User Interface Apparatus for Smooth Content Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional user interfaces for audiovisual apparatuses face challenges in operability when selecting content from large collections, as users must navigate through multiple pages and experience delays in list display, leading to increased effort and user stress.
Innovation Solution
A user interface apparatus with an operation member capable of multiple operations, a managing unit for ordinal ranking of alternatives, and display control units to show consecutive alternatives, allowing for efficient selection and fine adjustments through press and rotation operations, reducing the number of operations needed to reach a desired content.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional page-by-page navigation is used to select content from large collections, then all alternatives can be managed systematically, but the number of operations required increases significantly and user stress increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the navigation process into two distinct phases: a first navigation phase that displays a limited number of alternatives (e.g., 8 items) for quick access to commonly selected content, and a second navigation phase that displays additional alternatives when the user rotates the operation member beyond a predetermined threshold. This segmentation allows users to reach frequently selected content quickly while still providing access to the full collection when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-displaying the most frequently accessed alternatives in the first set during normal operation. When users need content beyond this initial set, they simply rotate the operation member to trigger the display of additional alternatives, eliminating the need to navigate through all items sequentially from the beginning.
2Ease of operation
If all selectable alternatives are displayed as a list at once, then page turning operations are eliminated, but the time to generate and display the list increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the complete list of alternatives into multiple segments: a first set of alternatives displayed initially, and a second set of alternatives displayed upon rotation. This segmentation avoids the need to generate and display the entire list at once, reducing initial processing time while still providing comprehensive access to all content when users rotate the operation member.
Solution Approach 2:
The system displays only a partial set of alternatives (the first set) during normal operation, which is sufficient for most user needs. When users rotate the operation member beyond the predetermined threshold, the system then displays additional alternatives (the second set). This partial action approach minimizes processing time for common operations while providing full functionality when required.
3Adaptability or versatility
If page-by-page navigation is used with thumbnails, then content selection from large collections becomes possible, but the list display switching becomes unsmooth and user stress increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the navigation into two distinct modes: first navigation for displaying a limited set of alternatives with smooth, rapid switching, and second navigation for accessing additional alternatives when the user rotates the operation member beyond a threshold. This segmentation maintains smooth display switching for the primary navigation while enabling access to larger collections through the rotation-triggered second set.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the display behavior based on user interaction. During normal operation, the first set of alternatives is displayed with smooth switching. When the user rotates the operation member beyond the predetermined threshold, the system dynamically transitions to displaying the second set of alternatives, providing adaptability for large collections while maintaining operational smoothness for common tasks.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a user interface apparatus with improved operability thereby allowing a desired alternative to be selected from a plurality of alternatives more smoothly than by conventional techniques. When an instruction is received from a user to display a contents selection reception screen, eight contents corresponding to eight ordinal ranks are selected from among managed contents at intervals of n/8, and are set as selectable alternatives, and a table is created in which the ordinal ranks of the eight selectable alternatives are corresponded with key codes respectively, where each key code represents a press directed to a corresponding one eight press sensors. Based on the created table, a GUI screen is displayed for receiving selection of one of the ordinal ranks. Upon reception of ordinal-rank selection, a set of alternatives in a predetermined number including an alternative corresponding to the selected ordinal rank are displayed as a list, where the predetermined number of alternatives in the set are consecutive in terms of ordinal ranks. When a user selects a desired alternative from the list by operating members 31, the selection reception processing is ended. The user may also scroll through the alternatives by operating the operation member 31.