Touch Display Ridges for Blind Operation Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing touch-sensitive surfaces require visual monitoring for input operation, which can be unsafe, especially in situations like driving a motor vehicle where visual attention should be focused on the road.
Innovation Solution
A touch-sensitive display surface with a threshold that allows blind operation by detecting finger movements crossing the threshold, using tactile feedback and visual indicators on a separate display to activate functions without looking at the surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If visual monitoring is used for touch-sensitive surface operation, then input accuracy is improved, but safety deteriorates due to distraction from primary tasks
Solution Approach 1:
The display surface is segmented into multiple thresholds, each associated with different functions or input options. This segmentation allows users to operate different functions by touching different thresholds without needing to visually distinguish between them, thereby maintaining input accuracy while eliminating visual distraction.
Solution Approach 2:
Tactile thresholds serve as intermediaries between the user and the digital interface. Instead of directly interacting with visual display elements, users interact with physical thresholds that provide tactile feedback, mediating the input process and eliminating the need for visual monitoring while preserving input precision.
2Ease of operation
If tactile thresholds are added to the display surface, then ease of operation is improved for blind operation, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tactile thresholds are merged with the display surface itself, integrating the tactile interface directly into the existing display structure. This merging approach enables blind operation capability without adding separate, complex tactile interface components, thereby improving ease of operation while minimizing increases in device complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple thresholds are provided for different functions, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The thresholds are designed with multi-functionality, where each threshold can be associated with different functions through software configuration rather than requiring dedicated physical structures for each function. This universality allows the system to adapt to multiple functions while keeping the physical interface structure relatively simple.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method for providing an entry on a touch-sensitive surface (1) of a display, said surface (1) being designed to display a representation (7, 8). The display surface (1) comprises a ridge/depression (2) and the display surface (1) is suitable for also displaying at least part of the representation (7, 8) in said ridge/depression (2). The method comprises the steps: detection of a movement of a finger (3) of the user passing over the ridge/depression (2); activation of a function in response to the detection step.