Touchscreen Gesture Continuity via Air Motion Sensors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Touchscreen devices with limited screen size require users to repeatedly perform scroll/pan gestures, which can be disruptive and inefficient, as the interaction is interrupted when reaching the edge of the screen, and the user's finger or stylus hides part of the screen.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that combines a touchscreen with motion sensors, allowing seamless interaction by detecting touch and movement both on and outside the screen, using optical detection technology to continue scrolling or panning without interruption, with the motion sensors capturing external movement and maintaining interaction continuity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If the screen size is kept small for portability, then the device is more portable and easier to carry, but the interaction range is limited and users must repeat gestures multiple times
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extends the interaction space from the two-dimensional touchscreen surface to three-dimensional space by incorporating motion sensors that detect finger movements in the air above and around the screen. This allows users to continue scrolling and panning gestures outside the physical screen boundaries, effectively increasing the interaction range without increasing device size.
Solution Approach 2:
The motion sensors act as an intermediary between the touchscreen and the user's finger movements. When the finger leaves the screen, the motion sensors continue to track the finger's position and translate these movements into scrolling and panning actions, seamlessly bridging the gap between touch and air gestures.
2Ease of operation
If the user's finger or stylus is used to scroll and pan on the touchscreen, then direct interaction is achieved, but the finger or stylus hides a portion of the touchscreen during interaction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical contact-based interaction (finger touching the screen) with an optical detection-based system. Motion sensors using optical detection technology track the finger's position in the air without requiring physical contact, allowing the screen to remain fully visible while maintaining direct interaction control.
3Measurement precision
If the touchscreen is used for scrolling and panning, then precise control is achieved within the screen area, but the interaction is interrupted when reaching the edge of the screen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent ensures continuous interaction by seamlessly transitioning from touchscreen-based detection to motion sensor-based detection when the finger approaches or leaves the screen. This eliminates interruptions at the screen edges, allowing users to scroll and pan continuously without lifting or repositioning their finger, maintaining both precision and continuity.
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 continuous scrolling or panning without interruption, improving user experience by allowing gestures to be initiated on the screen and continued outside it, reducing the need for special modes and preventing the screen from being obscured by the user's finger or stylus.
Implementation Method 1
The motion sensors detect external movement using appropriate optical detection technology such as a suitable camera.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and associated device for moving an image displayed on a touchscreen of the device. It is determined that an object previously moving on the touchscreen toward a first outer edge of the touchscreen has traversed the first outer edge in a first direction perpendicular to the first outer edge so as to no longer be touching the touchscreen. The displayed image had moved in the first direction toward the first outer edge in synchronization with the previous movement of the object toward the first outer edge. In response to the object having traversed the first outer edge, one or more motion sensors are activated to monitor the object for continuing movement of the object. The one or more motion sensors ascertain the continuing movement of the object away from the first outer edge, and in response, the displayed image is moved toward the first outer edge.