In today’s competitive embedded markets, manufacturers need to find ways to differentiate without adversely impacting development time and cost. This is particularly true in relation to embedded devices that are designed for use by consumers. As such products become more sophisticated, user interaction via traditional switches, dials, and basic displays becomes less desirable for a number of reasons.
EMBEDDED SYSTEMS WHITE PAPER
EFFECTIVE EMBEDDED DIFFERENTIATION
WITH GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACES
August 2009
ABSTRACTIn today's competitive embedded markets, manufacturers need to find ways to differentiate without adversely impacting development time and cost. This is particularly true in relation to embedded devices that are designed for use by consumers. As such products become more sophisticated, user interaction via traditional switches, dials, and basic displays becomes less desirable for a number of reasons.
An alternative is to capitalize on recent innovation in the mobile phone space, which has made it possible to deploy inexpensive and high quality LCD and touch screen interfaces. But such innovation is accompanied by expectation: today's consumers demand a rich 'smartphone-like' interactive experience anywhere they find a screen, and products that fall short may ultimately fail.
The challenge, therefore, lies in how to deliver an effective and aesthetically appealing Graphical User Interface (GUI). Making the right decision depends to a large extent on choosing the right software strategy.
This paper discusses the motivations for and potential benefits of switching to LCD-based interfaces, and goes on to describe the challenges facing anyone attempting to deliver a great embedded GUI. This paper concludes with a checklist of things to look for when assessing the merits of the various off-the-shelf GUI software solutions available today.
Author:Dr Geoff KendallMarketing Manager, Mobile and ConsumerEmbedded Systems Divisiongeoff_kendall@mentor.com
www.mentor.com/embeddedEMBEDDED SYSTEMS WHITE PAPER
THE RISE OF THE "SMART SCREEN"In the past couple of years we have started to see color LCD screens appearing in products as diverse as TV remote controls, in-car entertainment systems, and refrigerators. Such displays might be dismissed as a gimmick designed only to justify a higher price tag and attract a buyer's attention. But there is more substance to this particular trend; it is not just about adding the next in a long line of must-have bells and whistles. To understand the reasons behind what we might call the 'smart screen' revolution, we need to look at the recent history of one particular type of embedded system - the mobile phone.
THE EVOLUTION OF MOBILE PHONE USER INTERFACESOver the past decade, mobile phones have grown to become much more than a means to make a telephone call. Even today's low-end handsets play MP3 music and take photographs. So-called "smart phones" can do far more, and in fact some possess the kind of processing power that until recently you would normally expect to find in a desktop PC. But what is significant from a user interaction perspective is that mobile phones of all types have evolved to cram a multitude of different functions into a very small package. It would be impossible for a modern day handset to employ a unique button, switch, or dial for each individual feature on offer: aside from the usability issues, there simply would not be enough physical space.
Mobile phone manufacturers have of course taken a much more practical route, investing their energies in developing a class of embedded user interface whose appearance can change to meet the needs of any situation. The integration of high-resolution color screens into handsets, controlled by sophisticated Graphical User Interface (GUI) software, has effectively removed the physical space constraint that would otherwise present a major barrier to the ongoing enhancement of phone functionality.
THE IMPLICATIONS FOR OTHER EMBEDDED APPLICATIONSIn 2008 worldwide shipments of mobile phones topped one billion units worldwide, around two hundred million of which where smart phones. In fact, annual unit volumes have been in the high hundreds of millions for several years. With such a large market opportunity, pressure to differentiate among suppliers and economies of scale have combined to fuel rapid innovation and cost reduction in embedded screen technology, with the following results:
. High-resolution color LCD panels are now available at price points that enable GUIs to be deployed even in very low-cost embedded applications.
. Capacitive touch screen technology is now readily available at low cost. This is much more robust and accurate than the resistive technology it supersedes, so yesterday's fiddly stylus can... [download for more]
