Touch-Sensitive Active Regions for Gloved Hand Diagnostic Interfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Handheld computing devices used in harsh environments, such as vehicle service facilities, face challenges with stylus misplacement and usability due to hand protection, leading to potential device damage and operational difficulties without a stylus.
Innovation Solution
A user interface for handheld computing devices featuring touch-sensitive display elements with active regions sized for human finger tip contact, allowing technicians to operate diagnostic instruments without a stylus, including navigational menus and a method to send commands directly from the display screen.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a stylus with a small contact area is used to operate the display screen, then the device can be operated with precision, but the stylus can be easily misplaced and lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the stylus component entirely from the system. The display screen is redesigned with touch-sensitive active regions that can be operated directly by finger contact, extracting the pointing function from the stylus and integrating it into the screen itself through multi-touch gesture recognition
Solution Approach 2:
The display screen serves multiple functions: it displays information and simultaneously acts as the input interface through touch-sensitive active regions. The screen integrates both output and input functions, eliminating the need for a separate stylus tool
2Device complexity
If the display screen is designed with small contact areas for stylus operation, then the interface can be compact, but it becomes difficult to operate without a stylus
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the operational parameter from stylus tip contact to finger contact by increasing the active region size. The touch-sensitive active regions are designed with dimensions suitable for finger contact areas, fundamentally changing the interaction parameter from precise point contact to larger area contact
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds the dimension of multi-touch gesture recognition to the interface. Instead of relying solely on point-and-click interactions, the system recognizes various finger gestures including tapping, swiping, and pinching, adding a new dimension of interaction capability
3Ease of operation
If a stylus is stored in a small groove on the device, then it can be kept accessible, but technicians wearing gloves find it difficult to retrieve and replace the stylus
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the stylus and its storage groove from the device design. By eliminating the stylus component entirely, the system no longer requires a dedicated storage location, and the interface is redesigned to work without this component
Solution Approach 2:
The display screen serves itself as both the interface and the input device. The touch-sensitive active regions detect finger contact directly, eliminating the need for an external stylus tool that would require storage and retrieval
4Ease of operation
If technicians use sharp instruments like screwdrivers to operate the display without a stylus, then they can interact with the device, but the plastic screen can become damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the contact parameter from sharp point contact to distributed finger contact. The touch-sensitive active regions are designed to detect pressure and contact area, allowing safe operation with gloved fingers while maintaining precision through gesture recognition algorithms
Data Source
AI summary
A user interface for a computing device is provided. The user interface includes a plurality of display elements. A display element includes an active region, a graphical representation, and a textual description. The active region is sized for enabling human finger tip selection of the display element on a touch sensitive display screen. A display module receives coordinate information from the display screen and determines whether the coordinate information corresponds to the active region. When a user touches the active region, an instrument interface module sends a command to a diagnostic instrument. Further features, such as language localization of the textual description, are also provided.