Touch-Based Tab Navigation for Portable Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional navigation systems for small touch-sensitive displays on portable devices, such as PDAs and smartphones, are cumbersome and inconvenient for users, as they require scrolling to access tabs not currently visible on the screen.
Innovation Solution
A touch-based tab navigation method that allows users to quickly navigate between tabs using gestures on a touch-sensitive display or separate touch-sensitive area, with haptic or sound feedback, enabling access to all tabs without needing to visually see the display, and utilizing muscle memory for frequently selected tabs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional navigation systems are used on small touch-sensitive displays, then all tabs can be accessed, but the navigation becomes cumbersome and requires scrolling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a third dimension by adding a touch-sensitive area below the display that extends the navigation space vertically. This allows users to access tabs beyond the visible screen area through downward swiping gestures, effectively adding a new dimension to the navigation interface without increasing the display size.
Solution Approach 2:
The touch-sensitive area acts as an intermediary between the user and the tabs. It provides haptic feedback and visual feedback that mediate the interaction, allowing users to navigate tabs intuitively through gestures while receiving tactile and visual confirmation of their actions, thus improving ease of operation.
2Area of stationary object
If tabs are arranged to fit on the display, then visible tabs are accessible, but tabs beyond the display area cannot be reached
Solution Approach 1:
By extending the touch-sensitive area below the display, the patent creates additional navigation space in the vertical dimension. This allows the tab system to adapt to more tabs than can fit on the display alone, providing versatility to access all tabs through gestures that extend into this additional dimension.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic tab navigation where tabs can be scrolled and accessed beyond their static positions. The touch-sensitive area enables dynamic gestures that allow users to navigate to tabs that are not initially visible, making the tab system adaptable to different numbers of tabs and display configurations.
3Measurement precision
If visual display is required for tab selection, then accurate tab selection is possible, but users cannot use muscle memory for frequently selected tabs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates haptic feedback in the touch-sensitive area that provides tactile confirmation of tab selection. This feedback mechanism allows users to navigate and select tabs using muscle memory alone, as the haptic signals confirm their gestures and selections without requiring visual verification, thus enabling both accuracy and muscle memory usage.
4Loss of information
If haptic feedback is added to indicate tab positions, then user awareness of tab movement is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The touch-sensitive area generates its own haptic feedback signals internally to indicate tab positions and movements. This self-service capability provides user awareness of tab movement without requiring complex external feedback systems, as the touch-sensitive area itself produces the haptic signals needed to inform users of the current tab state.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of navigating between different tabs in a user interface of a portable digital information device (100) includes displaying a first set of tabs sequentially arranged along a linear direction on a display (102) of the portable digital information device (100), the first set of tabs containing tabs that are a subset of tabs contained in a master set of tabs. A user then touches a touch-sensitive area (102, 104) of the portable digital information device (100) and drags a finger across the touch-sensitive area (102, 104) in a direction parallel to the linear direction in which the first set of tabs are sequentially arranged. This dragging motion causes the position of the tabs displayed along the linear direction of the display (102) to move in a direction opposite to the direction along which the user drags the finger across the touch-sensitive area (102, 104) for displaying a second set of tabs containing tabs.