Nested Region Scrolling via Touch Intensity Thresholds
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for manipulating user interfaces on electronic devices with touch-sensitive surfaces are cumbersome and inefficient, leading to increased cognitive burden and energy consumption, particularly in battery-operated devices.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a method and interface that utilize touch-sensitive surfaces to detect contact intensity, allowing for intuitive scrolling, word definition display, hyperlink management, and content enlargement by differentiating contact intensities and providing visual and haptic feedback, enabling users to perform operations with greater precision and efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If touch-sensitive surfaces detect contact intensity to differentiate scrolling operations, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes contact intensity as a variable parameter to differentiate between scrolling operations. By detecting the intensity threshold of user contact, the system determines whether to scroll the first region or the second region, enabling intuitive control without additional hardware buttons or switches.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical input methods (physical buttons, switches, or mice) with a touch-sensitive surface that detects contact intensity. This substitution eliminates mechanical components while providing multiple input modes through varying contact pressures, thereby improving ease of operation without requiring additional mechanical parts.
2Productivity
If multiple contact intensity thresholds are used to differentiate operations, then productivity is improved, but measurement precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent establishes multiple contact intensity thresholds (first threshold and second threshold) to differentiate between various operations. When contact intensity exceeds the first threshold, the system performs one operation; when it exceeds the second threshold, a different operation is performed. This enables efficient multi-function control through a single input mechanism.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is performed at an electronic device with a display, touch-sensitive surface and one or more sensors to detect intensity of contacts with the touch-sensitive surface. The method includes displaying a user interface with a first region and a second region embedded in the first, the second region also being independently scrollable such that its content can be moved without moving other content in the first region. In response to detecting a contact and movement of the contact when a focus selection is over the second region, and when the contact has a maximum intensity that is above a respective intensity threshold, content in the second region is translated on the display without other content translating the first region. When the contact has a maximum intensity that is below a respective intensity threshold, content in the first region is translated on the display.