Slate Computer Tactile Home Keys for Touch Typing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Virtual keyboards on slate computers lack tactile feedback, which is a disadvantage for touch typists accustomed to physical keyboards, as they do not provide the necessary reference positions for finger placement.
Innovation Solution
A slate computer with a touch-sensitive screen and discrete areas that mimic home keys of a keyboard, offering different tactile characteristics such as concavities, convexities, or varying material textures, which the processor uses to present a virtual keyboard image when pressure is sensed on these areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If a virtual keyboard is used on a slate computer, then space is saved and the device remains compact, but tactile feedback is lost which disadvantages touch typists
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating discrete areas on the screen surface that have different tactile characteristics than the surrounding surface. Each discrete area corresponds to a home key position and provides localized tactile feedback (through concavities, convexities, or varying material textures) at specific locations where touch typists need reference positions, while the rest of the screen remains smooth and flat for space efficiency.
2Ease of operation
If discrete tactile areas are added to the screen, then tactile feedback is provided for home keys, but the screen surface complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the screen surface into discrete areas, where each area corresponds to a home key position. These discrete areas are defined by concavities, convexities, or varying material textures that are distributed across the screen surface. This segmentation provides targeted tactile feedback at specific locations without requiring the entire screen surface to be complex, thus balancing functionality with structural simplicity.
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 touch typists to experience tactile feedback and efficiently input data using a virtual keyboard by providing distinct tactile areas that correspond to keyboard home keys, enhancing usability without a physical keyboard.
Implementation Method 1
a touch sensitive screen on the housing and communicating with the processor... sensing pressure on all of the discrete areas
Data Source
AI summary
Fingertip-sized discrete areas are provided on a slate computer and have different tactile characteristics than the remainder of the surface on which they are disposed. The discrete areas are arranged to mimic home keys of a keyboard and each discrete area corresponds to a respective home key. In this way, a user is given tactile feedback of when fingers are properly placed in the home position, with home key finger placement triggering the presentation of a full keyboard on screen. Other embodiments do not use tactilely distinct keys, with simultaneous placement of two or more fingers on the computer triggering display of the virtual keyboard.