Virtual Input Surface for Vehicle Ergonomics
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing input devices in motor vehicles, such as touchscreens, require ergonomic compromises and can lead to design and installation challenges due to the need for a physical input surface, which limits flexibility and user experience.
Innovation Solution
A method that allows users to define a virtual input surface using non-contact sensors, enabling inputs to be made in mid-air without requiring depth information or a physical surface, allowing for ergonomic placement and user-defined input locations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a touchscreen is placed in the driver's view for easy access, then the driver can operate it without bending forward, but the driver must take eyes off the traffic situation and the placement is not ergonomic
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a two-dimensional touchscreen surface to a three-dimensional sensor field. The contact-free sensor detects finger positions and movements in three-dimensional space, allowing the virtual input surface to be positioned at any height and location within the sensor field, eliminating the need for the driver to bend forward or take eyes off the road.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a virtual copy of a physical touchscreen surface in the three-dimensional sensor field. This virtual input surface replicates the functionality of a physical touchscreen but exists as a detectable spatial region rather than a physical object, allowing ergonomic positioning without compromising safety.
2Ease of operation
If a touchpad is used for contact-free input, then the input unit can be placed in an ergonomically advantageous position, but a touch-sensitive element is required which increases device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential function of touch detection from the physical touch-sensitive element. By using a contact-free sensor to detect finger positions and movements in three-dimensional space, the system eliminates the need for complex touch-sensitive hardware while maintaining the core functionality of contactless input detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical touch-sensitive element with an optical or electromagnetic sensing system. The contact-free sensor detects finger movements through non-contact means, substituting the mechanical interaction required by touchpads with a field-based detection method that reduces device complexity.
3Shape
If a physical input surface is integrated into the vehicle interior design, then the design features can be maintained, but the installation space conditions are limited and design flexibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves the input surface from a fixed two-dimensional physical plane integrated into the vehicle interior to a three-dimensional virtual space. This allows the input surface to be positioned flexibly within the sensor field without being constrained by physical installation space or interior design features.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of the input surface from physical to virtual. By defining the input surface as a detectable region in three-dimensional space rather than a physical object, the system gains flexibility in positioning and sizing without being limited by vehicle interior constraints.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method for operating an input device (2), particularly an input device for a motor vehicle, having a non-contact sensor (3) for capturing the position and/or change of position of at least one finger of a user's hand. An input is detected and executed on the basis of the captured position and/or change of position of the finger on an input surface. According to the invention, a virtual surface (7) is defined as an input surface on the basis of a specifiable movement of at least one of the fingers of the hand (6).