity and processing resource requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Time-critical processing functions are extracted from the main software system and implemented in dedicated hardware (FPGA/ASIC). This extraction isolates the low-latency requirements from the complex software stack, allowing fast feedback processing without burdening the entire system with increased complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces software-based processing (mechanical/computational system) with hardware-based processing (FPGA/ASIC) for time-critical operations. This substitution achieves faster feedback speeds by utilizing parallel hardware architecture instead of sequential software execution.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for processing user input includes an input device, an input processing unit, a high-latency subsystem, a low-latency subsystem, input processing unit software for generating signals in response to user inputs, and an output device. The low-latency subsystem processes signals corresponding to at least some events and generates corresponding programmable low-latency output, the programmable output being based, at least in part, on state information being maintained by the high-latency subsystem. The high-latency subsystem processes signals corresponding to at least some events, and generates corresponding output, the output of the high-latency subsystem being higher latency than the output of the low-latency subsystem with respect to a given event.