Mobile Device Touch Sensor Unintentional Contact Rejection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile devices with side touch sensors often register unintentional contact due to the user's hand or fingers supporting the device, leading to erroneous entries and disruptions in user experience, especially when the sensor is longer in length.
Innovation Solution
The mobile device employs statistical analysis of sensor data to differentiate between intentional and unintentional contact by analyzing shape, movement, and contact area characteristics, masking out unintentional interactions to prevent conflicts with intended user inputs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the touch sensor is made longer to increase input area, then the ease of operation is improved, but unintentional contact increases leading to erroneous entries
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts touch sensor sensitivity and contact detection thresholds based on detected hand position and grip patterns. The touch sensor transitions from a static detection mode to a dynamic mode that adapts to user holding patterns, allowing the same sensor to accommodate larger input area while filtering out grip-induced false contacts through real-time parameter adjustment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes multiple parameters including contact pressure thresholds, contact duration thresholds, and sensitivity levels based on detected hand characteristics. By monitoring contact force, contact time, and hand position, the system adjusts these parameters to distinguish between intentional touches and unintentional grip contacts, resolving the contradiction between larger input area and reduced erroneous entries.
2Reliability
If statistical analysis of sensor data is performed to differentiate intentional from unintentional contact, then reliability is improved by reducing erroneous entries, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The statistical analysis process is segmented into distinct modular components: hand detection module, contact characterization module, threshold determination module, and decision module. Each component processes specific aspects of sensor data independently, allowing the complex overall function to be implemented through simpler, specialized sub-functions that can be optimized and maintained separately.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the existing sensor data infrastructure to provide self-service analysis without requiring additional external processing resources. The touch sensor data is re-analyzed using statistical methods that leverage the existing data collection mechanisms, allowing the system to differentiate intentional from unintentional contact using its own operational data rather than requiring separate dedicated processing systems.
Data Source
AI summary
Mobile device rejection of unintentional sensor contact. An embodiment of a mobile device includes a first touch sensor to detect contact by a user of the mobile device for input of gestures by the user, a memory to store indicators of unintentional contact to the first touch sensor, and a processor to evaluate contact to the first touch sensor. The processor compares a contact with the first touch sensor to the indicators of unintentional contact to determine if the contact is unintentional, and the mobile device rejects the contact as an input to the mobile device if the contact is determined to be unintentional and accepts the contact as an input to the mobile device if the contact is determined to be intentional.