Automatically scrolling handwritten input user interface for personal digital assistants and the like
First Claim
1. An electronic device for handwritten input and contemporaneous display of said handwritten input, the device comprising:
- a housing having a touch input screen thereon for handwritten input by engagement therewith;
a recognition engine that recognizes the handwritten input and converts the recognized input to text for display on the screen; and
scrolling software that causes at least a portion of the screen to appear to move as handwritten entries are input thereon so as to continuously present screen space on the screen to the user for input thereby maximizing character input rates.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A handheld device 100 such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) or the like, a handwritten input user interface (HIUI), a method of interfacing handwritten text and a program product therefor. A lower portion of a touch enabled display is designated as a handwriting input area 104. Action icons 106, 108, 110, 112 and 114 are disposed at a right side of the handwriting user interface 102. Recognized text is displayed on the screen in a text display area located between a file management tool bar 116 and the handwritten input area 104. A scroll bar 118 is disposed at the right side o f the display 112. As text is continuously entered each individual word may be recognized, and inserted into the end of the text stream. A word separator 120 may demarcate or bracket individual words in a continuous input stream. A secondary list of potential recognition candidates may be available for display in a box 128 and offered for substitution for or in lieu of the recognized word. Handwritten text may be continuously entered and displayed in the handwriting input area 104 as digital ink, the input point staying approximately fixed with the ink display automatically scrolling. The input area behaves as a “treadmill” or “ticker tape” that is moving from right to left, thereby giving the illusion of a continuous writing space. The speed of the “treadmill” automatically adapts to writing speed. The device 100 may include a communications function and, in particular the device may include an antenna 122 for wireless communication. Individual function switches, buttons and other controls are disposed about the device.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. An electronic device for handwritten input and contemporaneous display of said handwritten input, the device comprising:
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a housing having a touch input screen thereon for handwritten input by engagement therewith;
a recognition engine that recognizes the handwritten input and converts the recognized input to text for display on the screen; and
scrolling software that causes at least a portion of the screen to appear to move as handwritten entries are input thereon so as to continuously present screen space on the screen to the user for input thereby maximizing character input rates. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A handwritten input user interface (HIUI) for a portable device having a touch-enabled input screen with a predetermined area thereof, said HIUI comprising:
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a handwriting input area residing in a predetermined portion of a touch-enabled input screen, handwritten text being entered using a stylus; and
an input/display auto scrolling window in said handwriting input area, written entries being scrolled such that the stylus entry point remains at an initial input position within said handwriting input area. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A personal digital assistant (PDA) capable of recognizing words in a continuous handwritten text stream, said PDA comprising:
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a touch-enabled input screen;
a recognition engine capable of recognizing individual words entered in a continuous stream of handwritten text;
a main dictionary containing a plurality of words;
a communications port for communicating with a remotely connected computer, data being transferred between said remotely connected computer and said PDA;
a local storage storing applications to be run on said PDA, said main dictionary and application data;
a plurality of switches providing manual input to said PDA; and
a handwritten input user interface (HIUI) comprising;
a designated handwriting input area residing in a lower portion of said touch-enabled input screen, handwritten words entered using a stylus, an automatically scrollable output area, said handwriting input area being super-imposed on said scrollable output area, said scrollable output area displaying digital ink strokes corresponding to stylus entries made in said designated handwriting input area, said scrollable output area scrolling at a rate set by stroke rate, a text output area, stylus entries made in said text output area being pointer function entries, and one or more action icons displayed together on a side of said touch-enabled screen and providing access to editing functions for editing previously recognized displayed words. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of providing handwritten input to a computer, said method comprising the steps of:
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a) receiving an entry from a designated handwritten-entry screen area;
b) displaying a corresponding digitial ink stroke;
c) determining ink stroke rate;
d) shifting each displayed digital ink stroke horizontally at a rate corresponding to said ink stroke rate, whereby handwritten entries appears to be scrolling off one side of a display as on a ticker tape. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A computer program product for inputting handwritten entries into a computer, said computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code thereon, said computer readable program code comprising:
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computer readable program code means for continuously receiving handwritten entries;
computer readable program code means for converting said handwritten entry into digital ink;
computer readable program code means for setting a scrolling speed responsive to an entry input rate; and
computer readable program code means for displaying newly entered said digital ink and removing previously displayed digital ink from a display at a rate set by said controlling speed, displayed said digital ink appearing as if on a ticker tape. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
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29. A computer program product for inputting handwritten entries into a computer as in clam 28 wherein the computer readable program code means for receiving handwritten entries further comprises:
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computer readable program code means for determining whether said handwritten entries are being made in an input area of a touch sensitive screen or in an other area of said touch sensitive screen than said input area; and
computer readable program code means for providing commands responsive to entries in said other area, entries in said input area being received as handwritten entries.
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Specification