Proximity Sensor Gesture Correction for Touch Accuracy

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Solution Overview

Problem

Small touch panels and one-handed operation of electronic devices often result in unintended touch inputs due to the user's grip, leading to unintended device reactions.

Innovation Solution

An electronic apparatus equipped with both a touch sensor and a proximity sensor, where the controller adjusts the touch trace input by considering the intended gesture based on the motion of the object before and after the touch, applying weighted values to correct the input and change the operation grid according to the user's grip direction.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Volume of moving object

If a small touch panel is used in electronic apparatuses, then the device size is reduced and portability is improved, but unintended touch inputs occur more frequently due to the user's grip

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedevice sizeVSAvoidtouch input accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Volume of moving objectVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a proximity sensor as an intermediary device between the user's hand and the touch panel. This sensor detects the hand's proximity and movement before touching occurs, allowing the system to distinguish between intentional touch gestures and unintended inputs caused by grip, thereby resolving the contradiction between small device size and touch input accuracy

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary detection of hand movement and proximity before the actual touch input occurs. By analyzing the trajectory and position of the hand in advance, the system can predict and correct unintended touch inputs, maintaining reliability while preserving the compact form factor

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Ease of operation

If a user operates the electronic apparatus with one hand, then ease of operation is improved, but unintended touch inputs increase due to grip direction

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveone-handed operationVSAvoidtouch input accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The proximity sensor provides continuous feedback about the user's hand position and movement direction before touching occurs. The system uses this feedback to adjust and correct the touch input trajectory, ensuring accurate recognition even when users operate with one hand, thus maintaining both ease of operation and input accuracy

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system dynamically adjusts the touch input correction based on the detected hand movement trajectory and grip direction. By making the correction adaptive and responsive to real-time hand behavior, the system maintains high accuracy while preserving the convenience of one-handed operation

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP3063614B1Electronic apparatus and method of recognizing a user gesture
Publication Date: 2018.09.19 SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD
  • EP3063614B1 patent drawingFigure 1~4
  • EP3063614B1 patent drawingFigure 5~6
  • EP3063614B1 patent drawingFigure 7~9

AI summary

An electronic apparatus including a proximity sensor is provided. The apparatus includes a touch sensor configured to sense a touch trace of the object in response to a user gesture of touching the electronic apparatus using an object and moving the touched point being input, a proximity sensor configured to sense a motion of the object before and after the touch, and a controller configured to change the touch trace based on a direction of motion of the object before and after the touch, and recognize the user gesture according to the changed touch trace. Accordingly, the touch trace may be changed and thus, an accurate control operation may be performed.