Self-Centering Touchscreen Keypad for Visually Impaired PIN Entry
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Solution Overview
Problem
Customers who are visually impaired face challenges in inputting personal identification numbers (PINs) on touchscreen displays due to difficulty in identifying the location of numbers, especially in transactions using payment instruments like debit or credit cards.
Innovation Solution
A self-centering user interface that adjusts its position on the touchscreen display based on the customer's input, allowing for the keypad or symbols to be centered around the user's touch, enabling input through swipes or multi-touch gestures, and providing audio instructions for assistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a touchscreen display is used for PIN input, then transaction efficiency is improved, but accessibility for visually impaired users deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces audio output as an intermediary between the touchscreen display and the visually impaired user. The system provides audio instructions that guide users through the PIN entry process, mediating the interaction between the visual interface and the user who cannot see it, thereby maintaining touchscreen efficiency while improving accessibility
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the purely visual mechanical interaction (looking at and touching the screen) with an auditory feedback system. Audio cues substitute for visual feedback, allowing visually impaired users to locate and interact with keypad elements through sound rather than sight, resolving the contradiction between touchscreen efficiency and accessibility
2Device complexity
If the keypad is fixed in position on the touchscreen, then device complexity is reduced, but ease of operation for visually impaired users deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic keypad system that repositions itself based on the user's touch location. When a visually impaired user touches the screen, the keypad centers around that touch point, making the input area dynamically adapt to the user's interaction. This dynamic repositioning improves input accuracy without significantly increasing device complexity, as it relies on software-based repositioning rather than hardware changes
3Ease of operation
If audio instructions are provided, then accessibility for visually impaired users is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements audio instructions using the existing speaker or audio output capability of the POS device, making the audio guidance system universal across different device configurations. The same audio hardware that provides basic system feedback is repurposed to provide comprehensive guidance for visually impaired users, improving accessibility without adding dedicated audio components or significantly increasing device complexity
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques described herein are directed to, among other things, utilizing a self-centering user interface to receive information associated with a transaction. For instance, a computing device may receive a first input at a first location of a display. The computing device may then determine a positioning for the user interface, where the user interface may be substantially centered about the first location. In some instances, the computing device may display the user interface using the positioning. The computing device may then receive a second input corresponding to swipe from the first location of the display to a second location of the display. The computing device may then determine a symbol included in the user interface based at least in part on the second input. In some instances, the user interface includes a keypad for entering a personal identification number associated with a payment instrument.