Gesture Multi-Function On A Physical Keyboard
First Claim
Patent Images
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.
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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.
19 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for receiving input from a human operator, comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A virtual keyboard system for receiving input from a human operator, comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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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:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification