Gesture multi-function on a physical keyboard

• US 10,061,510 B2
• Filed: 02/21/2017
• Issued: 08/28/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pate, Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): Bukowski, Kenneth
• Application Number:
  US15/438,025
• Publication Number:
  US 20170160927A1
• Time in Patent Office: 553 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/02 Input arrangements using manually operated switches, e.g. using keyboards or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/021 Arrangements integrating additional peripherals in a keyboard, e.g. card or barcode reader, optical scanner
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0233 Character input methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0234 using switches operable in different directions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0489 using dedicated keyboard keys or combinations thereof

Abstract

A computer keyboard includes position sensors such as capacitive sensors on each of the keys for monitoring positions of fingertips on the keys. A processor receives an indication of contact of a finger on a surface of a key, including an identity of the key and an indication of a position of the contact on the surface. The processor also receives an indication of a motion gesture comprising displacement of the position of the contact on the surface of the key. Using the identity of the key and the indication of the motion gesture, an input from a human operator is determined.

Claims

1. A method for receiving input from a human operator, comprising:

receiving an indication of contact of a finger on a representation of a first key of a virtual keyboard displayed on a touchscreen, including an indication of a position of the contact on the representation of the first key, the representation of the first key being one of a plurality of representations of keys of the virtual keyboard, each representing one or more of a plurality of characters;

in response to receiving the indication of the contact of the finger on the representation of the first key, ignoring indications of contact on other representations of keys of the virtual keyboard;

receiving an indication of a motion gesture comprising displacement of the position of the contact on the representation of the first key, the displacement beginning in a statically defined fixed null zone near a center of the representation of the first key and subsequently exiting the fixed null zone, the displacement ending in one of a plurality of quadrants surrounding and adjacent to the fixed null zone;

determining the input from the human operator as a character represented by the representation of the first key and modified in accordance with the one of the quadrants in which the displacement ends;

receiving an indication of a second contact;

receiving an indication of a second motion gesture comprising a second displacement of a position of the second contact, the second displacement beginning in the statically defined fixed null zone and subsequently exiting the fixed null zone, the second displacement ending in a second null zone adjacent the fixed null zone and separating radial edges of two adjacent quadrants of the quadrants surrounding the fixed null zone; and

ignoring the indication of a second motion gesture based on the second displacement ending in the second null zone.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the motion gesture is a finger swipe in contact with the representation of the first key.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the finger swipe is an upward swipe, and determining the input from the human operator further comprises:

based on the upward swipe, performing a SHIFT operation on a character represented by the representation of the first key.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving an indication of a motion gesture comprises receiving a signal from the touchscreen.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the representation of the first key represents a space bar, the motion gesture is a swipe, and the input from the human operator is determined to be a tab command.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the input from the human operator further comprises:

only upon determining that the motion gesture comprises a path beginning within a null zone near a center of the representation of the first key and remaining within the null zone, determining the input to be an unmodified character represented by the representation of the first key.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual keyboard does not include a SHIFT key.

8. A virtual keyboard system for receiving input from a human operator, comprising:

a touchscreen for displaying a virtual keyboard comprising at least 26 representations of keyboard keys, each representing at least one letter in a standard alphabet, the touchscreen being capable of sensing a location of a contact by the human operator with the representation of the keyboard key;

a processor; and

a computer readable storage device having stored thereon computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause processor to, in response to receiving an indication of a contact on a representation of a first keyboard key, ignore indications of contact on other representations of keyboard keys, and determine the input from the human operator using an identity of the representation of the first keyboard key and a signal from the touchscreen indicative of a motion gesture;

the motion gesture comprising a displacement of a position of the contact on the representation of the first keyboard key, the displacement beginning in a statically defined fixed null zone near a center of the representation of the first keyboard key and subsequently exiting the fixed null zone, the displacement ending in one of a plurality of quadrants surrounding and adjacent to the fixed null zone;

the input from the human operator being determined as a character represented by the representation of the first keyboard key and modified in accordance with the one of the quadrants in which the displacement ends;

the computer readable instructions further causing the processor to receive a signal from the touchscreen indicative of a second motion gesture comprising a second displacement of a position of a second contact, the second displacement beginning in the statically defined fixed null zone and subsequently exiting the fixed null zone, the second displacement ending in a second null zone adjacent the fixed null zone and separating radial edges of two adjacent quadrants of the quadrants surrounding the fixed null zone; and

to ignore the indication of the second motion gesture based on the second displacement ending in the second null zone.

9. The virtual keyboard system of claim 8, wherein the motion gesture is a finger swipe in contact with the representation of the first keyboard key.

10. The virtual keyboard system of claim 9, wherein the finger swipe is an upward swipe, and determining the input from the human operator further comprises:

based on the upward swipe, performing a SHIFT operation on a character represented by the representation of the first keyboard key.

11. The virtual keyboard system of claim 8, wherein the representation of the first keyboard key represents a space bar, the motion gesture is a swipe, and the input from the human operator is determined to be a tab command.

12. The virtual keyboard system of claim 8, wherein determining the input from the human operator further comprises:

only upon determining that the motion gesture comprises a path beginning within a null zone near a center of the representation of the first key and remaining within the null zone, determining the input to be an unmodified character represented by the representation of the first key.

13. The virtual keyboard system of claim 8, wherein the virtual keyboard does not include a SHIFT key.

14. A non-transitory computer-usable medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations for receiving input from a human operator, the operations comprising:

receiving an indication of contact of a finger on a representation of a first key of a virtual keyboard displayed on a touchscreen, including an indication of a position of the contact on the representation of the first key, the representation of the first key being one of a plurality of representations of keys of the virtual keyboard, each representing one or more of a plurality of characters;

in response to receiving the indication of the contact of the finger on the representation of the first key, ignoring indications of contact on other representations of keys of the virtual keyboard;

receiving an indication of a motion gesture comprising displacement of the position of the contact on the representation of the first key, the displacement beginning in a statically defined fixed null zone near a center of the representation of the first key and subsequently exiting the fixed null zone, the displacement ending in one of a plurality of quadrants surrounding and adjacent to the fixed null zone;

determining the input from the human operator as a character represented by the representation of the first key and modified in accordance with the one of the quadrants in which the displacement ends;

receiving an indication of a second contact;

receiving an indication of a second motion gesture comprising a second displacement of a position of the second contact, the second displacement beginning in the statically defined fixed null zone and subsequently exiting the fixed null zone, the second displacement ending in a second null zone adjacent the fixed null zone and separating radial edges of two adjacent quadrants of the quadrants surrounding the fixed null zone; and

ignoring the indication of a second motion gesture based on the second displacement ending in the second null zone.

15. The non-transitory computer-usable medium of claim 14, wherein the motion gesture is a finger swipe in contact with the representation of the first key.

16. The non-transitory computer-usable medium of claim 15, wherein the finger swipe is an upward swipe, and determining the input from the human operator using the identity of the representation of the first key and the indication of the motion gesture further comprises:

based on the upward swipe, performing a SHIFT operation on a character represented by the representation of the first key.

17. The non-transitory computer-usable medium of claim 14, wherein receiving an indication of a motion gesture comprises receiving a signal from the touchscreen.

18. The non-transitory computer-usable medium of claim 14, wherein the representation of the first key represents a space bar, the motion gesture is a swipe, and the input from the human operator is determined to be a tab command.

19. The non-transitory computer-usable medium of claim 14, wherein determining the input from the human operator further comprises:

only upon determining that the motion gesture comprises a path beginning within a null zone near a center of the representation of the first key and remaining within the null zone, determining the input to be an unmodified character represented by the representation of the first key.

20. The non-transitory computer-usable medium of claim 14, wherein the virtual keyboard does not include a SHIFT key.