Touchscreen Lock Screen Partial Unlock Mechanism
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional computers with touchscreens often inadvertently perform actions due to accidental touch inputs, leading to the need for a touch lock function to prevent such errors, but this can restrict user access to information without proper unlocking.
Innovation Solution
A computer system that displays a lock screen with a cover layer obscuring a background layer, allowing users to unlock the device by wiping a significant portion of the touchscreen, transitioning from a locked to an unlocked state while enabling partial access to information without full unlocking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a touch lock function is implemented to prevent accidental touch inputs, then reliability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates because users cannot access information without unlocking
Solution Approach 1:
The lock screen interface is segmented into multiple interactive layers: a cover layer that can be partially removed and a background layer containing information. This segmentation allows the system to provide different levels of access (partial vs. full unlocking) based on the user's gesture, resolving the contradiction between security and accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements partial unlocking by allowing users to wipe away portions of the cover layer without completely removing it. This partial action enables users to access specific information (e.g., notifications, calendar events) while maintaining the locked state for other functions, thus balancing reliability and ease of operation.
2Ease of operation
If the cover layer is completely removed to unlock the device, then ease of operation is improved, but security deteriorates because the device is fully unlocked
Solution Approach 1:
The cover layer transitions dynamically between different states: fully present (locked), partially removed (partially unlocked), and fully removed (unlocked). This dynamic behavior allows the system to adapt the level of security and accessibility based on user needs, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and security.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of cover layer visibility and removability to control access levels. By adjusting how much of the cover layer is removed (rather than binary locked/unlocked states), the system provides graded access that maintains security while improving ease of operation for specific tasks.
3Device complexity
If the lock screen displays a static cover layer, then device complexity is reduced, but adaptability deteriorates because it cannot provide different levels of access
Solution Approach 1:
The lock screen is segmented into functional layers (cover layer and background layer) that can be independently manipulated. This segmentation adds adaptability without significantly increasing perceived complexity, as users interact with simple swipe gestures rather than complex settings.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover layer serves multiple functions: it acts as a security barrier, an informational overlay, and a interactive element that can be partially or fully removed. This multi-functionality increases adaptability while maintaining a simple unified interface that doesn't appear overly complex to users.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are computers and methods of operating those computers. In the methods, a computer in a touch lock state displays a lock screen image showing a cover layer superimposed over, and obscuring, a background layer. A user enters a touch input to a touch screen of the computer, thereby specifying a portion of that touchscreen. The lock screen image is then modified so that the cover layer does not obscure the background layer in the specified portion of the touchscreen. The cover layer in the region of the touchscreen that is not specified in the touch input continues to obscure the background layer in those regions. If the portion of the touchscreen specified by the touch input exceeds a threshold amount the computer may be changed from being in a touch lock state to being in a touch unlock state.