VISUALLY EMPHASIZING PREDICTED KEYS OF VIRTUAL KEYBOARD

• US 20110264442A1
• Filed: 04/22/2010
• Published: 10/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Huang, Weiyuan, Lu, Lie, Fang, Lijiang
• Application Number:
  US12/765,371
• Publication Number:
  US 20110264442A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0237 using prediction or retrieval techniques
• 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 3/04895 Guidance during keyboard input operation, e.g. prompting

Abstract

A computing system includes a touch display and a virtual keyboard visually presented by the touch display. The virtual keyboard includes a plurality of touch-selectable keys each having a visual appearance that dynamically changes. A touch-selectable key has a deemphasized visual appearance if the touch-selectable key is not predicted to be a next selected key, and the touch-selectable key has a prediction-emphasized visual appearance if the touch-selectable key is predicted to be a next selected key.

Claims

1. A computing system, comprising:

a touch display; and

a virtual keyboard visually presented by the touch display, the virtual keyboard including a plurality of touch-selectable keys each having a visual appearance that dynamically changes such that a touch-selectable key has a deemphasized visual appearance if the touch-selectable key is not predicted to be a next selected key and the touch-selectable key has a prediction-emphasized visual appearance if the touch-selectable key is predicted to be a next selected key.

2. The computing system of claim 1, where the touch-selectable key is smaller with the deemphasized visual appearance than with the prediction-emphasized visual appearance.

3. The computing system of claim 1, where the touch-selectable key is more chromatically muted with the deemphasized visual appearance than with the prediction-emphasized visual appearance.

4. The computing system of claim 1, where the deemphasized visual appearance includes a default visual appearance and a withdrawn visual appearance, where all of the plurality of touch-selectable keys are presented with the default visual appearance when no touch-selectable key is predicted to be a next selected key, and where one or more of the plurality of touch-selectable keys are presented with the withdrawn visual appearance when another of the plurality of touch-selectable keys is predicted to be a next selected key.

5. The computing system of claim 4, where the touch-selectable key is smaller with the withdrawn visual appearance than with the default visual appearance.

6. The computing system of claim 4, where the touch-selectable key is more chromatically muted with the withdrawn visual appearance than with the default visual appearance.

7. The computing system of claim 4, where all of the plurality of touch-selectable keys that are not predicted to be a next selected key are presented with the withdrawn visual appearance when one or more other of the plurality of touch-selectable keys are predicted to be a next selected key.

8. The computing system of claim 4, where touch-selectable keys that are not predicted to be a next selected key and are adjacent to a touch-selectable key that is predicted to be a next selected key are presented with the withdrawn visual appearance, while touch-selectable keys that are not predicted to be a next selected key and are not adjacent to a touch-selectable key that is predicted to be a next selected key are presented with the default visual appearance.

9. The computing system of claim 4, where a touch-selectable key that is predicted to be a next selected key occupies space that is otherwise occupied by an adjacent touch-selectable key with the default visual appearance but is vacated by the adjacent touch-selectable key with the withdrawn visual appearance.

10. The computing system of claim 1, further comprising a language model prediction module configured to predict one or more next selected keys.

11. The computing system of claim 10, where the language model prediction module uses an N-Gram language model to identify one or more touch-selectable keys with a threshold probability of being a next selected key based on a sequence of previously entered keys.

12. A method of reducing tapping errors on a virtual keyboard including a plurality of keys, the method comprising:

tracking a sequence of keys entered on the virtual keyboard;

identifying one or more keys having a threshold probability of being a next selected key based on the sequence of keys; and

visually emphasizing the one or more keys having a threshold probability of being a next selected key.

13. The method of claim 12, where identifying one or more keys having the threshold probability of being a next selected key includes analyzing the sequence of keys using an N-Gram language model.

14. The method of claim 12, where visually emphasizing the one or more keys includes enlarging the one or more keys.

15. The method of claim 12, where visually emphasizing the one or more keys includes shrinking keys other than the one or more keys.

16. The method of claim 15, where all keys other than the one or more keys are shrunk.

17. The method of claim 15, where only keys adjacent to the one or more keys are shrunk.

18. The method of claim 12, where visually emphasizing the one or more keys includes chromatically enhancing the one or more keys.

19. The method of claim 12, where visually emphasizing the one or more keys includes chromatically muting keys other than the one or more keys.

20. A computing system, comprising:

a touch display;

a virtual keyboard visually presented by the touch display, the virtual keyboard including a plurality of touch-selectable keys;

a touch-detection module configured to recognize which of the plurality of touch-selectable keys is being touched;

a touch-to-key assignment module configured to enter a touch-selectable key that is touched;

an N-Gram language model prediction module configured to predict one or more next selected keys based on a sequence of previously entered keys; and

a visual-feedback module configured to visually indicate that a touch-selectable key is predicted to be a next selected key by increasing a size of that touch-selectable key relative to other touch-selectable keys that are not predicted to be next selected keys and/or by chromatically enhancing that touch-selectable key relative to other touch-selectable keys that are not predicted to be next selected keys.