Mechanical Crown Input for Precise Wearable UI Scrolling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for manipulating user interface objects on reduced-size touch-sensitive displays in personal electronic devices, such as tablets and smartphones, are inefficient and lack precision.
Innovation Solution
A mechanical crown is used to scroll or scale user interfaces on wearable electronic devices, with the direction and amount of scrolling or scaling determined by the direction and amount of crown rotation, and velocity proportional to the angular velocity of the crown.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If touch-sensitive displays are reduced in size for wearable devices, then device portability and wearability are improved, but manipulation precision and efficiency of user interface objects deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
A mechanical crown is introduced as an intermediary input mechanism between the user and the user interface objects on the display. The crown provides a physical dial interface that translates rotational movements into precise scrolling, navigating, or zooming actions on the screen, enabling accurate manipulation without directly touching the small display surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces direct touch-screen manipulation with a mechanical crown-based input system. The crown converts physical rotational motion into digital scrolling or zooming commands, providing mechanical precision that overcomes the limitations of finger-based interaction on small touch displays.
2Volume of moving object
If touch-sensitive displays are reduced in size, then device portability is improved, but manipulation efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The mechanical crown serves as an efficient intermediary that enables rapid scrolling and navigating through content lists, applications, or interface elements. The rotational dial mechanism allows users to quickly sweep through multiple items or zoom levels with continuous rotational motion, significantly improving manipulation efficiency compared to sequential touch interactions on small screens.
Solution Approach 2:
The crown input mechanism supports dynamic interaction modes where the scrolling speed or zoom rate can be adjusted based on the velocity or duration of the rotational input. This dynamic response allows users to perform manipulations more efficiently by varying their input intensity to match the task requirements.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present disclosure relates to manipulating a user interface on a wearable electronic device using a mechanical crown. In some examples, the user interface can be scrolled or scaled in response to a rotation of the crown. The direction of the scrolling or scaling and the amount of scrolling or scaling can depend on the direction and amount of rotation of the crown, respectively. In some examples, the amount of scrolling or scaling can be proportional to the change in rotation angle of the crown. In other examples, a speed of scrolling or a speed of scaling can depend on a speed of angular rotation of the crown. In these examples, a greater speed of rotation can cause a greater speed of scrolling or scaling to be performed on the displayed view.