Mobile Terminal Pressure Sensor Array for Adaptive Interface Placement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional mobile information terminals fail to accurately determine user gripping states due to variability in individual gripping manners and ambiguity in transition routes, leading to incorrect re-positioning of control buttons, causing inconvenience.
Innovation Solution
A mobile information terminal equipped with a pressure sensor array, a gripping pressure logger, and a gripping pressure change point detection unit that calculates time-series changes in gripping pressure to determine optimal placement areas for controllable objects, regardless of individual gripping features.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional mobile information terminals use fixed screen display layout, then device complexity is low, but ease of operation deteriorates for one-handed users
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic screen layout adjustment based on detected gripping states. The control buttons and interface elements automatically reposition according to whether the device is held in left hand, right hand, or both hands, making the interface adaptive to user operation mode rather than fixed
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual adjustment of screen layout with automatic detection using sensors (accelerometer, touch sensors, pressure sensors). The system automatically determines gripping state from sensor data and adjusts display layout without requiring user intervention, substituting mechanical/manual adjustment with sensor-based automatic control
2Measurement precision
If touch sensors are placed only at screen corners, then device complexity is low, but measurement precision deteriorates for gripping state detection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the sensing system into multiple independent sensor units distributed at different locations (screen corners, edge centers, and potentially back surface). This segmentation allows detection of pressure distribution patterns across the device, enabling more accurate gripping state determination through combined sensor readings
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extends sensing from two-dimensional screen surface to three-dimensional device volume by placing sensors on multiple faces (front screen and potentially back surface). This adds spatial dimension to pressure detection, enabling differentiation between various gripping configurations through pressure distribution patterns in 3D space
3Reliability
If the system uses simple touch detection, then device complexity is low, but reliability deteriorates in determining one-handed vs two-handed operation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple sensing modalities (accelerometer data, touch sensor readings, pressure sensor measurements) into a unified gripping state determination system. By combining these different sensor types and their data streams, the system achieves more reliable operation mode detection than any single sensor could provide alone
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors sensor inputs and uses feedback loops to determine and adapt to gripping state. The detection results feed back into display layout adjustment, creating a closed-loop system that reliably maintains appropriate interface configuration based on real-time operation state
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 effectively acquires an optimum placement area for controllable objects, enhancing user convenience by accurately adapting to different gripping states and reducing misjudgments in determining user operation states.
Implementation Method 1
a pressure sensor array 11, a gripping pressure logger 12, and a gripping pressure change point detection unit 13
Data Source
AI summary
A mobile information terminal that can acquire an optimum placement area for a controllable object, regardless of variability in user's gripping features among individuals. A pressure sensor array acquires a gripping pressure distribution; a gripping pressure logger records time-series changes in gripping pressure at each pressure sensor forming the pressure sensor array; a gripping pressure change point detection unit includes a gripping pressure change amount calculation section that acquires time-series changes in gripping pressure at each pressure sensor and determines whether the change in gripping pressure per unit time exceeds a predetermined value at any pressure sensor; and a placement area acquisition section specifies, when the change in gripping pressure per unit time exceeds the predetermined value at any pressure sensor, an optimum placement area for a controllable object with reference to a position where the change in gripping pressure per unit time exceeds the predetermined value.