Overlapped Touch Area Gesture Thresholding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing touch panels in electronic devices face challenges in distinguishing between stationary and sliding touches, leading to erroneous function selection when icons are numerous, as the small 'zoom' bar can be accidentally activated by unintended scrolling motions.
Innovation Solution
Defining an overlapped touch area that responds to both stationary and sliding touches, with thresholds for touch time and distance to accurately determine the intended function, allowing the overlapped area to be set to either the menu or zoom function based on user input parameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If the touch panel uses a small zoom bar for scrolling functions, then the device maintains portability and compact size, but the zoom bar becomes difficult to operate and prone to erroneous activation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the zoom bar and menu bar into a single integrated interface element. Instead of maintaining separate functional areas for scrolling and menu selection, the invention combines them into one unified bar that responds to different touch gestures (stationary touch vs. sliding touch) to differentiate between zoom and menu functions. This integration eliminates the need for a large dedicated zoom bar while maintaining ease of operation through gesture-based differentiation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the touch panel displays numerous icons for multiple functions, then the device functionality increases, but the display screen size must increase affecting portability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a multi-functional touch bar that serves multiple purposes: it acts as both a zoom control interface and a menu selection interface depending on the touch gesture detected. This universal interface eliminates the need for separate dedicated areas for different functions, allowing numerous functions to be accessed through a compact single bar, thereby maintaining device portability while providing extensive functionality.
3Ease of operation
If the zoom bar is made larger to improve ease of operation, then scrolling function becomes easier to use, but the device size and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the functional response of the touch bar dynamic rather than static. The same physical space serves different functions based on the dynamic characteristics of the user input: stationary touches trigger menu selections while sliding gestures trigger zoom operations. This dynamic differentiation allows the interface to provide easy operation for both functions without requiring increased physical size, thereby maintaining device portability.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for adjusting at least a area of a touch screen wherein the touch panel comprises a first touch area and a second touch area, the first touch area is responsive to a stationary touch and corresponds to a first function, and the second touch area is responsive to a sliding touch and corresponds to a second function, includes: defining an overlapped touch area comprising at least part of the first touch area and at least part of the second touch area; receiving a touch input on the touch panel; when the touch input is started from the overlapped touch area, calculating a moving distance of the touch input and a touch time of the touch input; and when the touch time is within a threshold time, and the moving distance exceeds a threshold distance, setting the overlapped touch area to correspond to the second function.