This invention relates to mobile computing devices with flexible display screens. In particular, the invention relates to a mobile computing device with a cylindrical form factor, and a flexible display that can be rolled around the cylindrical device.
Computing devices with non-flat display screens allow physical affordances that traditional flat displays are incapable of providing. For example, a non-flat display screen can supplement virtual objects with physical affordances provided by the shape of the display screen. Display form factors other than flat have previously been proposed. For instance, Poupyrev et al. (Poupyrev, I, et al., 2006, D20: Interaction with multifaceted display devices, In CHI '06 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '06), pp. 1241-1246) presented D20, an icosahedral display device rendered as a 3D object and controlled by an external non-display device. Pillias et al. (Pillias, C., et al., 2013, Reading with a digital roll, In CHI '13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '13), pp. 1377-1382) used a similar approach when exploring a hand-held cylindrical form factor called Digital Roll. Akaoka et al. (Akaoka, E., et al., 2010, Display Objects: Prototyping functional physical interfaces on 3d styrofoam, paper or cardboard models, In Proceedings of the fourth international conference on Tangible, embedded, and embodied interaction (TEI '10), pp. 49-56) used projection mapping to render interfaces on the surface of objects, including the cylindrical DynaCan. Multi-faceted display prototypes have also been constructed by stitching flat displays together. Examples include Display Blocks (Pla, P., et al., 2013, Display blocks: A set of cubic displays for tangible, multi-perspective data exploration, In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction (TEI '13), pp. 307-314) and pCubee (Stavness, I., et al., 2010, pCubee: A perspective-corrected handheld cubic display, In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '10), pp. 1381-1390), the latter adding a headtracker to simulate motion parallax. However, all of these approaches use display screens with multiple displays fixed in multifaceted shapes, or a display screen fixed in a curved shape, and do not permit user interaction by manipulating the shape of the display screen.
Devices such as game controllers may be used to support the expression of hand gestures in gaming environments. This has been explored in projects such as XWand (Wilson, A., et al., 2003, XWand: UI for intelligent spaces, In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '03), pp. 545-552), an electronic wand that allows a user to point at other devices for control. Similar form factors have been used commercially in motion-sensing game controllers, including the Nintendo Wii Remote (Nintendo of America Inc., Redmond, USA), and the Sony PlayStation Move (Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc., Tokyo, Japan). Typical game controllers, however, do not feature embedded displays. One notable exception is the Nintendo Wii U GamePad, although its embedded display is rigid and flat. While smartphones may be adapted as an alternative for gestural input using built-in inertial sensors, they generally lack a form factor and other features suitable for such use.
Described herein is a mobile computing device, comprising: a rigid substantially cylindrical body that houses electronic circuitry, and a flexible display that is attached to the cylindrical body and electrically connected to the electronic circuitry; wherein the flexible display is adapted to display content when it is substantially completely wrapped around the cylindrical body, partially wrapped around the cylindrical body, or substantially not wrapped around the cylindrical body.
In one embodiment the flexible display comprises a FOLED display. In one embodiment a flexible touch layer is disposed on the flexible display. The flexible touch layer may comprise a capacitive touch layer. The flexible display may display content that comprises a touch-sensitive user interface.
In one embodiment the mobile computing device comprises at least one wheel; wherein a said at least one wheel is disposed at at least one end of the cylindrical body; wherein the at least one wheel has an axis of rotation substantially aligned with a longitudinal axis of the cylindrical body; wherein the at least one wheel is adapted to provide input to the device, and/or wherein the at least one wheel is adapted to propel the device. In one embodiment each end of the cylindrical body comprises a said wheel.
In one embodiment the flexible display maintains an orientation of displayed content, relative to a reference, during movement of the mobile computing device.
In one embodiment the flexible display comprises at least one bend sensor that detects continuous or discrete bends in the flexible display as input to the mobile computing device.
Also described herein is a method for displaying content a mobile computing device, comprising: housing electronic circuitry of the mobile computing device in a rigid substantially cylindrical body; and attaching a flexible display to the cylindrical body and electrically connecting the flexible display to the electronic circuitry; wherein the flexible display is adapted to display content when it is substantially completely wrapped around the cylindrical body, partially wrapped around the cylindrical body, or substantially not wrapped around the cylindrical body.
The method may comprise disposing a flexible touch layer on the flexible display, wherein the flexible display displays content that comprises a touch-sensitive user interface.
One embodiment comprises disposing at least one wheel on the cylindrical body; wherein a said at least one wheel is disposed at at least one end of the cylindrical body; wherein the at least one wheel has an axis of rotation substantially aligned with a longitudinal axis of the cylindrical body; wherein the at least one wheel is adapted to provide input to the device, and/or wherein the at least one wheel is adapted to propel the device.
The method may comprise maintaining an orientation of displayed content on the flexible display, relative to a reference, during movement of the mobile computing device.
The method may comprise disposing at least one bend sensor that detects continuous or discrete bends in the flexible display as input to the mobile computing device.
The embodiments may include using the mobile computing device as a smartphone, a tablet pc, a personal digital assistant, a music player, a gaming device, a remote control, or a combination thereof.
On embodiment comprises using the mobile computing device as a smartphone.
On embodiment comprises using the mobile computing device as a pointing device or as a gestural input device.
Another embodiment comprises using the mobile computing device as a gaming controller, wherein the mobile computing device provides a secondary gaming display.
For a greater understanding of the invention, and to show more clearly how it may be carried into effect, embodiments will be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
As used herein, the terms “computing device” and “mobile computing device” refer to, but are not limited to, a smartphone, a tablet personal computer, a personal digital assistant, a music player, a gaming device, a remote control, or a combination thereof.
Described herein is a substantially cylindrical handheld computing device having at least one flexible display. As used herein, the terms “cylindrical” and “substantially cylindrical” are intended to refer to an elongated shape having a cross-section that is circular, or partially circular, such as oval or ovoid, or a cross-section that is irregularly shaped. Preferably, the cross-section has no corners so that a flexible display may be wrapped around it without damage, and also so that it is comfortable to grip during hand-held use. Thus, although the term “cylindrical” is conveniently used throughout this description, it will be appreciated that embodiments are not limited thereto.
The at least one display may be any type of flexible organic light emitting diode (FOLED) display. The term FOLED is used herein to refer to all such flexible displays, (such as, but not limited to polymer (plastic) organic LED (POLED) displays, and active matrix organic LED (AMOLED) displays). The FOLED may have a resolution of, for example, 1920×1080 pixels (403 dpi), although displays with lower resolution or higher resolution such as 4K or 8K may also be used. The display includes a touch screen layer disposed thereon. The touch screen may be flexible multi-touch layer. Generally the touch screen layer may have the same or a lower resolution than the flexible display resolution.
When more display screen real estate is required, the display may be rolled out completely, analogous to a scroll, into a multi-touch tablet-sized device, as shown in
The cylindrical body houses hardware including processing, communications, inertial sensor (e.g., inertial measurement unit (IMU)), and power management circuitry, and a battery. In one embodiment, the device includes an Android® smartphone board featuring cellphone, WiFi, Bluetooth, and optional USB network connectivity. The ends 101 accommodate one or more hardware features such as, for example, connections for power, USB, and audio; as well as a camera lens 104, flash and/or lighting device, speaker 102, and microphone 105.
In some embodiments, one or both of the ends of the cylindrical body 101 includes a wheel 107 at its perimeter that rotates about the longitudinal axis of the device. At least one wheel 107 may be configured as a scroll wheel. For example, when a user turns the wheel (indicated by dashed lines and arrows in
In another embodiment, gesture recognition software together with IMU data allows the device to receive input from gestural movements. The user may move the device in selected patterns which are recognized by the device as specific commands. The device may be trained to recognize custom gestural movements preferred by the user. The device may also be used as a pointing device (e.g., a remote control as shown in
Interaction Techniques As will be apparent from the above description, multiple modes of interacting with the device are available to the user. The flexible touch input screen provides for x,y input similar to most smartphones and other devices such as tablets with touch screens. Touch input may be used for selecting graphics, moving objects around the screen, scrolling, and the like. The one or more wheels can also be used as for input, such as for scrolling, by rotating the wheels by hand or when the device is resting on a surface. Rotating a wheel may, for example, enable moving graphics in the direction of the rotational action of the wheel. Wheel input may be performed bimanually, and can have separate effects for each hand. For example, the left hand can be used to open a menu, while the right hand can be used to move through menu items. One or more bend sensor(s) at the extremity of the display(s) may be used to detect bends of the entire screen(s), a dog ear gesture (top right bend), or a bottom dog ear gesture (bottom right deformation). Bend gestures may be used in both directions, and may be applied as a forward/back command to the interface. When bend gestures are interpreted in a discrete fashion, they can, for example, be used to navigate through pages of text one at a time. When bend gestures are interpreted continuous, the rate of changes in the page navigation can vary with the extend of the bend.
IMU data allows the device to recognize specific acceleration patterns that are detected as gestural input. In one embodiment, an algorithm was implemented that tracks peak accelerometer values within a time frame in order to recognize input gestures, such as swirls, slashes, pointing, and rotational actions. Examples of gestural input detection are discussed in the gaming example below.
An exemplary implementation will now be described. However, it will be appreciated that other implements and hardware/software selections may be used.
The cylindrical body had a radius of about 28 mm and a length of about 165 mm. All electronic circuitry and a rechargeable battery were housed in the cylindrical body. The circuitry included an Android circuit board running Android 5.1, an Adreno 430 GPU supporting OpenGL 3.1, a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, and 2 GB of memory. The rechargeable battery was charged through a USB connector at one of the ends of the cylindrical body.
The FOLED display had a total display surface of about 160 mm×135 mm and a resolution of 1440×1280 pixels (LG Display Co., Ltd.). A flexible capacitive touch layer (LG Display Co., Ltd.) that senses x,y touch with a resolution of 1440×1280 pixels was disposed on top of the FOLED display (LG Display Co, Ltd.).
A lengthwise slit in the cylindrical body allowed a connection edge of the FOLED display and the touch screen layer to pass into the cylindrical body, where they were connected to the electronic circuitry and clamped in place. The touch screen layer was disposed on top of the FOLED display, but preferably not glued to it so as to allow for movement between the display and touch screen layers when the rolling up and unrolling the display. This makes the display surface more flexible, reduces reliance on glue layers, and reduces strain by allowing the touch surface to obtain a larger radius than the FOLED surface when rolled around the cylinder.
The invention will be further described by way of the following non-limiting examples.
Various applications for the device were developed and implemented as described below.
Gaming A game application was developed in Unity running on a server. The server communicated with the device over a local Wi-Fi network. The server received and processed incoming gestural data from the device and sent graphics to be displayed on the device. In this example, the device was used as a game controller and secondary display, and was typically used in a rolled up cylindrical state. A large external screen was used as the primary game display. The server controlled the primary display as well, running the game and coordinating all components. Compared to a flat handheld display, the cylindrical form factor of the device provided several affordances that enhanced game play. Flat displays have a discrete display area, limited to one side of the device. Typically, users grasp it with the fingers of one hand and interact with the fingers of the other hand via touch gestures. By contrast, the cylindrical display offers a continuous display area substantially 360 degrees around the device. This allowed users to grasp the device with one hand, making it ideal for wrist-based gestures.
To highlight some of the device's capabilities, the game was a first-person fantasy adventure game that required the player to use several tools—a wand, a sword, a magic potion—to interact with characters in order to overcome obstacles or enemies. The final goal was to collect characters and transport them from the device display to the primary display.
During the game, tools and characters were rendered on the device, with the player having to discover the new gesture to put the tool or character into action on the primary display. Experience suggests that the visual representation of the game objects on the device, supplemented with the device's unique physical affordances, make it easier for players to discover the new gestures. The device supported the following gestures:
Swirl: A character floating inside an animated tornado was displayed on the device. With a swirling gesture, the player accelerated the tornado and propelled the character over obstacles to reach a goal.
Slash: When a sword was displayed on the device, a slashing gesture allowed the player to destroy a spider web that blocked the way. When displaying a wand, a swirl followed by a slash was used to cast magic spells.
Rotation: A rotation gesture can be used when a key is displayed on the device, allowing the player to unlock a dungeon door.
Tilt: When the device displayed a potion-like liquid, a tilt gesture allowed the player to pour it into a cauldron to prepare a magic concoction.
Text Messaging In this example, a messaging application was developed for displaying messages from a text message user (see
When the display of the device is unrolled, the display becomes visible creating a phablet form factor (
In this application the device is used as a messaging device with motion notification. The two motorized scroll wheels 107 give the device many movement options. For example, as shown in
In this application (see
All cited publications are incorporated herein by reference.
While the invention has been described with respect to illustrative embodiments thereof, it will be understood that various changes may be made to the embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the described embodiments are to be considered merely exemplary and the invention is not to be limited thereby.
This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Patent Application No. 62/134,268, filed on Mar. 17, 2015, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62134268 | Mar 2015 | US |