Handwriting recognition in electronic devices

• US 8,760,389 B2
• Filed: 06/24/2005
• Issued: 06/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Yaun, Shijun
• Primary Examiner(s): Bolotin, Dmitriy
• Application Number:
  US11/993,770
• Publication Number:
  US 20100245230A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,287 Days
• Field of Search: 345156-184, 178 1801- 2001, 382/181, 382185-189
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/987 with the intervention of an operator
• 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 30/244 using graphical properties, e.g. alphabet type or font

Abstract

The present invention provides a method of inputting characters into a handheld device, comprising steps of: reading handwriting information; recognizing said handwriting information in one active recognition mode and at least one inactive recognition mode; displaying at least one character candidate obtained in said active recognition mode and at least one character candidate obtained in said at least one inactive recognition mode; and inputting into said handheld device a desired character candidate selected by a user among said character candidates being displayed. The present invention also provides a corresponding apparatus for inputting characters into a handheld device, and a related handheld device. A user no longer needs to designate handwriting recognition modes, and recognition accuracy is greatly improved.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

reading handwriting information;

recognizing said handwriting information in a first recognition mode and a second recognition mode, wherein one of the first recognition mode and the second recognition mode is designated as active and the other recognition mode is designated as inactive;

concurrently displaying character candidates on a display, at least one of the character candidates obtained in said first recognition mode and at least one of the character candidates obtained in said second recognition mode, wherein the character candidates are text characters, wherein concurrently displaying comprises;

displaying a first number of the character candidates obtained in the recognition mode designated as active; and

displaying a second number of the character candidates obtained in the recognition mode designated as inactive, wherein the first number is greater than the second number; and

receiving a selection of a character candidate among the character candidates being displayed.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

switching a designation of the first recognition mode from active to inactive and a designation of the second recognition mode from inactive to active in response to the selected character candidate being one of the character candidates obtained in said second recognition mode.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising:

updating said displaying of said character candidates in response to said switching.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

switching a designation of the first recognition mode from active to inactive and a designation of the second recognition mode from inactive to active in response to the selection of the character candidate;

displaying in a first manner each of the character candidates for which the recognition mode in which the character candidate is obtained is designated as active after the switching; and

displaying in a second manner each of the character candidates for which the recognition mode in which the character candidate is obtained is designated as inactive after the switching.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein:

the displaying in the first manner includes displaying a first number of the character candidates obtained in the recognition mode designated as active; and

the displaying in the second manner includes displaying a second number of the character candidates obtained in the recognition mode designated as inactive, wherein the first number is greater than the second number.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein:

each of the character candidates displayed in the first manner are displayed in leading positions of a displaying order in the display; and

each of the character candidates displayed in the second manner are displayed in trailing positions of the displaying order in the display.

7. The method according to claim 4, further comprising updating the displaying of said character candidates in response to said switching.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein a displaying order of said at least one of the character candidates obtained in said first recognition mode and said at least one of said character candidates obtained in said second recognition mode is the same as that of buttons for activating said first and second recognition modes.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein said first recognition mode and said second recognition mode are different modes selected from a group consisting of:

ideographic character modes, digit modes, and Latin alphabet modes.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein said text characters are selected from a group consisting of one or more of:

ideographic characters, digits, and Latin alphabet characters.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

memory having machine-readable computer program code stored thereon, the memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to;

read handwriting information;

recognize said handwriting information in a first recognition mode and a second recognition mode, wherein one of the first recognition mode and the second recognition mode is designated as active and the other recognition mode is designated as inactive;

concurrently display character candidates, at least one of the character candidates obtained in said first recognition mode and at least one of said character candidates obtained in said second recognition mode, wherein the character candidates are text characters, wherein concurrently displaying comprises;

displaying a first number of the character candidates obtained in the recognition mode designated as active; and

displaying a second number of the character candidates obtained in the recognition mode designated as inactive, wherein the first number is greater than the second number; and

receive a selection of a character candidate among the character candidates being displayed.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, further cause the apparatus to:

switch a designation of the first recognition mode from active to inactive and a designation of the second recognition mode from inactive to active in response to the selected character candidate being one of the character candidates obtained in said second recognition mode.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, further cause the apparatus to:

update said displaying of said character candidates in response to said switching.

14. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, further cause the apparatus to:

switch a designation of the first recognition mode from active to inactive and a designation of the second recognition mode from inactive to active in response to the selection of the character candidate;

display in a first manner each of the character candidates for which the recognition mode in which the character candidate is obtained is designated as active after the switch; and

display in a second manner each of the character candidates for which the recognition mode in which the character candidate is obtained is designated as inactive after the switch.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14,

wherein the displaying in the first manner includes displaying a first number of the character candidates obtained in the recognition mode designated as active, and

wherein the displaying in the second manner includes displaying a second number of the character candidates obtained in the recognition mode designated as inactive, wherein the first number is greater than the second number.

16. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein:

each of the character candidates displayed in the first manner are displayed in leading positions of a displaying order in a display window; and

each of the character candidates displayed in the second manner are displayed in trailing positions of the displaying order in the display window.

17. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, further cause the apparatus to:

update the displaying of said character candidates in response to said switching.

18. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein a displaying order of said at least one of the character candidates obtained in said first recognition mode and said at least one of the character candidates obtained in said second recognition mode is the same as that of buttons for activating said first and second recognition modes.

19. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said first recognition mode and said second recognition mode are different modes selected from a group consisting of:

ideographic character modes, digit modes, and Latin alphabet modes.

20. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said text characters are selected from a group consisting of one or more of:

ideographic characters, digits, and Latin alphabet characters.

21. An apparatus, comprising:

means for reading handwriting information;

means for recognizing said handwriting information in a first recognition mode and a second recognition mode, wherein one of the first recognition mode and the second recognition mode is designated as active and the other recognition mode is designated as inactive;

means for concurrently displaying character candidates, at least one of the character candidates obtained in said first recognition mode and at least one of said character candidates obtained in said second recognition mode, wherein the character candidates are text characters, wherein means for concurrently displaying comprises;

means for displaying a first number of the character candidates obtained in the recognition mode designated as active; and

means for displaying a second number of the character candidates obtained in the recognition mode designated as inactive, wherein the first number is greater than the second number; and

means for receiving a selection of a character candidate among the character candidates being displayed.

22. The apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising

means for switching a designation of the first recognition mode from active to inactive and a designation of the second recognition mode from inactive to active in response to the selected character candidate being one of the character candidates obtained in said second recognition mode.

23. The apparatus according to claim 22, further comprising:

means for updating said displaying of said character candidates in response to said switching.

24. The apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising:

means for switching a designation of the first recognition mode from active to inactive and a designation of the second recognition mode from inactive to active in response to the selection of the character candidate;

means for displaying in a first manner each of the character candidates for which the recognition mode in which the character candidate is obtained is designated as active after the switching; and

means for displaying in a second manner each of the character candidates for which the recognition mode in which the character candidate is obtained is designated as inactive after the switching.

25. The apparatus according to claim 24,

wherein the displaying of each of the character candidates in the first manner includes displaying a first number of the character candidates obtained in the recognition mode designated as active, and

wherein the displaying of each of the character candidates in the second manner includes displaying a second number of the character candidates obtained in the recognition mode designated as inactive, wherein the first number is greater than the second number.

26. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein:

each of the character candidates displayed in the first manner are displayed in leading positions of a displaying order in a display window; and

each of the character candidates displayed in the second manner are displayed in trailing position of the displaying order in the display window.

27. The apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising means for updating the displaying of said character candidates in response to said switching.

28. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein a displaying order of said at least one of the character candidates obtained in said first recognition mode and said at least one of the character candidates obtained in said second recognition mode is the same as that of buttons for activating said first and second recognition modes.

29. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said first recognition mode and said second recognition mode are different modes selected from a group consisting of:

ideographic character modes, digit modes, and Latin alphabet modes.

30. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said text characters are selected from a group consisting of one or more of:

ideographic characters, digits, and Latin alphabet characters.

31. A non-transitory storage medium encoded with machine-readable computer program code, that when executed by a processor, causes an apparatus to:

read handwriting information;

recognize said handwriting information in a first recognition mode and a second inactive recognition mode, wherein one of the first recognition mode and the second recognition mode is designated as active and the other recognition mode is designated as inactive;

concurrently display character candidates, at least one of the character candidates obtained in said first recognition mode and at least one of the character candidates obtained in said second recognition mode, wherein the character candidates are text characters, wherein concurrently displaying comprises;

displaying a first number of the character candidates obtained in the recognition mode designated as active; and

displaying a second number of the character candidates obtained in the recognition mode designated as inactive, wherein the first number is greater than the second number; and

receive a selection of a character candidate among the character candidates being displayed.

32. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 31, wherein the machine-readable computer program code, when executed by the processor, further causes the apparatus to:

switch a designation of the first recognition mode from active to inactive and a designation of the second recognition mode from inactive to active in response to the selected character candidate being one of the character candidates obtained in said second recognition mode.

33. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 32, wherein the machine-readable computer program code, when executed by the processor, further causes the apparatus to:

update said displaying of said character candidates in response to said switching.

34. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 31, wherein the machine-readable computer program code, when executed by the processor, further causes the apparatus to:

switch a designation of the first recognition mode from active to inactive and a designation of the second recognition mode from inactive to active in response to the selection of the character candidate;

display in a first manner each of the character candidates for which the recognition mode in which the character candidate is obtained is designated as active after the switch; and

display in a second manner each of the character candidates for which the recognition mode in which the character candidate is obtained is designated as inactive after the switch.

35. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 34, wherein the machine-readable computer program code, when executed by the processor, further causes the apparatus to:

update said displaying of said character candidates in response to said switching.

36. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 34,

wherein the displaying of each of the character candidates in the first manner includes displaying a first number of the character candidates obtained in the recognition mode designated as active, and

wherein the displaying of each of the character candidates in the second manner includes displaying a second number of the character candidates obtained in the recognition mode designated as inactive, wherein the first number is greater than the second number.

37. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 34, wherein:

each of the character candidates displayed in the first manner are displayed in leading positions of a displaying order in a display window; and

each of the character candidates displayed in the second manner are displayed in trailing position of the displaying order in the display window.

38. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 31, wherein a displaying order of said at least one of the character candidates obtained in said first recognition mode and said at least one of the character candidates obtained in the second recognition mode is the same as that of buttons for activating said first and second recognition modes.

39. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 31, wherein said first recognition mode and said second recognition mode are different modes selected from a group consisting of ideographic character modes, digit modes, and Latin alphabet modes.

40. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 31, wherein said text characters are selected from a group consisting of one or more of:

ideographic characters, digits, and Latin alphabet characters.