Aircraft Seat Controller Feedback System With Touch Press Sensors
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Passengers with visual impairments face difficulty managing the features of aircraft seat systems due to small buttons and limited privacy, making it hard to decipher button functions and seek assistance.
Innovation Solution
A controller feedback system integrated within the aircraft seat, featuring a user interface device with sensors that distinguish touch from press, providing visual and auditory feedback to users, allowing them to interact with seat features independently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the number of buttons and adjustable features in the controller is increased, then the functionality and versatility of the seat system is improved, but the size of individual buttons must be reduced making them difficult to operate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements tactile feedback through sensors that detect button press depth and provide haptic resistance, allowing users to distinguish button functions through touch rather than visual cues. This enables smaller buttons to remain operable by providing sensory feedback that compensates for reduced visual identifiability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical button differentiation (size, shape, position) with sensor-based detection systems that can identify button presses through capacitive or resistive sensing, enabling more compact button layouts while maintaining distinguishability through electronic detection rather than mechanical design.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If privacy partitions are added to create a more private seating environment, then passenger privacy is improved, but the ability to ask for help or guidance from others is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service functionality through automated sensors and feedback systems that guide passengers through seat adjustments and feature controls without requiring assistance from flight attendants or neighboring passengers. The system provides tactile and visual guidance that enables passengers to independently operate complex seat features.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary communication system that allows passengers to request assistance through the seat controller interface, which then transmits requests to flight attendants via the aircraft's communication system, bridging the privacy barrier while maintaining access to help when needed.
3Device complexity
If visual feedback alone is used in the controller, then the system is simple to implement, but passengers with visual impairments cannot effectively use the controls
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements multi-functional feedback mechanisms that provide both visual and tactile information through the same control interface. Buttons provide both visual indicators and tactile feedback (haptic resistance, vibration, or depth variation), allowing the system to serve both visually impaired and sighted passengers through a unified interface design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a tactile dimension to the traditionally two-dimensional visual interface by incorporating sensors that detect press depth, duration, and pattern, as well as actuators that provide haptic feedback. This transforms the interaction from purely visual to multi-sensory, enabling passengers with visual impairments to operate controls through touch alone.
Data Source
AI summary
An aircraft seat may include an integrated controller feedback system. The controller feedback system may include a user interface device at least partially embedded within an armrest console of the aircraft seat. The user interface device may include a control panel, one or more buttons, one or more sensors, and/or a controller. The one or more buttons may indicate a controllable feature of the feedback system. The one or more sensors may be aligned with the one or more buttons and may be able to distinguishably detect a user touch from a user press. The controller may be in communication with the one or more sensors. The controller may generate one or more feedback signals in response to a user touch, and/or generate one or more activation signals in response to a user press.