Floating Peripheral Interface Using Optical Sensing for Hygienic Input
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing interaction methods with computing devices involve physical contact with surfaces that pose infection risks during infectious disease outbreaks, necessitating a contactless interaction solution.
Innovation Solution
A contactless peripheral interface system generates a floating image of input devices like keyboards and trackpads, allowing users to interact without touching, using sensors to detect user interactions and map them to corresponding inputs, which are then communicated to computing devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If physical contact with device surfaces is used for interaction, then ease of operation is maintained, but infection risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an optical intermediary system consisting of a display surface and optical sensors. The display surface projects visual representations of peripheral interface elements, while optical sensors detect user gestures in the air above the surface. This intermediary optical layer enables contactless interaction by mediating between the user's physical gestures and the device's input processing, eliminating direct contact with physical controls while maintaining operational functionality.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If contactless interaction is implemented, then infection risk is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the display surface multi-functional by enabling it to serve both as a visual output device and as a platform for contactless input detection. The same display surface that shows information also acts as the interface for projecting virtual peripheral elements and detecting user gestures through optical means. This universality reduces overall system complexity by eliminating the need for separate physical controls and dedicated sensing hardware.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates optical copies or visual representations of physical peripheral interface elements (keyboard keys, mouse buttons, trackpad areas) on the display surface. These copied visual elements maintain the functional layout and appearance of traditional peripherals, allowing users to interact with familiar interfaces contactlessly. The optical sensors detect gestures corresponding to these copied elements, translating air gestures into digital inputs without requiring physical replicas of the controls.
3Ease of operation
If floating image interface is used, then contactless operation is enabled, but measurement precision of user interactions decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the display surface provides visual confirmation of detected gestures in real-time. When optical sensors detect user gestures, the system immediately provides feedback by highlighting or responding to the corresponding visual elements on the display. This feedback loop helps users refine their gestures and ensures accurate detection by allowing them to see whether their intended interaction was correctly recognized, thereby improving measurement precision through iterative adjustment.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods relating to a contactless peripheral interface, including a method comprising: receiving a selection of a peripheral interface from a host computing device, wherein the selection corresponds to one of plurality of peripheral interfaces, generating, by an image system, a floating image based on the selected peripheral interface, sensing, by a sensor assembly, a position of a user interaction with the floating image of the peripheral interface, mapping, by a controller, the position of the user interaction to an input relating to the selected peripheral interface, and communicating the input to the host computing device, wherein the host computing device is configured to recognize the input as relating to the selected peripheral interface.