Motion-Sensor Contact Mapping for Compact XR UI Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing XR devices face challenges in providing user interface control with limited surface area and require dedicated physical input devices, which can increase form factor and are difficult to calibrate across multiple devices and users.
Innovation Solution
Utilizing a contact map defined on the device surface to detect touch events and relate them to a rendering space, enabling user interface control through sensor signals from motion sensors, allowing for customizable and intuitive control without occupying device surface space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If physical buttons or control devices are installed on the XR device surface, then user interface control is provided, but the device surface area is reduced and form factor increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the user interface control functionality from the device surface by using motion sensors mounted on the device to detect gestures in the air. This allows touch-based control without occupying any physical space on the device surface, directly resolving the contradiction between providing UI control and maintaining surface area.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces motion sensors as an intermediary between the user and the UI control system. Instead of direct physical contact with buttons, users perform gestures in the air that are detected by the motion sensors, which then translate to UI control actions. This intermediary approach enables contactless control while preserving full surface area.
2Ease of operation
If dedicated physical input devices are added to provide user interface control, then control functionality is improved, but device complexity and form factor increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the motion sensors serve multiple functions: they detect both device motion for spatial rendering and user gestures for UI control. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate dedicated input devices, reducing device complexity while maintaining enhanced control capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The existing motion sensors on the device are repurposed to provide UI control functionality without requiring additional dedicated input hardware. The system uses the sensors' existing capabilities to detect gestures, making the device self-sufficient and avoiding increased complexity from separate input devices.
3Ease of operation
If physical buttons are installed on the device surface, then user interface control is provided, but calibration across multiple devices and users becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the detection parameters from fixed physical button positions to motion-based gesture recognition. By detecting gestures in 3D space and mapping them to UI elements dynamically, the system automatically adapts to different users and devices without manual calibration, as the gesture-to-ui mapping can be configured independently of physical hardware positions.
4Ease of operation
If a contact map is defined on the device surface to detect touch events, then user interface control is enabled, but the device surface area is occupied
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from 2D surface-based contact mapping to 3D spatial gesture detection. Instead of defining a contact map on the device surface, the system detects gestures in three-dimensional space using motion sensors, then maps these 3D gestures to 2D UI elements. This dimensional change eliminates the need for surface occupation while enabling the same control functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
Described techniques enable a virtual touchpad for a wearable device by receiving, in response to a touch event, a sensor signal from a motion sensor coupled to the wearable device, the wearable device providing a user interface with a rendering space that is defined relative to the wearable device. The touch event may be associated with a contact space of a contact map defined with respect to the wearable device, based on the sensor signal, and a user interface event of the user interface that corresponds to the contact space may be rendered within the rendering space.