Touch Interface Activation Region Adjustment for Efficient Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for manipulating user interface objects on touch-sensitive surfaces are cumbersome and inefficient, leading to a significant cognitive burden and energy wastage, particularly in battery-operated devices.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of faster and more efficient methods and interfaces for manipulating selectable user interface objects on multifunction devices with touch-sensitive surfaces, including displaying activation regions that can be adjusted and modified through intuitive gestures, allowing for reduced activation areas and enlarged adjacent regions for improved user interaction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional mouse-based input methods are used to select and manipulate user interface objects, then the interface is familiar and easy to implement, but the operation becomes tedious and creates significant cognitive burden
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical mouse-based input system with direct touch-sensitive surface interaction. Users can directly touch and manipulate user interface objects on the display through finger contacts, eliminating the need for intermediate mechanical devices like mice. This substitution reduces cognitive burden and manipulation time by allowing intuitive direct interaction with the interface elements.
2Productivity
If conventional manipulation methods are used, then the interface is simple to implement, but energy is wasted and battery life is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical input methods with direct touch-sensitive surface interaction, enabling more efficient user manipulation of interface objects. This reduces the time and computational resources required for interaction operations, thereby reducing power consumption and extending battery life in portable devices.
3Measurement precision
If activation regions are enlarged to improve selection accuracy, then the ease of selecting objects improves, but the available screen space for other content decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the activation region into multiple selectable portions or segments. When a user touches an object, the system identifies which specific segment or portion of the object was contacted, enabling precise selection without requiring a large overall activation region. This segmentation allows small activation areas to maintain high selection precision while preserving maximum display space for content.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements different activation region characteristics for different portions of user interface objects. Certain areas of an object may have enhanced sensitivity or different selection behaviors based on their local function, allowing precise selection without uniformly enlarging the entire activation region. This local differentiation maintains precision while minimizing the total area required.
Data Source
AI summary
A multifunction device displays a plurality of selectable user interface objects. Each respective selectable user interface object has a respective activation region. The device detects a first input; and, in response to detecting the first input, the device selects the first selectable user interface object and the device additionally: deactivates the activation region of the first selectable user interface object, or reduces the activation region of the first selectable user interface object to a smaller area than the default activation region. The device also enlarges an activation region of a selectable user interface object that is adjacent to the first selectable user interface object such that the enlarged activation region of the adjacent selectable user interface object occupies at least a portion of an area previously occupied by the default activation region of the first selectable user interface object.