Transient Message Display Control via Gaze Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Transient messages on devices are often removed before users have a chance to read them, as they fade or are dismissed after a fixed time, which can lead to missed information due to user inattention or delayed interaction.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a gaze tracking function using a camera to determine when a user is looking at a transient message and adjusting its display time based on the user's gaze, allowing for dynamic removal or fading that ensures the message is visible until the user has read it, with options for exponential fade-out and emphasis on the message when the user looks back.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If a fixed time duration is used for displaying transient messages, then the device operation is simple and predictable, but the user may not have enough time to read the message before it is removed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by transitioning from a fixed, static message display time to a dynamic display duration that adapts based on real-time user gaze tracking data. The message remains visible until the system detects through camera-based gaze tracking that the user has looked away, ensuring the display time adjusts automatically to user attention patterns rather than following a predetermined schedule.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring user gaze behavior through camera tracking and using this information to control message display duration. The gaze tracking provides real-time feedback about user attention, which feeds back into the decision of when to remove the message, creating a closed-loop system that responds to user behavior rather than operating open-loop with fixed timing.
2Reliability
If the message is removed after a fixed time, then the device complexity is low, but the user engagement and information delivery reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary component - the camera-based gaze tracking system - that mediates between the user's natural viewing behavior and the message display control. This intermediary translates physical gaze movements into actionable data that determines message removal timing, acting as a bridge between user behavior and system response without requiring direct complex interaction between the user and message management logic.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces traditional mechanical or timer-based message dismissal mechanisms with an optical sensing system. Instead of using fixed timers or requiring explicit user actions to dismiss messages, the patent substitutes these with camera-based optical tracking that automatically detects gaze direction and duration, eliminating the need for mechanical timing components or explicit user interaction mechanisms.
3Loss of information
If the message display time is extended to ensure reading, then information delivery improves, but the device responsiveness and efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs periodic action through continuous, repeated sampling of user gaze data at regular intervals while the message is displayed. Rather than using a single fixed timeout or continuous blocking operation, the gaze tracking system periodically checks user attention status, allowing the message to remain visible only as long as periodic gaze detection confirms user engagement, thus maintaining responsiveness while ensuring reading opportunity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes observing via a camera of a device and a gaze tracking function that a user is looking at a transient message displayed on a display screen of a device, determining a time to remove the transient message from the display screen as a function of the observing, and removing the transient message as a function of the determined time.