Touch Mediation for Mobile Input Error Mitigation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Small display sizes on mobile devices lead to increased likelihood of accidental and unintended touch inputs due to limited available area for inputs, particularly in touch screen interfaces, which can result in user dissatisfaction and unintended consequences.

Innovation Solution

A touch mediation function is implemented to distinguish between intended and unintended touch events by using a touch event filtering map layer with priority areas, where touch events in higher priority areas take precedence over those in lower priority areas, and erroneous touch events are filtered out before being sent to the application.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Volume of moving object

If the display size is reduced to enhance portability, then the device becomes more portable, but the likelihood of accidental and unintended touch inputs increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedevice sizeVSAvoidinput accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

Volume of moving objectVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The display is divided into multiple capture areas with different priorities. High-priority areas are more likely to receive intentional touches, while low-priority areas are more likely to receive accidental touches. This segmentation allows the system to differentiate between intended and unintended inputs based on which capture area is activated.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Different regions of the display are assigned different priority levels. Certain areas are designated as high-priority capture areas where touches are more likely to be intentional, while other areas are designated as low-priority where touches are more likely to be accidental. This local differentiation in quality helps resolve the contradiction by making the system more reliable in high-priority areas.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

2Adaptability or versatility

If touch screen interface areas are increased to accommodate more inputs, then input capability is improved, but the likelihood of accidental inputs increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinput capabilityVSAvoidinput accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The touch screen interface is segmented into multiple capture areas, each associated with different user interface components. By dividing the interface into distinct regions with different priorities, the system can accommodate multiple inputs while maintaining reliability through selective processing based on capture area priority.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

A touch mediation function is introduced as an intermediary layer between the touch screen interface and the user interface components. This mediator receives touch events, determines which capture area was activated, and routes the event appropriately, thereby managing the complexity of multiple inputs while filtering out accidental touches.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Reliability

If a touch mediation function is implemented to filter erroneous inputs, then input accuracy is improved, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinput accuracyVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

A touch mediation function serves as an intermediary layer between the touch screen interface and user interface components. This mediator determines which capture area a touch event occurred in and routes the event accordingly, providing a structured approach to filtering erroneous inputs while managing system complexity through clear separation of concerns.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The touch mediation function performs preliminary processing of touch events before they reach the user interface components. By pre-determining which capture area was activated and routing events accordingly, the system filters out erroneous inputs early in the processing chain, improving input accuracy without requiring complex processing at each component level.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS9423909B2Method, apparatus and computer program product for user input interpretation and input error mitigation

Publication Date: 2016.08.23 NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY

AI summary

Provided herein are a method, apparatus and computer program product for interpreting user input and mitigating erroneous inputs on a device. In particular, methods may include receiving an indication of a first touch event, determining, by a touch mediation function, if the first touch event is an erroneous touch event, causing the first touch event to be sent to an application in response to the touch mediation function determining that the touch event is not erroneous; and causing the first touch event to not be sent to the application in response to the touch mediation function determining that the first touch event is erroneous. The first touch event may occur proximate a first capture area for the user interface and the method may further include causing the first capture area for the user interface to be adjusted in response to the first touch event.