Pressure-Sensitive Touch Input for Efficient GUI Item Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current touch-sensitive user interfaces require users to manually select and expand selection areas by moving their finger or stylus, which can be cumbersome and inefficient, especially for selecting multiple items or large areas of content.
Innovation Solution
A pressure level sensitive user input device and display that detect pressure levels exceeding a predetermined threshold, allowing the selection area to expand proportionally with increased pressure, enabling intuitive and efficient selection of graphical user interface items without requiring physical movement of the input device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If users manually move their finger or stylus to expand selection areas, then selection coverage can be increased, but operation complexity and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter of finger pressure level to control selection area expansion. Instead of moving the finger across the screen, the user applies varying pressure levels at a single location, where the pressure magnitude directly maps to the selection area size, enabling rapid selection without temporal loss
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical motion-based selection system (moving finger/stylus across the display) with a pressure-based control system. The touch-sensitive display detects pressure levels and translates them into selection area expansion, substituting mechanical displacement with force magnitude control
2Quantity of substance
If users manually move their finger or stylus to select multiple items, then selection coverage can be increased, but operation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses pressure level as a control parameter to determine the number of items selected. By varying the pressure magnitude, the system automatically adjusts the selection area to encompass multiple items, transforming a complex multi-step selection process into a simple pressure modulation action
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs automatic selection area expansion based on detected pressure levels. Once the user applies pressure exceeding the threshold, the system autonomously expands the selection area to include relevant items without requiring the user to manually trace or point to each item, making the operation self-executing
3Productivity
If pressure level detection is added to the touch-sensitive display, then selection efficiency improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the touch-sensitive display multi-functional by enabling it to detect both touch location and pressure level. This existing display technology serves dual purposes: traditional touch input and new pressure-based selection control, improving productivity without adding separate dedicated hardware components
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts additional information (pressure level) from the same touch interface without adding new physical input devices. By utilizing the pressure parameter already present in capacitive or resistive touch displays, the system enhances functionality while maintaining device simplicity
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus is provided. The apparatus comprises at least one processing unit, at least one memory, a pressure level sensitive user input device, and a graphical user interface. The at least one memory stores program instructions that, when executed by the at least one processing unit, cause the apparatus to detect that a pressure level applied on the pressure level sensitive user input device at a touching point exceeds a predetermined pressure level, the touching point corresponding to a location on the graphical user interface, detect an increase in the applied pressure level, and expand a selection area from the location in response to the increase in the applied pressure level to select at least one graphical user interface item.