Selecting alternate keyboard characters via motion input

• US 8,612,878 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2011
• Issued: 12/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Zhang, Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Distefano, Gregory A
• Application Number:
  US13/250,120
• Publication Number:
  US 20120030606A1
• Time in Patent Office: 809 Days
• Field of Search: 715/773, 715/764, 715/771
• US Class Current: 715/773
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0234 using switches operable in different directions
• 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

In general, this disclosure describes techniques for selecting alternate keyboard characters via motion input provided by a user. One example method comprises displaying a graphical keyboard via a user interface and receiving, via the user interface, initial user input specifying a selection of a key on the graphical keyboard, wherein the initial user input comprises an initiation of a contact with the user interface. The method further includes displaying alternate characters via the user interface, wherein each alternate character is displayed to indicate at least one corresponding selection direction that is associated with that alternate character, and receiving, via the user interface, additional user input specifying a selection of at least one of the alternate characters, wherein the additional user input comprises motion in the at least one selection direction corresponding to the at least one selected alternate character, and a release of the contact from the user interface.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a mobile computing device to:

display, at a touchscreen, a first graphical keyboard comprising a plurality of keys that are associated with a first group of characters;

store information associated with a second graphical keyboard different from the first graphical keyboard, wherein the second graphical keyboard comprises a plurality of keys that are associated with a second group of characters, and wherein at least some of the second group of characters are not included in the first group of characters;

receive, at the touchscreen, initial user input specifying a selection of a key from the plurality of keys of the first graphical keyboard, wherein the initial user input comprises an initiation of a contact with the touchscreen, wherein the selected key is associated with a character of the first group of characters and is located at a first position within the first graphical keyboard;

in response to receiving the initial user input, display, at the touchscreen, a plurality of alternate characters, wherein each alternate character is displayed to indicate at least one corresponding selection direction that is associated with that alternate character, and wherein each of the plurality of alternate characters is not included in the first group of characters associated with the plurality of keys of the first graphical keyboard; and

receive, at the touchscreen, additional user input specifying a selection of one of the plurality of alternate characters, wherein the additional user input comprises motion in the at least one corresponding selection direction that corresponds to the selected alternate character, and wherein the additional user input further comprises a release of the contact from the touchscreen,

wherein the selected alternate character is included in the second group of characters associated with the plurality of keys of the second graphical keyboard,

wherein the selected alternate character is associated with a key that is located at a second position within the second graphical keyboard, and

wherein the first position of the selected key within the first graphical keyboard is comprises a same relative position in the first graphical keyboard as the second position of the key associated with the selected alternate character within the second graphical keyboard.

2. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions to display the first graphical keyboard comprise instructions to display the plurality of keys of the first graphical keyboard such that each key of the plurality of keys of the first graphical keyboard is represented by only a single displayed character within the first graphical keyboard.

3. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions to receive the initial user input and the instructions to receive the additional user input comprise instructions to receive user input provided by one continuous movement that maintains contact with the touchscreen.

4. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions to display the plurality of alternate characters comprise instructions to display each of the plurality of alternate characters within a distinct graphical display unit.

5. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein graphical arrows associated with the distinct graphical display units indicate the at least one corresponding selection direction associated with each of the plurality of alternate characters.

6. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein positions of the plurality of alternate characters, with respect to the first position of the selected key within the first graphical keyboard, indicate the at least one corresponding selection direction associated with each of the plurality of alternate characters.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein graphical arrows associated with the plurality of alternate characters indicate the at least one corresponding selection direction associated with each of the plurality of alternate characters.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions to display the plurality of alternate characters comprise instructions to display the plurality of alternate characters after contact with the touchscreen from the initial user input has been maintained for a defined period of time.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further encoded with instructions to:

store information associated with a third graphical keyboard different from the first and second graphical keyboards, wherein the third graphical keyboard comprises a plurality of keys that are associated with a third group of characters, and wherein at least some of the third group of characters are not included in the first or second groups of characters,

wherein the third group of characters associated with the plurality of keys of the third graphical keyboard includes an alternate character that is different from the selected alternate character,

wherein the alternate character that is different from the selected alternate character is associated with a key that is located at a third position within the third graphical keyboard, and

wherein the first position of the selected key within the first graphical keyboard comprises the same relative position in the first graphical keyboard as the third position of the key associated with the alternate character within the third graphical keyboard.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the additional user input comprises, with respect to the initial user input, at least one sliding movement across the touchscreen in the at least one corresponding selection direction that corresponds to the selected alternate character.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further encoded with instructions to:

remove the plurality of alternate characters from display at the touchscreen in response to receiving the additional user input.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the additional user input comprises motion in a sequence of different selection directions corresponding to the selected alternate character.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the additional user input comprises motion in different selection directions to specify selections of different alternate characters, wherein each of the different selection directions corresponds to one of the different alternate characters.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further encoded with instructions to:

display, at the touchscreen, the selected alternate character in a graphical character area that is separate and distinct from the first graphical keyboard; and

refrain from displaying, in the graphical character area, the character of the group of characters that is associated with the selected key.

15. A method comprising:

displaying a first graphical keyboard at a touchscreen of a mobile computing device, the first graphical keyboard comprising a plurality of keys that are associated with a first group of characters;

storing, by the mobile computing device, information associated with a second graphical keyboard different from the first graphical keyboard, wherein the second graphical keyboard comprises a plurality of keys that are associated with a second group of characters, and wherein at least some of the second group of characters are not included in the first group of characters;

receiving, by the mobile computing device at the touchscreen, initial user input specifying a selection of a key from the plurality of keys of the first graphical keyboard, wherein the initial user input comprises an initiation of a contact with the touchscreen, wherein the selected key is associated with a character of the first group of characters and is located at a first position within the first graphical keyboard;

responsive to receiving the initial user input, displaying a plurality of alternate characters at the touchscreen, wherein each alternate character is displayed to indicate at least one corresponding selection direction that is associated with that alternate character, and wherein each of the plurality of alternate characters is not included in the first group of characters associated with the plurality of keys of the first graphical keyboard; and

receiving, by the mobile computing device at the touchscreen, additional user input specifying a selection of one of the plurality of alternate characters, wherein the additional user input comprises motion in the at least one corresponding selection direction that corresponds to the selected alternate character, and wherein the additional user input further comprises a release of the contact from the touchscreen,

wherein the selected alternate character is included in the second group of characters associated with the plurality of keys of the second graphical keyboard,

wherein the selected alternate character is associated with a key that is located at a second position within the second graphical keyboard, and

wherein the first position of the selected key within the first graphical keyboard comprises a same relative position in the first graphical keyboard as the second position of the key associated with the selected alternate character within the second graphical keyboard.

16. A mobile computing device, comprising:

one or more processors;

a touchscreen; and

one or more storage devices,

wherein the one or more processors are configured to;

provide a first graphical keyboard that is displayed at the touchscreen, wherein the first graphical keyboard comprises a plurality of keys that are associated with a first group of characters;

provide a second graphical keyboard different from the first graphical keyboard, wherein information associated with the second graphical keyboard is stored in the one or more storage devices, wherein the second graphical keyboard comprises a plurality of keys that are associated with a second group of characters, and wherein at least some of the second group of characters are not included in the first group of characters;

receive data associated with initial user input specifying a selection of a key from the plurality of keys of the first graphical keyboard, wherein the initial user input comprises an initiation of a contact with the touchscreen, wherein the selected key is associated with a character of the first group of characters and is located at a first position within the first graphical keyboard;

in response to receiving the initial user input, provide a plurality of alternate characters that are displayed at the touchscreen, wherein each alternate character is displayed to indicate at least one corresponding selection direction that is associated with that alternate character, and wherein each of the plurality of alternate characters is not included in the first group of characters associated with the plurality of keys of the first graphical keyboard; and

receive data associated with additional user input specifying a selection of one of the plurality of alternate characters, wherein the additional user input comprises motion across the touchscreen in the at least one corresponding selection direction that corresponds to the selected alternate character, and wherein the additional user input further comprises a release of the contact from the touchscreen,

wherein the selected alternate character is included in the second group of characters associated with the plurality of keys of the second graphical keyboard,

wherein the selected alternate character is associated with a key that is located at a second position within the second graphical keyboard, and

wherein the first position of the selected key within the first graphical keyboard comprises a same relative position in the first graphical keyboard as the second position of the key associated with the selected alternate character within the second graphical keyboard.

17. The mobile computing device of claim 16, wherein the initial user input and the additional user input comprise user input provided by one continuous movement that maintains contact with the touchscreen.

18. The mobile computing device of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of alternate characters is displayed within a distinct graphical display unit at the touchscreen.

19. The mobile computing device of claim 18, wherein graphical arrows associated with the distinct graphical display units indicate the at least one corresponding selection direction associated with each of the plurality of alternate characters.

20. The mobile computing device of claim 16, wherein positions of the plurality of alternate characters, with respect to the first position of the selected key within the first graphical keyboard, indicate the at least one corresponding selection direction associated with each of the alternate characters.

21. The mobile computing device of claim 16, wherein the plurality of alternate characters are displayed after contact with the touchscreen from the initial user input has been maintained for a defined period of time.

22. The mobile computing device of claim 16, wherein the additional user input comprises motion in a sequence of different selection directions corresponding to the selected alternate character.

23. The mobile computing device of claim 16, wherein the selected alternate character is displayed in a graphical character area that is separate and distinct from the first graphical keyboard, and wherein the character of the group of characters is associated with the selected key is not displayed in the graphical character area.

24. The mobile computing device of claim 16,

wherein the one or more processors are further configured to provide a third graphical keyboard different from the first and second graphical keyboards, the third graphical keyboard comprising a plurality of keys that are associated with a third group of characters not included in the first or second groups of characters,

wherein the third group of characters associated with the plurality of keys of the third graphical keyboard includes an alternate character that is different from the selected alternate character,

wherein the alternate character that is different from the selected alternate character is associated with a key that is located at a third position within the third graphical keyboard, and

wherein the first position of the selected key within the first graphical keyboard comprises the same relative position in the first graphical keyboard as the third position of the key associated with the alternate character within the third graphical keyboard.

25. The mobile computing device of claim 16, wherein the additional user input comprises motion in different selection directions to specify selections of different alternate characters, wherein each of the different selection directions corresponds to one of the different alternate characters.