System and Method for Inputting Text into Small Screen Devices

• US 20120223889A1
• Filed: 03/08/2012
• Published: 09/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Touchtype Limited (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Medlock, Benjamin William, Reynolds, Jonathan Paul
• Granted Patent: US 9,189,472 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/168
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0237 using prediction or retrieval techniques
• 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 40/274 Converting codes to words; Guess-ahead of partial word inputs

Abstract

An embodiment is directed to an interface for a small screen device, such as a watch, that enables a user to enter text on the small screen device by touching in the vicinity of characters, rather than aiming for a particular button or the exact location of a character. Embodiments further enable the design of interfaces without the use of buttons for controlling the entry of text on the small screen device.

Claims

1. A program storage device readable by a device, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the device to perform program steps for operating a touch-screen interface on the device, the program steps comprising:

displaying a character pane on the touch-screen interface, the character pane defining a plurality of targets;

accepting an input event, the input event associated with at least two characters from the character pane;

selecting a most likely character among the at least two characters using one or more target models, the one or more target models modeling location of one or more previous input events corresponding to particular targets among the plurality of targets;

displaying the most likely character on the touch-screen interface; and

using a set of swipe gestures to perform one or more functions on the touch-screen interface.

2. The interface as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of changing the character pane in response to a first set of swipe gestures.

3. The interface as recited in claim 2, wherein a swipe gesture among the first set of swipe gestures changes the character pane from all capitals to all lowercase.

4. The interface as recited in claim 2, wherein a swipe gesture among the first set of swipe gestures changes the character pane from letters to numbers and symbols.

5. The interface as recited in claim 2, wherein a swipe gesture among the first set of gestures changes a font of the character pane.

6. The interface as recited in claim 2, wherein a swipe gesture among the first set of swipe gestures changes the character pane to special characters.

7. The interface as recited in claim 1, wherein each model among the one or more target models is a probability distribution modeling the location of the one or more previous input events corresponding to the particular targets.

8. The interface as recited in claim 7, wherein the probability distribution includes a 2D Gaussian distribution, a Laplace distribution, and a Gamma distribution.

9. The interface as recited in claim 1, wherein each model among the one or more target models is associated with an individual character from the character pane.

10. The interface as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more target models are selected from a plurality of target models based on one or more conditions.

11. The interface as recited in claim 10, wherein the one or more conditions include an application type associated with the interface, a screen size, and a layout of the character pane.

12. The interface as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of using a swipe gesture to change the one or more target models to one or more alternative target models.

13. The interface as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of selecting the most likely character includes the steps of:

generating a set of likely targets based on the input event by using the one or more target models, the set of likely targets including a set of probability values indicating a probability that a likely target among the set of likely targets was intended to be selected based on the input event; and

selecting a target with a highest probability value among the set of likely targets as the most likely character.

14. The interface as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

generating one or more text predictions with a text prediction engine; and

displaying on the touch-screen interface the one or more text predictions generated with the text prediction engine.

15. The interface as recited in claim 14, further comprising the steps of:

changing the one or more text predictions displayed on the touch-screen interface to alternative text predictions in response to a second set of swipe gestures; and

browsing the alternative text predictions using a third set of swipe gestures.

16. The interface as recited in claim 1, wherein a swipe gesture among the set of swipe gestures performs an undo operation.

17. The interface as recited in claim 1, wherein a swipe gesture among the set of swipe gestures terminates text entry.

18. The interface as recited in claim 1, wherein a swipe gesture among the set of swipe gestures is a linear gesture.

19. The interface as recited in claim 1, wherein a swipe gesture among the set of swipe gestures is a non-linear gesture.

20. A program storage device readable by one or more small screen devices, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the devices to perform program steps for operating a touch-screen interface on the small screen device, the program steps comprising:

displaying a typing pane to display inputted text on the touch-screen interface;

displaying a QWERTY-style character pane on the touch-screen interface;

accepting an input event, the input event associated with at least two characters from the character pane;

communicating the input event to the set of target models;

using the set of target models to generate a set of likely targets and a set of likely probabilities associated with the set of likely targets, a probability among the set of likely probabilities indicating a likelihood that a likely target among the set of likely targets was intended to be selected based on the input event;

generating a set of word predictions based on the set of likely targets using a text prediction engine;

displaying the set of word predictions on a prediction pane displayed on the touch-screen interface; and

using a set of swipe gestures to perform one or more functions on the touch-screen interface.

21. The interface as recited in claim 20, wherein the typing pane is positioned on a top portion of the interface, wherein the prediction pane is positioned below the typing pane, and wherein the QWERTY-style character pane is positioned below the prediction pane.

22. The interface as recited in claim 20, wherein each model among the one or more target models is a probability distribution modeling the location of the one or more previous input events corresponding to the particular targets.

23. The interface as recited in claim 20, further comprising the step of accepting a selection of a predicted word among the set of word predictions displayed on the prediction pane.

24. The interface as recited in claim 23, further comprising the steps of:

creating a set of input events associated with the predicted word; and

pairing a particular input event among the set of input events with a particular target among the character pane, wherein the predicted word provides a mapping between the particular input event and the particular target;

adding the pairing between the particular input event and the particular target to a training set; and

retraining a target model among the set of target models with the training set.

25. The interface as recited in claim 20, wherein the set of word predictions include a set of probabilities associated with each word prediction among the set of word predictions, the set of probabilities indicating a likelihood that the user intended to type each word prediction.

26. The interface as recited in claim 25, further comprising the step of removing one or more word predictions from the set of word predictions with a probability value less than a threshold.

27. The interface as recited in claim 20, further comprising the steps of:

using a swipe gesture to query the text prediction engine to generate additional text predictions; and

displaying the additional text predictions on the prediction pane.

28. The interface as recited in claim 20, wherein the typing pane is positioned on a top portion of the interface, wherein the prediction pane is positioned below the typing pane, and wherein the QWERTY-style character pane is positioned below the prediction pane.

29. The interface as recited in claim 20, wherein the input event corresponds to a location on the character pane.

30. A method for enabling a user to input text into a small screen device, comprising the steps of:

displaying an interface without buttons on a touchscreen of the small screen device, the interface including a word prediction pane, a typing pane, and a QWERTY-style character pane;

generating an initial word prediction without a context input with a text prediction engine, the text prediction engine comprising a plurality of language models and configured to receive a text input and to generate concurrently text predictions using the plurality of language models;

accepting a touch area selected by the user on the interface;

predicting one or more candidate words, wherein the prediction is based on the context input, the touch area, and one or more previous text predictions;

displaying the one or more candidate words on the prediction pane;

updating the context input with the most likely character given the touch area; and

enabling the user to control the interface using one or more swipe gestures.

31. The method as recited in claim 30, further comprising the step of enabling the user to associate a first gesture with a first function of the interface.

32. The method as recited in claim 30, further comprising the step of enabling the user to perform a swipe gesture among the one or more swipe gestures to change the character pane from all capitals to all lowercase.

33. The method as recited in claim 30, further comprising the step of enabling the user to perform a swipe gesture among the one or more swipe gestures to change the character pane from letters to numbers and symbols.

34. The method as recited in claim 30, further comprising the step of enabling the user to perform a swipe gesture among the one or more swipe gestures to change a font of the character pane.

35. The method as recited in claim 30, further comprising the step of enabling the user to perform a swipe gesture among the one or more swipe gestures to change the character pane to special characters.

36. The method as recited in claim 30, further comprising the step of enabling the user to perform a swipe gesture among the one or more swipe gestures to undo one or more previous operations.

37. The method as recited in claim 30, further comprising the step of enabling the user to perform a swipe gesture among the one or more swipe gestures to terminate text entry.