System and method for inputting syllables of a phonetic script into a computer

• US 7,979,795 B2
• Filed: 08/02/2004
• Issued: 07/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Borgaonkar, Shekhar Ramachandra, Bhaskarabhatla, Ajay, Anant, Prashanth
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong; Stephen S
• Assistant Examiner(s): YANG, I CHAN
• Application Number:
  US11/572,819
• Publication Number:
  US 20080120540A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,535 Days
• Field of Search: 345/169, 345/179, 382/185, 382/186, 382/187, 382/189, 382/209, 715/268, 715863-866
• US Class Current: 715/268
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/018 Input/output arrangements for oriental characters
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/373 using a special pattern or subpattern alphabet

Abstract

A practical and natural way of inputting syllables of scripts into a computer. In one example embodiment, This is achieved by selecting a base character from a set of characters using a digitizing tablet [1216]. The selected base character is then modified by drawing one or more natural handwritten modifying gestures to form a current desired syllable. An associated data of the formed current desired syllable is then inputted into a gesture-keypad-engine [1230] via the digitizing tablet [1216] upon completion of the drawing of the one or more natural handwritten modifying gestures. The gesture-keypad-engine [1230] then produces a current candidate syllable as a function of the inputted associated data of the formed current desired syllable. The produced current candidate syllable is then displayed on a display device [540].

Claims

1. A method comprising:

locating a base shape from a set of shapes using a digitizing tablet;

drawing one or more modifying gestures substantially around the located base shape using the digitizing tablet to form a desired shape, wherein the one or more modifying gestures includes at least one of phonetic modifiers and half consonant modifiers;

inputting an associated data of the formed desired shape upon completion of the drawing of the one or more modifying gestures into a gesture-keypad-engine via the digitizing tablet;

producing a candidate shape by the gesture-keypad-engine; and

outputting the candidate shape.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, in locating a base shape, the digitizing tablet comprises an electronic tablet and a pen.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, in outputting the candidate shape, the output is selected from the group consisting of transmitting, printing, and displaying.

4. A method for inputting syllables into a computer comprising:

locating a base character from a set of characters using a digitizing tablet;

modifying the base character with one or more natural handwritten modifying gestures using the digitizing tablet to form a current desired syllable, wherein the one or more natural handwritten modifying gestures includes at least one of phonetic modifiers and half consonant modifiers;

inputting an associated data of the formed current desired syllable upon completion of the one or more natural handwritten modifying gestures into a gesture-keypad-engine via the digitizing tablet, wherein the gesture-keypad-engine producing a current candidate syllable; and

displaying the produced current candidate syllable on a display device.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

repeating the above steps to form a next desired syllable; and

displaying the next candidate syllable along with the current candidate syllable such that the current candidate syllable is cursively connected to the next candidate syllable.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

repeating the above steps until a current desired word is formed.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein modifying the base character with one or more natural handwritten modifying gestures using the digitizing tablet to form a current desired syllable comprises:

determining whether one or more modifying gestures needed to form the current desired syllable;

if not, gesturing to select the base character and inputting the selected base character into the gesture-keypad-engine, wherein the gesture-keypad-engine producing a candidate syllable;

if so, drawing a first modifying gesture substantially over and around the base character to produce a first desired syllable;

determining whether the drawn first modifying gesture is a valid modifying gesture;

if so, inputting the first modifying gesture along with the selected base character into the gesture-keypad-engine, wherein the gesture-keypad-engine producing a first candidate syllable;

determining whether a second modifying gesture is needed to form the desired current syllable;

if so, repeating the above steps to input the second modifying gesture; and

if not, displaying the current candidate syllable on the display device.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein the characters are selected from the group consisting of vowels, consonants, consonant modifiers, vowel modifiers, numerals, and special characters.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein, in displaying, the display device is a device selected from the group consisting of a computer monitor, TV screen, plasma display, LCD, display on an electronic tablet.

10. The method of claim 4, wherein, in selecting the base character from the set of characters using the digitizing tablet, the digitizing tablet comprises an electronic tablet and a pen.

11. A method for inputting syllables of a phonetic script into a computer comprising:

selecting a character from a set of characters associated with the phonetic script using a digitizing tablet to form a word;

determining whether one or more modifying gestures are needed for the selected character to form a desired syllable, wherein the one or more modifying gestures includes at least one of phonetic modifiers and half consonant modifiers;

if the one or more modifying gestures are needed for the selected character, modifying the selected character by drawing the one or more modifying gestures substantially over and around the selected character to form a current desired syllable using the digitizing tablet;

inputting the desired syllable data into a gesture-keypad-engine upon completion of the drawing using the digitizing tablet, wherein the gesture-keypad-engine producing a current candidate syllable;

displaying the produced current candidate syllable on a display device;

determining whether a next syllable is needed to form the word;

if so, repeating the above steps; and

if not, entering a blank space and proceeding to form a new word by repeating the above steps.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

if the one or more modifying gestures are not needed for the selected character, inputting an associated data of the selected base character into the gesture-keypad-engine, wherein the gesture-keypad-engine producing a current candidate syllable;

displaying the produced current candidate syllable on a display device;

determining whether a next syllable is needed to form the word;

if so, repeating the above steps to form a next desired syllable; and

if not, stopping selection of the next desired syllable.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

displaying the next candidate syllable along with the current candidate syllable such that current candidate syllable is cursively connected to the next candidate syllable.

14. An article comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions that, when executed by a computing platform, result in execution of a method comprising;

locating a base character from a set of characters using a digitizing tablet;

modifying the base character with one or more natural handwritten modifying gestures using the digitizing tablet to form a current desired syllable, wherein the one or more natural handwritten modifying gestures includes at least one of phonetic modifiers and half consonant modifiers;

inputting an associated data of the formed current desired syllable upon completion of the one or more natural handwritten modifying gestures into a gesture-keypad-engine via the digitizing tablet, wherein the gesture-keypad-engine producing a current candidate syllable; and

displaying the produced current candidate syllable on a display device.

15. An apparatus comprising:

a digitizing tablet that locates a character from a set of characters and modifies the located character by drawing one or more natural handwritten modifier strokes to form a desired syllable, wherein the one or more natural handwritten modifier strokes includes at least one of phonetic modifiers and half consonant modifiers;

a gesture-keypad-engine coupled to the digitizing tablet that is responsive to the located character and the drawn one or more natural handwritten modifier strokes, wherein the gesture-keypad-engine produces a current candidate syllable upon completion of the drawing of the one or more natural handwritten modifier strokes; and

a display device coupled to the gesture-keypad-engine that displays the produced current candidate syllable.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the digitizing tablet comprises a stylus and an electronic tablet.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the electronic tablet has a flat surface with a defined active area, wherein the defined active area has a map of a gestureboard including characters from a desired script having a large character set, wherein an user locates a character by placing the stylus over one of the characters on the gestureboard, and wherein the user draws the one or more natural handwritten modifier strokes around the located character to form the current desired syllable and upon completion of the drawing of the one or more natural handwritten modifier strokes the electronic tablet sends digital data associated with the formed current desired syllable to the gesture-keypad-engine.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the display device is a device selected from the group consisting of computer monitor, TV screen, plasma display, LCD, and display on a gestureboard.