Touchpad Telepresence Interface for Intuitive Remote Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current telemedicine technologies lack effective interfaces for remote healthcare practitioners to control and navigate telepresence devices in healthcare facilities, leading to inefficiencies in patient care and consultation processes.
Innovation Solution
The development of a remote presence interface (RPI) on portable electronic devices, allowing users to visually and interactively control telepresence devices through various navigation modes, including touchpad, joystick, and vector-based inputs, enabling autonomous or semi-autonomous navigation within healthcare facilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional telemedicine interfaces are used, then device control is available, but ease of operation deteriorates due to lack of intuitive navigation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a virtual copy of a physical touchpad interface on the portable electronic device screen. This virtual touchpad replicates the familiar swipe and tap gestures of physical touchpads, allowing users to navigate the telepresence device through intuitive touchscreen interactions without needing to learn complex control schemes. The virtual touchpad is overlaid on the video feed, creating a natural mapping between user input and device response.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces physical mechanical controls with software-based touchscreen gestures. Instead of requiring physical buttons, joysticks, or knobs, the system uses touchscreen detections (swipes, taps, presses) to control the telepresence device's navigation and camera movements. This substitution maintains ease of operation while reducing mechanical complexity in the remote interface.
2Adaptability or versatility
If remote control capabilities are added, then functionality improves, but ease of operation worsens due to complex control interfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal control interface where the virtual touchpad handles multiple functions through different gesture types. The same touchpad area responds to swipes for navigation, taps for selection, and presses for activation, allowing a single interface element to provide versatile control over the telepresence device's movements, camera functions, and interaction capabilities without requiring separate controls for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic control where the virtual touchpad's response adapts based on the context and user input intensity. The system detects the duration, pressure, and pattern of touchscreen gestures to dynamically adjust navigation speed, camera zoom levels, and interaction modes, providing adaptable functionality that responds naturally to user intentions while maintaining ease of operation.
3Ease of operation
If touchpad interface is implemented, then ease of operation improves, but device complexity increases due to additional interface components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the virtual touchpad interface with the existing video feed display. Instead of creating a separate control screen or overlaying complex menus, the touchpad gestures are implemented directly on top of the video feed from the telepresence device. This merging allows the video display and control interface to coexist in the same space, providing ease of operation without adding separate interface components that would increase device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the portable electronic device's operating system as an intermediary layer between the user's touchscreen input and the telepresence device's control system. The OS handles the complex gesture recognition, coordinate mapping, and command translation, shielding the user from the underlying complexity while enabling intuitive touchpad-style control. This intermediary approach maintains ease of operation without requiring the telepresence device itself to become more complex.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure describes various aspects of remote presence interfaces (RPIs) for use on portable electronic devices (PEDs) to interface with remote presence devices. An RPI may allow a user to interact with a telepresence device, view a live video feed, provide navigational instructions, and/or otherwise interact with the telepresence device. The RPI may allow a user to manually, semi-autonomously, or autonomously control the movement of the telepresence device. One or more panels associated with a video feed, patient data, calendars, date, time, telemetry data, PED data, telepresence device data, healthcare facility information, healthcare practitioner information, menu tabs, settings controls, and/or other features may be utilized via the RPI.