Method and apparatus for computerized recognition
First Claim
1. A recognition system for a pen-based computer system having a stylus, a processing means capable of running an application program, and a display suitable for displaying an output directed by said application program, the recognition system comprising:
- tablet means for inputting strokes from a stylus;
low level recognizer means responsive to said strokes inputted through said tablet means and operative to perform low level recognition on said strokes, including the recognition of a plurality of gestures, the low level recognizer means being capable of running on said processing means;
high level recognizer means independent of the low level recognizer means and responsive to stroke objects that are not recognized by said low level recognizer and operative to perform high level recognition on strokes that are not recognized by said low level recognizer, the high level recognizer means being capable of running on said processing means; and
a recognition interface permitting independent communication between said low level recognizer means and an application program, and permitting independent communication between said high level recognizer and said application program to permit the application program to utilize recognized information to direct the output to said display;
whereby processing efficiency is increased by permitting the low level recognizer to recognize certain stroke objects and not requiring stroke objects recognized by the low level recognizer to be handled by the high level recognizer and thereby avoiding at least some preprocessing that is required by the high level recognizer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A recognition system for a pen-based computer system characterized by: a tablet for inputting strokes from a stylus; a low-level recognizer responsive to the strokes and operative to perform low-level recognition on the strokes; a high-level recognizer responsive to at least some of the strokes and operative to perform high-level recognition on those strokes; and a recognition interface permitting communication between the recognizers and an application program. The high-level recognizer includes a controller capable of receiving units to be recognized; a number of recognition domains coupled to the controller, where each of the recognition domains can receive one or more units from the controller and is capable of providing an interpretation of the meaning of the one or more units to the controller; and an arbiter coupled to the controller which is capable of resolving conflicts between multiple interpretations developed by the recognition domains. A method implemented by the high-level recognition system includes the steps of creating a stroke object from a stroke generated by the stylus on the tablet; grouping the stroke object with at least one other stroke object, if possible; classifying the stroke object by passing the stroke object to a number of recognition domains; and arbitrating between conflicting classifications generated by the recognition domains. This permits unstructured, free-form inputs to a pen-based computer system to be recognized and acted upon by the system.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A recognition system for a pen-based computer system having a stylus, a processing means capable of running an application program, and a display suitable for displaying an output directed by said application program, the recognition system comprising:
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tablet means for inputting strokes from a stylus; low level recognizer means responsive to said strokes inputted through said tablet means and operative to perform low level recognition on said strokes, including the recognition of a plurality of gestures, the low level recognizer means being capable of running on said processing means; high level recognizer means independent of the low level recognizer means and responsive to stroke objects that are not recognized by said low level recognizer and operative to perform high level recognition on strokes that are not recognized by said low level recognizer, the high level recognizer means being capable of running on said processing means; and a recognition interface permitting independent communication between said low level recognizer means and an application program, and permitting independent communication between said high level recognizer and said application program to permit the application program to utilize recognized information to direct the output to said display; whereby processing efficiency is increased by permitting the low level recognizer to recognize certain stroke objects and not requiring stroke objects recognized by the low level recognizer to be handled by the high level recognizer and thereby avoiding at least some preprocessing that is required by the high level recognizer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A recognition system for use in a computer system having a processor arrangement capable of running an application program, output means for outputting symbols directed by the application program, and input means for receiving input signals to be recognized, the recognition system comprising:
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a controller capable of receiving units to be recognized, the units for recognition being based at least in part on received input signals; a plurality of independent recognition domain means, each having a data portion and a procedures portion wherein the procedures portion communicates with the controller and has access to the associated data portion, and wherein each of said recognition domain means can receive one or more units from said controller and is capable of providing an interpretation of said one or more received units to said controller; and arbitration means coupled to said controller, the arbitration means being capable of resolving conflicts between multiple interpretations developed by the independent recognition domain means and selecting a preferred interpretation and providing an indication of the preferred interpretation to the controller, and wherein the controller is arranged to output a preferred interpretation to an application program thereby permitting the application program to utilize recognized information to direct the output of said output means. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A computer implemented method for recognizing strokes generated by a stylus on a tablet in a computer system having a processor that runs an application program, the method comprising the steps of:
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creating a stroke object from a stroke generated by a stylus on a tablet; attempting to group said stroke object with at least one other stroke object, where in the step of attempting to group said stroke object is accomplished by passing said stroke object to through a plurality of independent recognition domains, and each independent recognition domain having a data portion and a procedures portion; recognizing said stroke object by passing said stroke object to said plurality of independent recognition domains, wherein said independent recognition domains each return an associated recognition result; arbitrating between conflicting recognition results generated by said independent recognition domains to select a particular one of the recognition results as a preferred recognition result; and passing the preferred recognition result to the application program for use by the application program in directing an output to a display. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 24)
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22. A computer system comprising:
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a processor capable of running an application program; a display for displaying symbols generated by the application program; a stylus for inputting handwritten strokes on the display means; a stroke object generator for digitizing strokes input by the stylus onto the display; low level recognizer means responsive to said stroke objects and operative to perform low level recognition on said stroke objects wherein said low level recognizer means recognizes a plurality of gestures made with said stylus on the display means, the low level recognizer means being arranged to run on said processing means; high level recognizer means independent of the low level recognizer means and responsive to stroke objects that are not recognized by said low level recognizer and operative to perform high level recognition on strokes that are not recognized by said low level recognizer, wherein the high level recognizer means recognizes a plurality of alphanumeric characters made with said stylus on said display means, the high level recognizer means being arranged to run on said processing means and including, controller means capable of receiving units to be recognized, the units for recognition being based at least in part on the stroke objects, a plurality of recognition domain means coupled to said controller means, each of the recognition domain means being arranged to receive one or more units from said controller means and being capable of providing an interpretation of said one or more units to said controller means, and arbitration means coupled to said controller means for resolving conflicts between multiple interpretations developed by distinct ones of said recognition domain means and selecting a preferred interpretation; a recognition interface that facilitates independent communication between the low level recognizer means and the application program, and facilitates independent communication between the high level recognizer and the application program to permit the application program to utilize recognized information to direct an output to said display; and whereby processing efficiency is increased by permitting the low level recognizer to recognize certain stroke objects and not requiring stroke objects recognized by the low level recognizer to be handled by the high level recognizer and thereby avoiding at least some preprocessing that is required by the high level recognizer.
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23. A computer implemented method for recognizing strokes in a pen based computer system that are generated by a stylus on a display in the computer system, the computer system further having a processor that runs an application program, the method comprising the steps of:
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creating a stroke object from a stroke generated by the stylus on the display; determining whether the stroke object represents a gesture input by the stylus and passing an indication of the determined gesture input to the application program when a gesture is determined; passing a stroke unit that is based at least in part on the stroke object to a plurality of distinct recognition domains when the stroke object is not determined to be a gesture, wherein said distinct recognition domains each return an associated recognition result when passed a stroke unit for recognition; arbitrating between conflicting recognition results generated by said recognition domains when a conflict occurs therebetween to select a particular one of the recognition results as a preferred recognition result; passing the preferred recognition result to the application program; and utilizing the application program to direct an output to the display based at least in part on the identified gesture when the stroke object is determined to be a gesture, and based at least in part on the preferred recognition result when a preferred recognition result is passed to the application program.
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Specification