METHOD AND DEVICE FOR INPUTTING TEXTS

• US 20110173575A1
• Filed: 03/18/2011
• Published: 07/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Laszlo Karafiat
• Original Assignee: General Algorithms Ltd.
• Inventors: Karafiat, Laszlo
• Granted Patent: US 9,063,579 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/863
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0233 Character input methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

There is disclosed a method for the detection of the selection of a character of a character string to be input from a character set on an input surface, wherein the selection of at least one character of the character string is detected by evaluating a direction vector of a gesture which is input on the input surface. There is also disclosed an input device for carrying out the method, especially a mobile terminal with a touch-sensitive input surface for selecting characters of a character string to be input, in which on the touch-sensitive input surface an input pattern with a number of characters from a character set can be displayed, whereby the input device comprises an evaluation unit, which detects the selection of at least one character of the character string by evaluating a direction vector of a gesture input with an input medium on the input surface.

Claims

1. Method for the detection of the selection of a character of a character string to be input from a character set on an input surface, wherein the selection of at least one character of the character string is detected by evaluating a direction vector of a gesture, which is input on the input surface.

2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the selection of at least one character of the character string from the character set is detected by evaluating a change of direction of a gesture, which is input on an area of the input surface assigned to the character.

3. Method according to claim 2, wherein the character set comprises at least two disjoint subsets, wherein the change of direction is evaluated for characters from the first subset, and wherein the direction vector is evaluated for the selection of a character from the second subset.

4. Method according to claim 1, wherein the direction vector is evaluated with respect to a reference point on the input surface, to the direction vector a position vector being assigned with the reference point as an origin point or as an end point.

5. Method according to claim 4, wherein the character set comprises characters of the alphabet of a predetermined language, wherein the second subset comprises endings of words in the predetermined language.

6. Method according to claim 5, wherein the endings comprise the eight most frequent last characters of the words and/or the eight most frequent suffixes of the words.

7. Method according to claim 3, wherein to the direction vector a position vector from a set of sixteen position vectors is assigned, wherein the direction of the position vector corresponds to the direction of the direction vector and wherein an origin point or an end point of the sixteen position vectors is assigned to a character from the second subset.

8. Method according to claim 7, wherein the assignment of a direction vector to a position vector in case of position vectors with the same direction is done depending on whether the input gesture corresponds to the selection of the last character of the word, by detecting the lifting of an input medium off the input surface.

9. Method according to claim 1, wherein on the input surface an input pattern with the characters of the character set is visualized.

10. Method according to claim 1, wherein the input gestures form an ideograph describing a word, the ideograph being evaluated by evaluating the gestures constituting the ideograph.

11. Method according to claim 1, wherein the input of a point on the area of the input surface assigned to a character and/or the input of a vertical stroke on the area of the input surface assigned to a character is evaluated as a gesture, wherein to this gesture depending on the character a predetermined character string is assigned.

12. Input device, such as a mobile terminal, comprising a touch-sensitive input surface for selecting characters of a character string to be input, wherein on the touch-sensitive input surface an input pattern with a number of characters from a character set is displayable, the input device further comprising an evaluation unit adapted to detect the selection of at least one character of the character string by evaluating a direction vector of a gesture, which is input with an input medium on the input surface.

13. Input device according to claim 12, wherein the touch-sensitive input surface comprises areas assigned to the characters, wherein the evaluation unit is adapted to detect the selection of at least one character of the character string by evaluating a change of direction of a gesture that is input with the input medium on an area assigned to the character.

14. Input device according to claim 13, wherein the character set comprises at least two disjoint subsets, and wherein the evaluation unit evaluates the change of direction of a gesture for characters from the first subset and evaluates the direction vector for the selection of a character from the second subset.

15. Input device according to claim 12, wherein on the input pattern a reference point is visualized, the evaluation unit being adapted to evaluate the direction vector with respect to the reference point, in that to the direction vector a position vector from a set of sixteen position vectors can be assigned with the reference point as an origin point or as an end point, wherein the direction of the position vector corresponds to the direction of the direction vector and wherein to the origin point or to the receiving point of the sixteen position vectors a character from the second subset can be assigned.

16. Input device according to claim 15, wherein the evaluation unit, in case of position vectors with the same direction, assigns the direction vector to that position vector, depending on whether the input gesture corresponds to the selection of the last character of a word, the lifting of the input medium off the input surface being detectable by the evaluation unit.