Touch Interface Graphic Element Positioning for Selection Precision
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users face difficulties in accurately selecting menu items on touch interfaces, especially in environments like motor vehicles where attention is divided, due to imprecise selection gestures caused by vibrations and the need to monitor other tasks.
Innovation Solution
A touch interface system that dynamically adjusts the position and size of graphic elements based on the user's finger proximity, using a virtual anchor point and translation vector to center the graphic elements, allowing for easier selection without increasing screen size, and includes a method for managing these adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the screen size is increased to facilitate selection, then the selection precision is improved, but the device size and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a temporal dimension to the selection process by displaying a magnified preview of the selected element after touch but before final confirmation. This allows the system to maintain small physical screen dimensions while providing enhanced visual feedback in the time domain, effectively resolving the contradiction between screen size and selection precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a magnified preview element as an intermediary between the touch input and the final selection confirmation. This preview acts as a mediator that provides enhanced visual feedback without requiring the main screen to be physically larger, thus improving selection precision while maintaining compact device dimensions.
2Measurement precision
If the user focuses on selecting menu items, then the selection accuracy improves, but the user cannot monitor primary tasks simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary visualization by displaying a magnified preview of the element under selection before requiring final user confirmation. This allows the user to verify the selection accuracy in advance, reducing the need for repeated corrections and minimizing attention diversion from primary tasks.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements immediate visual feedback by displaying a magnified preview of the selected element right after touch input. This feedback mechanism allows users to verify selections instantly without diverting attention for extended periods, as the confirmation is provided within the normal interaction flow.
3Quantity of substance
If the touch selection zone is made smaller to fit more elements, then the information density increases, but the selection difficulty increases due to imprecise gestures
Solution Approach 1:
The magnified preview serves as an intermediary that decouples the physical touch zone size from the visual representation size. Users can interact with compact on-screen elements while the system provides an enlarged preview for verification, maintaining both high information density and ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical constraint of physical touch zone size with a digital visualization solution. Instead of requiring larger physical zones for precision, the system uses software-based magnified preview to enhance selection accuracy, allowing small touch zones to maintain ease of operation.
4Measurement precision
If the graphic elements are magnified for better visibility, then the selection precision improves, but the number of visible elements on screen decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the display into two functional zones: the main screen area for displaying multiple elements at normal size, and a magnified preview area for verification. This segmentation allows both high information density and selection precision to coexist by separating the functions of overview and detailed inspection.
Solution Approach 2:
The magnified preview is displayed in a different spatial location (remote from the original element position) rather than enlarging the element in place. This dimensional separation allows users to see both the overview of multiple elements and the detailed preview simultaneously, maintaining both visibility and precision.
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
This solution reduces errors in menu item selection by facilitating the entry of desired graphic elements, maintaining user focus on primary tasks while allowing for precise interaction, even in unstable conditions like vehicle vibrations.
Implementation Method 1
The second region is a detection unit of the touch interface or graphical interface, associated with a flat sensitive surface of the touch screen type, superimposed on the display screen, or associated with another detection system in space allowing in particular to detect the position of the user's finger in the vicinity of the display screen
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a touch interface (1) comprising a screen (6) that can detect the approach and position of a user's finger (11), the interface being configured to display, on the screen (6), at least one graphical element (8, C1_0, C2_0, C3_0, C4_0, Ci_0, Cj1_0) associated with a touch-selection zone, initially surrounding an anchor point (9, B1_0, B21_0, B3_0, B4_0, Bi_0, Bj1_0) of the graphical element on the screen. The interface (1) is configured: to estimate a trajectory (traj(t)) from a point Dxyz(t)) on the finger (11) to the point of impact (Pxy(t)) between the trajectory and the screen; and, when the distance (Gap1(t)) between the anchor point (B1_0) and the impact point (Pxy(t)) falls below a first threshold, to move the graphical element (C1(t)) towards the impact point (Pxy(t)).