Touch Sensor Tactile Feedback for Blind Operation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional touch sensors on mobile devices do not allow users to operate soft keyboards without viewing the screen, as they lack tactile feedback and visual cues for key positions, leading to incorrect key presses, especially in situations where the user cannot view the screen.
Innovation Solution
An input apparatus with a touch sensor, load detection unit, and tactile sensation providing unit that generates a virtual user interface with a home position key at the detected input position, providing tactile feedback to guide the user's input without requiring screen visibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a soft keyboard is displayed on the touch panel without tactile feedback, then the device structure remains simple, but the user cannot operate without viewing the screen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements tactile feedback by generating vibrations at the key press position through a vibration generator. When a user presses a position on the touch panel, the system detects the pressure load and generates corresponding tactile feedback vibrations, allowing the user to confirm key presses without visual confirmation. This resolves the contradiction by adding operational capability without requiring complex structural changes.
Solution Approach 2:
The touch panel surface serves multiple functions: it acts as both the display surface and the input surface with integrated vibration feedback. The vibration generator is positioned to provide tactile feedback directly at the contact point, making the system self-sufficient for blind operation without requiring additional external devices or complex mechanical structures.
2Ease of operation
If tactile feedback is added to enable operation without viewing, then ease of operation improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The touch panel system is designed to perform multiple functions: detecting touch position, measuring pressure load, and generating tactile feedback vibrations. By making the touch panel and vibration system multi-functional, the patent avoids adding separate dedicated components for each function, thereby improving ease of operation while minimizing increases in device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the touch detection function and vibration feedback function into an integrated system. The load detection unit and vibration generator work together with the touch panel in a unified architecture, allowing tactile feedback to be provided at the exact contact position without requiring separate complex mechanisms for each function.
3Use of energy by moving object
If the screen remains off to conserve power, then energy consumption decreases, but the user cannot see the interface
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides tactile feedback vibrations when keys are pressed, replacing visual feedback with haptic feedback. This allows the interface to remain invisible (screen off) while still providing operational confirmation through vibrations, thus conserving power while preventing information loss through alternative sensory channels.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the visual display mechanism with a mechanical vibration mechanism for providing feedback. Instead of requiring the screen to be on to confirm key presses, the system uses tactile vibrations to convey interface information, substituting optical information delivery with mechanical sensation to reduce energy consumption.
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
Enables users to operate mobile devices without viewing the screen by generating a virtual user interface with tactile feedback, reducing the likelihood of incorrect key presses and conserving power by allowing operation in sleep mode.
Implementation Method 1
a load detection unit configured to detect a pressure load applied on a touch face of the touch sensor
Implementation Method 2
a tactile sensation providing unit configured to vibrate the touch face of the touch sensor
Data Source
AI summary
A user interface enabling a user to operate without viewing a screen is generated. An input apparatus 10 according to the present invention includes a touch sensor 103 configured to detect an input position of a touch input, a load detection unit 105 configured to detect a pressure load applied on a touch face of the touch sensor 103, and a control unit 104 configured to, when the load detection unit 105 detects a pressure load satisfying a predetermined standard load, control to generate a virtual user interface having a home position key arranged at the input position.