System and method for a thumb-optimized touch-screen user interface
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of receiving user input on a touch-screen display housed in a portable device, the method comprising:
- providing a virtual keyboard having a plurality of virtual selectable items (“
keys”
), each configured to comprise a graphic target area displayed on said touchscreen with a visible indication of its edges, and an active area associated with the graphic target area, said active area including no visible indicator of its edges, all of said active areas are simultaneously active on the screen, the keys being arranged with their respective active areas adjacent to each other in rows, and wherein for at least a selected first key located toward the left side of the display, for every point in the first key'"'"'s graphic target area that is within 25 mm of the left of the device frame or within 20 mm of the left side of the display area, and at least 25 mm from the bottom of the device frame or at least 20 mm from the bottom of the display area, the active area of said first key extends further toward the left side of the display than the right side, and wherein for at least one selected second key located toward the right side of the display, for every point in the second key'"'"'s graphic target area that is within 25 mm of the right of the device frame or within 20 mm of the right side of the display area, and at least 25 mm from the bottom of the device frame or at least 20 mm from the bottom of the display area, the active area of said second key extends further toward the right side of the display than the left side;
registering touch engagement of one of the first or second keys in response to detecting an engagement event having corresponding positioning information that is located within said respective active area, but may be located outside of the respective graphic target area displayed on said touchscreen; and
providing that a third plurality of keys which are part of the virtual keyboard and active simultaneously with the first and second keys, and each have a graphic target area displayed on said touchscreen with a visible indication of its edges, and an active area associated with the graphic target area, said active area including no visible indicator of its edges, in which the third keys'"'"' active areas are not offset to extend further toward either side edge.
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Abstract
A virtual thumb-board solution is provided that fits on a pocket-size device or even palm-size device and uses the standard keyboard layout with straight rows of keys, which is achieved while making the virtual thumb-board accurate, fast, and comfortable. And thumb-optimized virtual User Interface solutions are provided that make information searching and UI navigation on pocket-size hand-held devices exceptionally fast and intuitive.
19 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of receiving user input on a touch-screen display housed in a portable device, the method comprising:
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providing a virtual keyboard having a plurality of virtual selectable items (“
keys”
), each configured to comprise a graphic target area displayed on said touchscreen with a visible indication of its edges, and an active area associated with the graphic target area, said active area including no visible indicator of its edges, all of said active areas are simultaneously active on the screen, the keys being arranged with their respective active areas adjacent to each other in rows, and wherein for at least a selected first key located toward the left side of the display, for every point in the first key'"'"'s graphic target area that is within 25 mm of the left of the device frame or within 20 mm of the left side of the display area, and at least 25 mm from the bottom of the device frame or at least 20 mm from the bottom of the display area, the active area of said first key extends further toward the left side of the display than the right side, and wherein for at least one selected second key located toward the right side of the display, for every point in the second key'"'"'s graphic target area that is within 25 mm of the right of the device frame or within 20 mm of the right side of the display area, and at least 25 mm from the bottom of the device frame or at least 20 mm from the bottom of the display area, the active area of said second key extends further toward the right side of the display than the left side;registering touch engagement of one of the first or second keys in response to detecting an engagement event having corresponding positioning information that is located within said respective active area, but may be located outside of the respective graphic target area displayed on said touchscreen; and providing that a third plurality of keys which are part of the virtual keyboard and active simultaneously with the first and second keys, and each have a graphic target area displayed on said touchscreen with a visible indication of its edges, and an active area associated with the graphic target area, said active area including no visible indicator of its edges, in which the third keys'"'"' active areas are not offset to extend further toward either side edge. - View Dependent Claims (2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21)
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3. A method of receiving user input on a touch-screen display housed in a portable device, the method comprising:
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providing a virtual keyboard having a plurality of virtual selectable items, each configured to comprise a graphic target area displayed on said touchscreen with a visible indication of its edges, and an active area associated with the graphic target area, said active area including no visible indicator of its edges, all of said active areas are simultaneously active on the screen, the virtual selectable items being arranged with their respective active areas adjacent to each other in rows, and in which a first selected one of the virtual selectable items in a row of the virtual keyboard includes a graphic target area and an active area associated with the graphic target area, the active area being offset to extend more towards the proximal side display edge than the distal side display edge, the proximal side edge for the first selected one item being the right side display edge, a second selected one of the virtual selectable items in a row of the virtual keyboard includes a graphic target area and an active area associated with the graphic target area, the active area being offset to extend more towards the proximal side display edge than the distal side display edge, the proximal side edge for the second selected one item being the left side display edge; and providing that a third plurality of virtual selectable items which are part of the virtual keyboard and active simultaneously with the first and second items, and each have a graphic target area displayed on said touchscreen with a visible indication of its edges, and an active area associated with the graphic target area, said active area including no visible indicator of its edges, in which the third plurality of virtual selectable items'"'"' active areas are not offset to extend further toward either side edge. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 13, 15, 19)
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Specification