Touch Screen Hover Accuracy via 3D Hand Position Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Touch screens face accuracy issues with user input due to hand position and motion, leading to accidental selections of incorrect icons or no selection at all, especially when the user's hand position interferes with reaching certain icons or is in motion.
Innovation Solution
The system determines attributes such as hand location, distance, and angle relative to the touch screen to accurately identify the intended virtual element for selection, allowing for hover commands without physical contact, using capacitive sensing and gesture recognition to enhance input accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the user physically touches the touch screen to select an icon, then the selection is confirmed, but the accuracy decreases when the hand is in motion or held in an interfering position
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a third dimension (distance from screen) to the traditional two-dimensional touch interface. By detecting hover position in 3D space and mapping it to 2D screen coordinates, the system enables accurate selection without requiring the finger to be in precise contact position, thus resolving the contradiction between selection accuracy and hand position flexibility
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mapping layer between the physical hover position and the virtual icon selection. The mapping module translates hover coordinates to icon coordinates, acting as a mediator that decouples the physical hand position from the logical selection target, thereby maintaining accuracy while allowing hand movement flexibility
2Ease of operation
If hover functionality is added to enable selection without physical contact, then ease of operation improves, but measurement precision may deteriorate due to detecting hand position at a distance
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors hover position and provides visual feedback by highlighting the target icon. This feedback loop allows the user to adjust their hover position in real-time, compensating for any measurement imprecision and ensuring accurate selection without physical contact
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the detection parameter from binary touch/no-touch to continuous distance measurement. By measuring the distance between the finger and screen along with the hover position, the system creates a more robust measurement that maintains precision even without physical contact
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 approach increases the accuracy of touch and hover commands, enabling users to select intended icons more reliably, even when physical contact is not precise, and allows for gesture-based inputs that expand interaction options.
Implementation Method 1
The touch screen can detect that the user's hand (or portion thereof) is proximate to the touch screen, such as through capacitive sensing
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques are described herein that are capable of increasing touch and/or hover accuracy on a touch-enabled device. For example, attribute(s) of a hand or a portion thereof (e.g., one or more fingers) may be used to determine a location on a touch screen to which a user intends to point. Such attribute(s) may be derived, measured, etc. For instance, a value corresponding to a distance between the hand/portion and the touch screen may be derived from a magnitude of a measurement of an interaction between the hand/portion and the touch screen. In another example, virtual elements displayed on the touch screen may be mapped to respective areas in a plane that is parallel (e.g., coincident) with the touch screen. In accordance with this example, receiving a touch and/or hover command with regard to an area in the plane may indicate selection of the corresponding virtual element.