Touch Panel Screen Layering for Multi-User Operability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional display devices with touch panels face issues of poor operability, where users without operation authority over a pop-up screen are unable to perform tasks until the screen is closed, leading to inefficiencies and interruptions, especially in multi-functional peripherals where adjacent devices are not always available.
Innovation Solution
A display device with a touch panel that identifies users through a body area network and dynamically manages screen operations, allowing users without authority over a pop-up screen to operate lower-level screens, and optionally changes the display state of pop-up screens to enhance visibility and usability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a pop-up screen is displayed to accept settings from a user, then the user can perform detailed operations, but other users cannot operate the panel until the pop-up screen is closed
Solution Approach 1:
The operation panel is segmented into multiple operational layers: the basic screen remains accessible to all users, while the pop-up screen is a separate operational layer for detailed settings. This allows user B to continue operating on the basic screen independently of user A's pop-up screen operations, eliminating the blocking effect and reducing waiting time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from a single-dimensional operational model (one screen at a time) to a multi-dimensional model where multiple screens coexist at different operational levels. The pop-up screen operates in an upper dimensional layer while the basic screen remains accessible in the lower layer, enabling concurrent operations by different users without interference.
2Reliability
If operation authority is given only to the user who displays the pop-up screen, then operational errors are prevented, but concurrent operations by multiple users are blocked
Solution Approach 1:
Different operational authority rules are applied to different screen layers. The pop-up screen maintains restricted access with authority given only to the user who displayed it, ensuring operational reliability for critical settings. Meanwhile, the basic screen allows concurrent access by multiple users, maintaining productivity. This localized application of authority rules resolves the contradiction between reliability and productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
An MFP (Multi-Functional Peripheral) includes a display device with a touch panel for displaying a variety of information. A plurality of screens including a base screen and a pop-up screen overlapping one another are displayed on the touch panel. The MFP accepts operation on any one of the screens and identifies the user who performs the accepted operation. If the identified user does not have operation authority over the pop-up screen, the MFP does not specify the pop-up screen as a screen serving as a target of the operation but specifies the base screen as a screen serving as a target of the operation.