Portable Device UI Customization for Vehicle Brand Consistency

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Solution Overview

Problem

Vehicle manufacturers face the challenge of maintaining a consistent brand-specific look-and-feel for the human machine interface (HMI) when portable consumer devices, such as smartphones, control the display, overriding the vehicle's branding style guidelines.

Innovation Solution

A system and method that allows an interface device within the vehicle to send customized style information to a portable device, enabling it to modify its user interface and present a consistent vehicle brand-specific look-and-feel, including elements like font, color, and layout, through a human-machine interface.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If the user's phone controls the display and user interface, then the hardware and software can be readily updated and maintained, but the vehicle brand-specific look-and-feel is overridden and branding guidelines are not followed

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of updating portable deviceVSAvoidvehicle branding consistency

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by allowing different parts of the interface to have different styling properties. The vehicle can specify style information (fonts, colors, layouts) for specific interface elements while the portable device maintains control over the overall interface structure and updates. This enables branding consistency in critical areas without restricting the portable device's adaptability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system dynamically adjusts the interface style based on the vehicle's branding requirements. The style information is not fixed but can be modified through the communication interface, allowing the interface to adapt to different vehicle brands while maintaining consistency within each brand's guidelines. This dynamic approach resolves the contradiction between fixed branding and flexible updates.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

2Ease of manufacture

If the portable device controls the graphical elements of the display, then the user interface can be conveniently maintained, but the vehicle manufacturer cannot control the look-and-feel of the HMI elements

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of maintaining softwareVSAvoidinterface control architecture

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the interface control into two independent parts: the portable device controls the functional interface elements and software updates, while the vehicle controls the stylistic elements through communication interfaces. This segmentation allows each party to maintain control over their respective domain without increasing overall system complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a style information communication interface as an intermediary between the portable device and the vehicle's branding requirements. This intermediary layer translates the vehicle's branding guidelines into applicable style information without requiring direct control of the portable device's interface, thus maintaining ease of software maintenance while enabling brand control.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Productivity

If the phone hardware and software are used to provide information to the vehicle user interface, then updates can be readily performed, but the graphical elements are dictated by the phone rather than the vehicle

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesoftware update speedVSAvoidvehicle style information

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by having the vehicle provide style information to the portable device before the interface is displayed. This advance provision of branding guidelines ensures that when the portable device updates its interface, the stylistic elements already conform to vehicle requirements, preventing loss of vehicle style information while maintaining rapid update capability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS8966366B2Method and system for customizing information projected from a portable device to an interface device

Publication Date: 2015.02.24 GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC

AI summary

A method and system modifies a user interface (UI) of a portable device in communication with an interface device, where the UI is projected by a human-machine interface of the interface device to a user. The UI is modified by the portable device prior to being output to the interface device based on customized style information provided by the interface device. The interface device may be a vehicle interface device such as a head unit or infotainment system, and the portable device may be a smart phone, media player, or other computing device capable of displaying graphical information.