State-Sensitive Remote Control Key Display
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing complexity of media equipment, particularly remote control devices, leads to user frustration and difficulty in navigating the interface, as users face challenges in locating relevant buttons for specific functions, especially with the addition of new features and redefined button functionalities.
Innovation Solution
Navigation logic that determines the current state of user interaction with an application and displays a representation of relevant remote control keys on a user interface, de-emphasizing non-relevant keys to guide users effectively, thereby improving interaction and engagement with media equipment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the remote control device includes many dozens of input buttons to support increased versatility of media equipment, then the functionality and adaptability of the device is improved, but the device complexity and difficulty of operation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the remote control interface by spatially separating relevant keys from irrelevant keys. The display device divides the keyboard representation into distinct regions, with relevant keys positioned in a first region and irrelevant keys in a second region, allowing users to focus on only the necessary controls for the current application state.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by making different parts of the keyboard representation have different visual properties. Relevant keys are displayed with enhanced visibility (first visual property) while irrelevant keys are displayed with reduced visibility (second visual property), allowing users to quickly identify important controls without being distracted by others.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the remote control device includes many dozens of input buttons to support increased versatility of media equipment, then the functionality and adaptability of the device is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-identifying and highlighting the relevant keys before the user needs to press them. The navigation logic determines which keys are relevant to the current application state and displays them with enhanced visibility in advance, so users don't need to search through the entire keyboard when they need to perform an action.
Solution Approach 2:
The display device acts as an intermediary between the application state and the user's finger. Instead of directly presenting all keys equally, the system uses visual emphasis as a mediator to guide the user's attention to the specific keys that will perform the desired function, reducing the cognitive load and time required to operate the remote control.
3Adaptability or versatility
If different applications redefine the functionality assigned to buttons on the RC device, then the adaptability of the interface is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates as users must relearn button purposes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamics by making the keyboard representation dynamically adapt to the current application state. As the application state changes, the system automatically updates which keys are marked as relevant and adjusts their visual properties accordingly, ensuring that the interface always presents the most appropriate controls for the current context without requiring users to relearn button functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides feedback by continuously monitoring the application state and adjusting the keyboard display to reflect which keys are currently relevant. This real-time feedback loop ensures that users can see immediately which buttons will perform useful actions in the current context, reducing confusion and improving ease of operation across different applications.
Data Source
AI summary
Navigation logic and related methods are described for assisting a user in using a remote control (RC) device. The navigation logic determines a current state of a user's interaction with an application, and then determines the keys of the RC device that are relevant to the determined state. The navigation logic then displays a representation of the relevant keys on a user interface presentation of a presentation device. The representation resembles a physical layout of associated physical keys on the RC device. To assist the user in focusing on the relevant keys, the representation de-emphasizes other input mechanisms of the RC device that do not have a bearing on the user's current interaction with the application. One exemplary way of de-emphasizing these other keys is to entirely omit these keys from the representation.