Interface layer and operating system facilitating use, including by blind and visually-impaired users, of touch-screen-controlled consumer electronic devices
US9829978B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 12, 2012 |
| Grant date | Nov 28, 2017 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 2, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F3/167
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A computerized system for facilitating eye-free use, e.g. by the blind, of an electronic device, the system comprising an interface layer including a hierarchy of operating modes presenting a portion of a hierarchy of possible choices, each portion comprising possible users' choices within the hierarchy; and an OS for accepting, via a touch screen, selected options generated by the user responsive to the sequence of possible choices respectively, and for activating electronic device functionalities accordingly. The hierarchy of possible choices includes sequences of n possible choices presented within sequences of n operating modes having n predetermined archetypical formats each having at least one fixed characteristic. The interface layer includes an orientation signal generator for generating orientation signals, sensible by the user and uniquely associated with the archetypical formats. Generation of each orientation signal coincides with presentation of its associated archetypical format, to orient the user within the hierarchy.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.