Laser Mid-Air Hologram Touch Input Buttons for Smart Toilet Bidet
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing touch input systems, such as smart toilet control panels, face issues with bacterial transmission due to the accumulation of germs on surfaces, lack of touch feedback in mid-air displays, and dust accumulation on optical illusions, which compromise hygiene and user experience.
Innovation Solution
A femtosecond laser-based system creates floating holograms with mid-air haptic touch feedback, allowing users to interact with a smart toilet's control panel without physical contact, using a camera to detect finger gestures and provide visual and tactile feedback, eliminating the need for physical surfaces and reducing bacterial transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If physical touch input buttons are used on smart toilet control panels, then ease of operation is improved, but bacterial transmission increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system consisting of laser beams and plasma in mid-air that acts as a mediator between the user and the control system. The laser-induced plasma creates visible holographic buttons in mid-air that can be touched without contacting physical surfaces, thus transmitting user input while preventing bacterial transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical touch input system with an optical field-based system. Instead of physical buttons that require mechanical contact, the system uses laser beams to create plasma in mid-air, forming virtual holographic buttons that respond to user interaction through optical and plasma physics rather than mechanical contact.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If mid-air hologram displays are used to eliminate physical contact, then bacterial transmission is reduced, but touch feedback is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple functions into the laser system: it generates visible light for display, creates plasma for both visualization and tactile feedback, and enables interaction detection. The plasma itself serves as both the visual indicator and the tactile interface, combining display and feedback functions in a single medium.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes color changes in the laser-induced plasma to provide visual feedback to users. When users interact with the holographic buttons, the plasma exhibits color changes that indicate button press registration, providing clear visual feedback without requiring physical contact or additional display elements.
3Loss of information
If optical illusions with mirrored surfaces are used to create mid-air holograms, then visual feedback is provided, but dust accumulation degrades clarity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the hologram creation process from dependence on mirrored surfaces and complex optical illusion systems. By using laser-induced plasma directly in mid-air, the system eliminates the need for mirrors and their associated dust accumulation problems, creating holograms through a different physical mechanism that doesn't require reflective surfaces.
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
The solution provides a sanitary and safe interaction method by preventing direct contact with potentially contaminated surfaces, enhancing user experience through clear visual and tactile feedback, and maintaining hygiene by eliminating the need for physical contact.
Implementation Method 1
The laser creates a plasma, by exciting oxygen and nitrogen molecules in the air
Implementation Method 2
The plasma is a fluorescence luminescence plasma
Implementation Method 3
The plasma is a fluorescence luminescence plasma
Implementation Method 4
The excited air molecules generate shockwaves, which the user feels as a pulse when touched
Data Source
AI summary
A smart toilet with a bidet, and a midair input display. The input display is bacterial free, due to the display being made of air molecules excited by lasers, that produce lights in midair. The produced lights are holograms. A user contacts the holograms, with their finger. The holograms have a touch feel. Contact with one of the holograms with the finger, is detected by a camera, and is associated to an activation of the hologram, and an activation of a bidet operation associated to the hologram. Each hologram shows a different operation of the bidet, by either the hologram or a sign associated to the hologram. Some of the operations of the bidet, wash the user's elimination areas, with water directed from the bidet. Some of the bidet operations include, bidet back wash, front wash, change of bidet water temperature, and change of water pressure.