Wearable Projector Overlays Touch Screen Obstructions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Touch screen devices face challenges in allowing users to interact effectively due to obstructions, such as fingers or styluses, which obstruct the view of content being displayed, and existing solutions do not efficiently project obstructed content over these obstructions.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize a computing device to detect obstructions on a touch screen, determine the obstructed content, and send a display configuration to a wearable projector device to project the obstructed content over the obstruction, allowing users to view the content without interruption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a touch screen displays content during interaction, then the content is visible to users, but obstructions such as fingers or styluses block the view of the content
Solution Approach 1:
The patent projects obstructed content from the 2D touch screen plane onto a different spatial dimension - specifically, onto the obstructing object itself (finger or stylus) in 3D space. This allows the content to be displayed both on the original screen and overlaid on the obstruction, enabling users to view content while maintaining interaction capability without visual blocking.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary projection mechanism that captures the obstructing object's position and projects the blocked content onto it. This intermediary process mediates between the touch screen display and the user's interaction, allowing the obstruction to become the display surface itself, thus resolving the conflict between visibility and operability.
2Loss of information
If the entire screen content is projected over obstructions, then all content remains visible, but the device complexity and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of projecting the entire screen content uniformly, the system applies projection selectively only to the specific regions that are obstructed. The projection is localized to match the exact position and shape of the obstructing object, reducing unnecessary projection complexity and energy consumption while maintaining visibility of only the required content portions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the screen content into distinct regions based on obstruction detection. Each obstructed region is identified and projected separately onto the corresponding obstructing object, rather than treating the entire display as a single projection target. This segmentation reduces the computational and hardware complexity of the projection system.
3Loss of information
If content is projected in real-time during interaction, then uninterrupted viewing is achieved, but the processing speed and response time requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a feedback loop where the projection system continuously monitors the touch screen for obstructions, detects their position and shape, and dynamically adjusts the projection in real-time. This feedback mechanism ensures that the projected content remains synchronized with the current interaction state, providing uninterrupted viewing while maintaining appropriate response speed through iterative detection and correction.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for detecting and projecting obstructed content over touch screen obstructions are disclosed. In embodiments, a computer-implemented method, includes: displaying, by a computing device, content on a touch screen of the computing device; detecting, by the computing device, an obstruction of the content on one or more areas of the touch screen; determining, by the computing device, obstructed content in the one or more areas; determining, by the computing device, a display configuration for a portion of the obstructed content, wherein the display configuration defines a manner in which the portion of the obstructed content is to be projected by at least one wearable projector device; and sending, by the computing device, the display configuration to the at least one wearable projector device adapted to project the portion of the obstructed content over at least one object causing the obstruction of the content.