Portable Map Markers with Directional Arrows for Off-Screen Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current portable navigation devices struggle to accurately convey relative distances and orientations between locations outside the screen's range, leading to user disorientation and difficulty in navigating to desired destinations without losing bearings.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a 'Sliding Window' mode where the portable device moves within a plane parallel to the screen, allowing users to physically interact with a stationary map, enabling real-time calculation and display of relative distances and angles, with features like tilt, shift, voice commands, and transparent markers for directional guidance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the map is scaled down to show a broader area, then the user can see more locations, but the detail and readability of individual locations is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic scaling where the map automatically adjusts its zoom level based on the portable device's movement. When the device is stationary, the map is zoomed in to show detailed information about the current location. When the device moves, the map dynamically zooms out to show a broader area, maintaining both detail and context at different times without requiring manual user intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses motion sensors to detect device movement and provides feedback by automatically adjusting the map scale. The accelerationometer detects when the user picks up or moves the device, triggering the map to transition between zoomed-in and zoomed-out states. This closed-loop feedback mechanism ensures the map always displays appropriate detail levels based on actual usage context.
2Manufacturing precision
If the map is scaled up to show detailed information, then the readability improves, but the user loses bearing and orientation with respect to surrounding locations
Solution Approach 1:
The map dynamically transitions between zoom levels based on device motion. When zoomed in for detail, the system maintains spatial context by showing the device's position relative to the broader area. When zoomed out for context, it ensures current location details remain visible. This dynamic adjustment prevents loss of either detail or spatial context.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a nested display approach where multiple scales of the map are layered. The zoomed-in detailed view is nested within the broader contextual view, allowing users to see both detailed information and surrounding locations simultaneously. The system manages multiple map representations at different scales, with each scale containing relevant information for its purpose.
3Ease of operation
If manual scrolling controls are used to navigate the map, then the user can control the view, but it is difficult to sense distance and maintain bearing between locations
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically tracks and displays the device's position and orientation using motion sensors and accelerometer data. Instead of requiring users to manually track their position on the map through scrolling, the system self-updates the map view to reflect the device's actual movement, providing accurate distance and bearing information without user intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical scrolling with electronic sensor-based tracking. Accelerationometers and motion sensors detect device movement and automatically update the map display accordingly. This substitution of mechanical user interaction with electronic sensing provides more precise distance and orientation measurement, as the system directly measures physical movement rather than inferring it from scroll gestures.
4Adaptability or versatility
If frequent scaling between zoom levels is performed, then the user can access both detail and overview, but the user experiences disorientation and loses bearing
Solution Approach 1:
The map scaling is dynamically tied to device motion rather than being manually controlled. The system transitions between zoom levels based on whether the device is being held stationary or moved, creating a natural and intuitive scaling behavior that maintains orientation context. This dynamic approach eliminates disorientation by making scaling predictable and context-aware.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent maintains continuous display of orientation-bearing information across all zoom levels. Compass readings, directional indicators, and position markers are continuously updated and visible regardless of the current scale, ensuring that users never lose bearing information even as the map dynamically adjusts between detailed and overview views.
Data Source
AI summary
Location markers are placed on objects presented on a display screen. The location markers can be letters, numbers, or shapes placed near the desired objects to be viewed. After magnification, those earlier determined location markers of the display screen are located off-screen. However, arrows are labeled and point to the off-screen markers. The user moves the background image in the direction of the arrow to find that object. This innovative technique allows the user to mark locations, magnify the image of the map, and find all marked locations (without reverting to a lower magnification) by following pointers that direct the user to locations that are currently out of view of the screen. Furthermore, the user can find all marked locations without getting lost.