Systems and Methods for Virtual Keyboards for High Dimensional Controllers

• US 20200133486A1
• Filed: 10/25/2019
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford University)
• Original Assignee: Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford University)
• Inventors: Even-Chen, Nir, Shenoy, Krishna Vaughn
• Granted Patent: US 10,949,086 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/015 Input arrangements based on nervous system activity detection, e.g. brain waves [EEG] detection, electromyograms [EMG] detection, electrodermal response detection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0216 Arrangements for ergonomically adjusting the disposition of keys of a keyboard for keyboards integrated in a laptop computer G06F1/1664
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0236 using selection techniques to select from displayed items
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0237 using prediction or retrieval techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• 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

Abstract

Systems and methods for using virtual keyboards for high dimensional controllers in accordance with embodiments of the invention are illustrated. One embodiment includes a virtual keyboard system including a processor, and a memory, including a virtual keyboard application, where the virtual keyboard application directs the processor to display a plurality of 3D keys in a virtual environment, where each 3D key represents at least one symbol via a display device, display a cursor in the virtual environment, where the cursor is movable in at least three dimensions via the display device, obtain a user input data from an input device, move the cursor to a 3D key in the plurality of 3D keys based on the user input data, and record the at least one symbol represented by the 3D key.

Claims

1. A virtual keyboard system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory, comprising a virtual keyboard application, where the virtual keyboard application directs the processor to;

display a plurality of 3D keys in a virtual environment, where each 3D key represents at least one symbol via a display device;

display a cursor in the virtual environment, where the cursor is movable in at least three dimensions via the display device;

obtain a user input data from an input device;

move the cursor to a 3D key in the plurality of 3D keys based on the user input data; and

record the at least one symbol represented by the 3D key.

2. The virtual keyboard system of claim 1, wherein at least one 3D key in the plurality of 3D keys is segmented into a plurality of regions, and each region represents at least one symbol.

3. The virtual keyboard system of claim 2, wherein the virtual keyboard application further directs the processor to rotate the cursor based on the user input data.

4. The virtual keyboard system of claim 2, wherein the virtual keyboard application further directs the processor to rotate the plurality of 3D keys around a fixed point based on the user input data.

5. The virtual keyboard system of claim 2, wherein the virtual keyboard application further directs the processor to rotate each key in the plurality of 3D keys around a center point of each respective key based on the user input data.

6. The virtual keyboard system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of 3D key objects are arranged in a face centered cubic structure.

7. The virtual keyboard system of claim 1, wherein the input device is a brain-computer interface;

and wherein the user input data comprises brain signal data.

8. The virtual keyboard system of claim 1, wherein the input device is a motion tracking system.

9. The virtual keyboard system of claim 1, wherein the display device displays a 2D representation of the virtual environment from at least one given viewpoint.

10. The virtual keyboard system of claim 1, wherein each 3D key is a sphere.

11. A method for typing using a virtual keyboard, comprising:

displaying a plurality of 3D keys in a virtual environment via a display device, where each 3D key object represents at least one symbol;

displaying a cursor in the virtual environment via the display device, where the cursor is movable in at least three dimensions;

obtaining user input data from an input device;

moving the cursor to a 3D key in the plurality of 3D key based on the user input data; and

recording the at least one symbol represented by the 3D key.

12. The method for typing using a virtual keyboard of claim 11, wherein at least one 3D key in the plurality of 3D key objects is segmented into a plurality of regions, and each region represents at least one symbol.

13. The method for typing using a virtual keyboard of claim 12, further comprising rotating the cursor based on the user input data.

14. The method for typing using a virtual keyboard of claim 12, further comprising rotating the plurality of 3D keys around a fixed point based on the user input data.

15. The method for typing using a virtual keyboard of claim 12, further comprising rotating each key in the plurality of 3D keys around a center point of each respective key based on the user input data.

16. The method for typing using a virtual keyboard of claim 11, wherein the plurality of 3D keys are arranged in a face centered cubic structure.

17. The method for typing using a virtual keyboard of claim 11, wherein the input device is a brain-computer interface;

and wherein the user input data comprises brain signal data.

18. The method for typing using a virtual keyboard of claim 11, wherein the input device is a motion tracking system.

19. The method for typing using a virtual keyboard of claim 11, wherein the display device displays a 2D representation of the virtual environment from at least one given.

20. The method for typing using a virtual keyboard of claim 11, wherein each 3D key is a sphere.