Compact stylus-based input technique for indic scripts

• US 8,077,974 B2
• Filed: 03/13/2007
• Issued: 12/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Kumar, Manish, Agrawal, Mudit, Madhvanath, Sriganesh
• Primary Examiner(s): Carter, Aaron W
• Application Number:
  US11/685,211
• Publication Number:
  US 20080025613A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,736 Days
• Field of Search: 382182-189, 345173-184
• US Class Current: 382/186
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03545 Pens or stylus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/10 Character recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/1423 the instrument generating sequences of position coordinates corresponding to handwriting preprocessing or recognising digital ink G06V30/32
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/262 using context analysis, e.g. lexical, syntactic or semantic context
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/387 using human interaction, e.g. selection of the best displayed recognition candidate

Abstract

A technique for stylus-based syllabic input that is fast and easy and does not require any additional hardware and can be deployed on a handheld device is described. In one example embodiment, this is accomplished by writing a base syllabic character consisting of a vowels or consonant in a writing area. One or more modifiers that are displayed as icons substantially around the writing area of a syllabic level user interface are then selected to form a desired syllabic character. The one or more modifiers are arranged at familiar/natural positions around the base character'"'"'s writing area to facilitate entry/selection of modifiers and to reduce eye movement/cognitive load on the user. The syllabic characters are then accumulated locally until a desired word is formed, to reduce visual disconnect between the input interface and the end application, and to provide context for formation of the desired word. Further, one or more hypothesis words are then presented to speed up the formation and inputting of a desired word. The formed desired word is then cleared from the display area and sent to an application display area by tapping a space button provided in the syllabic character input user interface.

Claims

1. A method for a syllabic character entry into a handheld device comprising:

drawing a desired base syllabic character using a stylus in a writing area on a syllabic level user interface disposed on the handheld device;

determining whether a modifier is needed to the drawn desired base syllabic character, wherein the modifier comprises at least one of a consonant modifier, half consonant modifier and vowel modifier; and

if the modifier is needed to the drawn desired base syllabic character,

inputting associate data of a desired one of modifiers along with the drawn desired syllabic character to a base syllabic character recognizer by tapping on the desired one of modifiers that are disposed substantially around the writing area of a modifier panel in natural positions with respect to the base syllabic character;

clearing the writing area upon tapping on the desired one of the modifiers;

producing a candidate syllabic character including the tapped desired one of the modifiers by the base syllabic character recognizer upon recognition of the associated data; and

displaying the produced candidate syllabic character using a first contrasting color in a progressive display panel.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if the modifier is not needed to the drawn desired base syllabic character,

producing a candidate syllabic character by the base syllabic character recognizer upon tapping a tapping area located in the writing area and inputting the associated data into the base syllabic character recognizer;

clearing the writing area upon tapping the tapping area; and

displaying the produced candidate syllabic character in the progressive display panel of the syllabic level user interface in the first contrasting color.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether another modifier is needed to the produced candidate syllabic character; and

if the another modifier is needed to the produced candidate syllabic character,

tapping on another one of the modifiers disposed substantially around the writing area of the modifier panel;

producing a candidate syllabic character including the tapped another one of the modifiers upon tapping of another desired modifier along with the produced candidate syllabic character; and

displaying the candidate syllabic character on the progressive display panel in the first contrasting color.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

repeating the determining, inputting, producing and displaying steps for another desired modifier until the desired syllabic character is formed on the progressive display panel.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

producing first top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters upon inputting the associated data of the drawn base syllabic character;

displaying the first top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters in a symbol correction panel substantially along with the displaying of the candidate syllabic character in the progressive display panel, wherein the first top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters are displayed in a progressive contrasting color to indicate a hypothesis level;

determining whether the displayed candidate syllabic character is the desired syllabic character;

if the displayed candidate syllabic character is not the desired syllabic character, determining whether any one of the displayed first top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters is the desired base syllabic character; and

if any one of the displayed first top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters is the desired base syllabic character, then tapping a desired one of the first top five hypothesis candidate syllabic characters displayed in the symbol correction panel using the stylus.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

if any one of the displayed first top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters is not the desired base syllabic character,

tapping a next hypothesis candidate button located in a top right corner of the symbol correction panel to display a second top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters in the symbol correction panel;

determining whether any one of the displayed second top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters is the desired base syllabic character;

if any one of the displayed second top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters is the desired base syllabic character, then tapping a desired one of the second top five hypothesis candidate syllabic characters displayed in the symbol correction panel using the stylus; and

if any one of the displayed second top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters is not the desired base syllabic character, repeating the steps of tapping and determining.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

displaying one or more hypothesis words in a dictionary area located in the syllabic level user interface upon inputting the associated data of the drawn base syllabic character;

determining whether any one of the one or more hypothesis words displayed in the dictionary area is a desired word; and

if any one of the one or more hypothesis words displayed in the dictionary area is the desired word, selecting one of the displayed one or more hypothesis words by double tapping on the desired one of the one or more hypothesis words displayed in the dictionary area.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

if any one of the one or more hypothesis words displayed in the dictionary area is not the desired word, repeating the drawing, determining, inputting, producing, and displaying steps to select a next desired base syllabic character until the desired word is formed and displayed in the progressive display panel.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

inputting the formed word displayed in the progressive display panel into an application display area upon obtaining the desired word in the progressive display area by tapping a space button provided in an upper panel area of the syllabic level user interface; and

clearing the formed word from the progressive display area upon inputting the formed word into the application display area.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the base syllabic character is selected from the group consisting of vowels, consonants, half-consonants, special consonant conjuncts, and special syllabic characters.

11. The method of claim 1, in tapping the desired one of the modifiers that is disposed substantially around the writing area of the modifier panel, the modifiers are displayed in their naturally expected positions associated with the drawn base syllabic character to reduce seek time.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

clearing wrongly drawn base syllabic character from the writing area by tapping a clear button located in a lower right hand corner of the syllabic level user interface when the drawn base syllabic character is wrongly drawn.

23. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

if the displayed candidate syllabic character is the desired syllabic character, repeating the steps of displaying the one or more hypothesis words, determining and selecting the displayed one or more hypothesis words.

13. 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 for inputting syllables into a computer comprising;

drawing a desired base syllabic character using a stylus in a writing area on a syllabic level user interface disposed on the handheld device;

determining whether a modifier is needed to the drawn desired base syllabic character, wherein the modifier comprises at least one of a consonant modifier, half consonant modifier and vowel modifier; and

if the modifier is needed to the drawn desired base syllabic character,

inputting associate data of a desired one of modifiers along with the drawn desired syllabic character to a base syllabic character recognizer by tapping on the desired one of modifiers that are disposed substantially around the writing area of a modifier panel in natural positions with respect to the base syllabic character;

clearing the writing area upon tapping on the desired one of the modifiers;

producing a candidate syllabic character including the tapped desired one of the modifiers by the base syllabic character recognizer upon recognition of the associated data; and

displaying the produced candidate syllabic character using a first contrasting color in a progressive display panel.

14. A computer system comprising:

a computer network, wherein the computer network has a plurality of network elements, and wherein the plurality of network elements has a plurality of network interfaces;

a network interface;

an input module coupled to the network interface that receives topology data via the network interface;

a processing unit; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having stored therein code associated with syllable input, the code causes the processor to perform a method comprising;

drawing a desired base syllabic character using a stylus in a writing area on a syllabic level user interface disposed on the handheld device;

determining whether a modifier is needed to the drawn desired base syllabic character, wherein the modifier comprises at least one of a consonant modifier, half consonant modifier and vowel modifier; and

if the modifier is needed to the drawn desired base syllabic character,

inputting associate data of a desired one of modifiers along with the drawn desired syllabic character to a base syllabic character recognizer by tapping on the desired one of modifiers that are disposed substantially around the writing area of a modifier panel in natural positions with respect to the base syllabic character;

clearing the writing area upon tapping on the desired one of the modifiers;

producing a candidate syllabic character including the tapped desired one of the modifiers by the base syllabic character recognizer upon recognition of the associated data; and

displaying the produced candidate syllabic character using a first contrasting color in a progressive display panel.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

if the modifier is not needed to the drawn desired base syllabic character,

producing a candidate syllabic character by the base syllabic character recognizer upon tapping a tapping area located in the writing area and inputting the associated data into the base syllabic character recognizer;

clearing the writing area upon tapping the tapping area; and

displaying the produced candidate syllabic character in the progressive display panel of the syllabic level user interface in the first contrasting color.

16. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

determining whether another modifier is needed to the produced candidate syllabic character; and

if the another modifier is needed to the produced candidate syllabic character,

tapping on another one of the modifiers disposed substantially around the writing area of the modifier panel;

producing a candidate syllabic character including the tapped another one of the modifiers upon tapping of another desired modifier along with the produced candidate syllabic character; and

displaying the candidate syllabic character on the progressive display panel in the first contrasting color.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

repeating the determining, inputting, producing and displaying steps for another desired modifier until the desired syllabic character is formed on the progressive display panel.

18. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

producing first top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters upon inputting the associated data of the drawn base syllabic character;

displaying the first top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters in a symbol correction panel substantially along with the displaying of the candidate syllabic character in the progressive display panel, wherein the first top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters are displayed in a progressive contrasting color to indicate a hypothesis level;

determining whether the displayed candidate syllabic character is the desired syllabic character;

if the displayed candidate syllabic character is not the desired syllabic character, determining whether any one of the displayed first top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters is the desired base syllabic character; and

if any one of the displayed first top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters is the desired base syllabic character, then tapping a desired one of the first top five hypothesis candidate syllabic characters displayed in the symbol correction panel using the stylus.

19. The system of claim 18, further comprising:

if any one of the displayed first top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters is not the desired base syllabic character,

tapping a next hypothesis candidate button located in a top right corner of the symbol correction panel to display a second top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters in the symbol correction panel;

determining whether any one of the displayed second top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters is the desired base syllabic character;

if any one of the displayed second top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters is the desired base syllabic character, then tapping a desired one of the second top five hypothesis candidate syllabic characters displayed in the symbol correction panel using the stylus; and

if any one of the displayed second top five hypothesis candidate base syllabic characters is not the desired base syllabic character, repeating the steps of tapping and determining.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

displaying one or more hypothesis words in a dictionary area located in the syllabic level user interface upon inputting the associated data of the drawn base syllabic character;

determining whether any one of the one or more hypothesis words displayed in the dictionary area is a desired word; and

if any one of the one or more hypothesis words displayed in the dictionary area is the desired word, selecting one of the displayed one or more hypothesis words by double tapping on the desired one of the one or more hypothesis words displayed in the dictionary area.

21. The system of claim 20, further comprising:

if any one of the one or more hypothesis words displayed in the dictionary area is not the desired word, repeating the drawing, determining, inputting, producing, and displaying steps to select a next desired base syllabic character until the desired word is formed and displayed in the progressive display panel.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising:

inputting the formed word displayed in the progressive display panel into an application display area upon obtaining the desired word in the progressive display area by tapping a space button provided in a upper panel area of the syllabic level user interface; and

clearing the formed word from the progressive display area upon inputting the formed word into the application display area.

24. The system of claim 18, further comprising:

if the displayed candidate syllabic character is the desired syllabic character, repeating the steps of displaying the one or more hypothesis words, determining and selecting the displayed one or more hypothesis words.