Side-Sensor Touchless Interface with Visual Control Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mobile devices with touchscreens face limitations in interaction area due to display size, and touchless input methods are often less intuitive and disruptive to active applications.
Innovation Solution
A user equipment with side sensors and a controller that detects touchless user input, allowing interaction with controls in the surrounding space, indicated on the display, without disrupting the active application.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of moving object
If touchless input area is made invisible and used when another application is active, then interaction area is expanded beyond display limits, but it becomes difficult for user to realize what controls have which effect
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements visual feedback by displaying icons on the screen that correspond to controls in the touchless input area. When a user hovers their finger near the display edge, an icon appears showing what control is available and what effect it will have. This feedback mechanism resolves the contradiction by making invisible controls visible through real-time visual indication, allowing users to understand control effects without limiting the expanded interaction area.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces icons as an intermediary between the invisible touchless controls and the user. These icons serve as visual mediators that bridge the gap between the hidden controls in the extended input area and the user's understanding, showing what each control does without requiring the user to see or touch the actual control element.
2Area of moving object
If application takes over complete screen when active, then display space is maximized for active application, but area to control other applications becomes unavailable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extends the interaction area into the spatial dimension surrounding the display by implementing a touchless input area around the edges of the screen. This allows users to access and control background applications without encroaching on the display space used by the active application, effectively adding another dimension to the user interface beyond the traditional screen boundaries.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the user interface into two distinct zones: the display area for the active application and the surrounding touchless input area for controlling background applications. This segmentation allows both functions to operate simultaneously without interfering with each other, maintaining full display space for the active application while providing dedicated control access for other applications.
3Ease of operation
If touch input is used on limited display size, then interaction is direct and responsive, but interaction area is limited by display dimensions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical touch input (requiring physical contact with the display surface) with a touchless input mechanism using sensors that detect finger proximity and movement in the air around the display. This substitution maintains the directness and responsiveness of touch interaction while expanding the interaction area beyond the physical display boundaries into the surrounding spatial volume.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables intuitive and natural interaction with secondary applications using a larger interaction area, without interfering with the primary application on the display.
Implementation Method 1
There are sensors added to such mobile devices, e.g. radar that enable gesture recognition or detection of movements in certain parts of the space surrounding the device.
Data Source
AI summary
A user equipment has a display, at least one side sensor and a controller. The side sensor is configured to receive touchless user input at a side of the display, thereby providing a touchless input area. The controller detects that an object is located at a first predetermined distance from the side sensor in a first portion of the touchless input area, and in response thereto, presents an indication of at least one option on the display. The controller also detects that the object has moved to a different location and in response thereto, performs an action associated with the option indicated on the display when the object is detected at a second predetermined distance from the side sensor in the first portion of the touchless input area, wherein the second predetermined distance is smaller than the first predetermined distance; presents a new option on the display when the object is detected at the first predetermined distance from the side sensor in a second portion of the touchless input area, different from the first portion of the touchless input area; and removes the indication of the at least one option when the object is no longer detected within the first predetermined distance from the side sensor in the touchless input area.