Wearable Touch-Sensitive Device With Dual-Surface Contact Sensing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current wearable touch-sensitive devices face challenges in remaining activated while minimizing misinterpretation of inadvertent contacts, particularly during physical activities or emergencies, as reenabling touch-sensitive components can be inconvenient.

Innovation Solution

A wearable touch-sensitive device with contact sensing components on both outer and inner surfaces that detect tactile interactions, including gestures and movements, and analyze signals to determine valid user inputs, allowing for continuous activation while reducing parasitic contact detection through a combination of sensor placement and validation thresholds.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If the touch-sensitive device remains continuously activated to improve user convenience during activities and emergencies, then the ease of operation is improved, but the device may misinterpret inadvertent contacts during physical activities

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of operationVSAvoidreliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The touch-sensitive device is segmented into multiple independent touch sensors positioned at different locations. Each sensor can detect contacts independently, allowing the system to analyze contact patterns and distinguish between intentional user inputs and inadvertent contacts during physical activities, thereby maintaining continuous activation while improving reliability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback mechanisms where touch sensor signals are continuously monitored and analyzed. By evaluating the characteristics, timing, and patterns of detected contacts, the device can determine whether a contact is intentional or inadvertent, allowing continuous operation while preventing misinterpretation of accidental touches during exercise or emergencies.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Reliability

If touch-sensitive components are locked to prevent misinterpretation of inadvertent contact, then the reliability is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates due to the need to reenabling the components

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovereliabilityVSAvoidease of operation
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary analysis of touch contact characteristics before determining whether to activate functions. By pre-establishing validation criteria and continuously monitoring contact patterns, the device can distinguish between intentional and inadvertent contacts in real-time, maintaining reliability without requiring periodic locking that would compromise ease of operation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Measurement precision

If multiple touch sensors are used to validate contacts and reduce parasitic contact detection, then the measurement precision is improved, but the device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemeasurement precisionVSAvoiddevice complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The device uses multiple segmented touch sensors positioned at different locations to detect and validate contact events. Each sensor provides independent detection data, and the system cross-validates signals from multiple sensors to distinguish genuine user inputs from parasitic contacts, improving measurement precision through distributed sensing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Multiple touch sensor signals are merged and processed together to validate contact events. By combining data from multiple sensors and applying validation logic that considers the collective signal pattern, the system achieves high measurement precision for distinguishing intentional contacts from parasitic interference without requiring overly complex individual sensor designs.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentEP2891044B1Systems and methods for a wearable touch-sensitive device
Publication Date: 2021.01.27 GOOGLE TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS LLC
  • EP2891044B1 patent drawingFigure 1A~1B
  • EP2891044B1 patent drawingFigure 1C
  • EP2891044B1 patent drawingFigure 2A~2C

AI summary

Systems and methods are provided for controlling functions associated with a touch-sensitive device (100) capable of being worn by a user. The touch-sensitive device (100) includes a substrate (110) with an outside surface (112) and an inside surface (114) opposite from the outside surface (112). A first contact sensing component (120) generates a first signal upon detection of a first contact with the outside surface (112), and a second contact sensing component (130) generates a second signal upon detection of a second contact with the inside surface (114). A processor (140) may be configured to interface with the first contact sensing component (120) and the second contact sensing component (130) and perform operations including: analyzing the first signal and the second signal to determine that a predetermined condition is satisfied, and in response to the analyzing, initiating a function associated with the predetermined condition.