Preview Pane for Touch Input Cursor Positioning

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Solution Overview

Problem

Users of portable information handling devices with touch input devices often need to look back and forth between the input device and the display screen to ensure correct data entry due to the lack of tactile feedback and non-adjacent display areas, leading to reduced efficiency in data input tasks.

Innovation Solution

A preview pane is displayed near the input device to show a portion of the text data where the cursor is positioned, allowing users to minimize eye travel and enabling editing inputs within the pane, which modifies the displayed data accordingly.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Weight of moving object

If users use touch input devices without mechanical keys, then device portability is improved, but tactile feedback is lost requiring users to look between input device and display screen

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedevice portabilityVSAvoiddata entry efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Weight of moving objectVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The display screen is segmented into multiple regions: a main display area showing the application interface and a separate preview pane showing the text data with cursor position. This segmentation allows users to view both the input context and the result context simultaneously without moving their gaze between separate devices.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The preview pane acts as an intermediary element between the touch input device and the main display screen. It provides tactile-like feedback by visually representing the cursor position and text context near the input device, reducing the need for users to look at the main display screen for verification.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If display area is separated from input device, then device design flexibility is improved, but user eye travel distance increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedesign flexibilityVSAvoideye travel time

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The preview pane is positioned in a different spatial dimension relative to the main display - it appears as an overlay or adjacent panel near the input device rather than requiring users to look at the distant main display screen. This dimensional repositioning reduces eye travel distance while maintaining design flexibility.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

3Measurement precision

If users constantly monitor display screen for input accuracy, then data entry accuracy is improved, but data entry speed decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata entry accuracyVSAvoiddata entry speed

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of requiring users to monitor the entire main display screen for accuracy, the system provides a partial view in the preview pane that shows only the relevant text context and cursor position. This partial monitoring approach maintains accuracy while reducing the time spent scanning the full display.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentUS9874992B2Preview pane for touch input devices

Publication Date: 2018.01.23 LENOVO SWITZERLAND INTERNATIONAL GMBH

AI summary

One embodiment provides a method, comprising: displaying text data on a display device; receiving, using a processor, a user input positioning a cursor within the text data; and displaying, on a preview pane, at least a portion of the text data in which the cursor is positioned. Other aspects are described and claimed.