Methods of and systems for reducing keyboard data entry errors

• US 9,122,318 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2011
• Issued: 09/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Abby L. Siegel
• Original Assignee: Jeffrey R. Spetalnick
• Inventors: Spetalnick, Jeffrey R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sitta, Grant
• Assistant Examiner(s): HERMANN, KIRK W
• Application Number:
  US13/232,237
• Publication Number:
  US 20120062465A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,448 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04806 Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0236 using selection techniques to select from displayed items
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0237 using prediction or retrieval techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0238 Programmable keyboards key guide holders G06F3/0224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04895 Guidance during keyboard input operation, e.g. prompting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/274 Converting codes to words; Guess-ahead of partial word inputs

Abstract

Method of and system for reducing data entry errors that ascertains a subset of keys that can be selected by a user based upon the respective likelihood that each key follows a previously selected key within a predetermined language, corpus, or subset thereof, and controls the display of the keys within an input device so that the keys within the ascertained subset are displayed in a visually distinguishable manner from the keys that not within the ascertained subset. In a touch screen device, the keys that are displayed are part of the soft keys displayed on the screen. In a system that includes an actual physical keyboard, the appearance of select keys of the keyboard can be modified in various manners, including the use of an LCD display or other controllable lighting mechanism disposed within the keyboard. Multiple additional techniques for reducing data entry also are disclosed.

Claims

1. A system for reducing data entry errors, comprising:

an input component controllable to display a plurality of keys selectable by a user in accordance with a controllable viewing mode, the input component receiving input by the user;

a display component controllable to display one or more key images;

a processor operatively coupled to the input component and the display component, and programmed to;

control the display component to display a key image or images corresponding to key selection input by the user on the input component;

ascertain a subset of the keys selectable by the user based upon respective likelihoods that each of the keys follows a previously selected key or keys within a predetermined language or subset thereof;

define the controllable viewing mode so that the input component displays each of the keys within the ascertained subset of keys in a manner visually distinguishable by the user from each of the keys not within the ascertained subset of keys;

control the input component to display the plurality of keys selectable by the user in accordance with the controllable viewing mode as defined by the processor;

define the controllable viewing mode so that the input component is controlled to display each of the keys within the ascertained subset of keys in a three-dimensional format that includes a top surface and side surfaces, and to display each of the keys not within the ascertained subset of keys in a three-dimensional format that includes a bottom surface and side surfaces.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein a location on the input component of each of the keys selectable by the user as displayed by the input component is the same regardless of the controllable viewing mode as defined by the processor.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the input component displays the plurality of keys in accordance with a QWERTY format.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the input component and the display component collectively are a touch sensitive display.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the input component displays a plurality of display elements and displays the plurality of keys selectable by the user within the display elements in accordance with the controllable view mode.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the input component includes a physical keyboard having a plurality of physical key switches, the input component further including a display device projecting images of the keys on an underside of each of the physical key switches in accordance with the controllable viewing mode as defined by the processor.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the input component includes a physical keyboard having a plurality of physical key switches, each of the keys selectable by the user presented on a respective one of the physical key switches, the input component further including a lighting device operative to project light on an underside of each of the physical key switches in accordance with the controllable viewing mode as defined by the processor.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the input component displays the keys in a circular format.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the keys selectable by the user are letters in the predetermined language.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein a target area of each of the keys corresponds to the respective top surface of the key displayed by the input component.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor recognizes a key selection input by the user upon contact within the respective target area of the key on the input component.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising a proximity sensor recognizing a presence of a finger adjacent the input component, wherein the processor is programmed to control the input component to display each of the displayed keys that are proximal to the finger in a magnified format.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor controls the display component to display, at a location immediately adjacent to a location of the input component, a duplicate copy of recently selected keys so that the user is able to view and verify the keys being selected without viewing a portion of the display component not adjacent to the input component.

14. A predictive text entry system, comprising:

an input component controllable to display a set of letters selectable by a user and to display a set of word selections selectable by the user, the input component receiving input by the user;

a display component controllable to display one or more letter images or words;

a processor operatively coupled to the input component and the display component, and programmed to;

control the display component to display a letter or word corresponding to an input by the user on the input component;

determine a corpus based on a location of a cursor displayed on the display component;

ascertain a set of choices within the determined corpus that are statistically the most likely choices based on a previous input of a letter by the user;

control the input component to display the choices within the ascertained set of choices as the set of word selections selectable by the user,

wherein the location of the cursor displayed on the display component is a field of a form,

wherein the corpus is determined based on a name of the field of the form.

15. The predictive text entry system of claim 14, wherein the display component displays one or more corpuses, and the processor determines the corpus in which to ascertain a set of choices based upon the displayed corpus that is adjacent to the cursor displayed on the display.

16. The predictive text entry system of claim 14, wherein the corpus is determined based on a displayed name of the field of the form.

17. A method of reducing data entry errors in a system having an input component, a display component and a processor operatively coupled to the input and display components, the method comprising:

displaying, by the input component, a plurality of keys selectable by a user in accordance with a controllable viewing mode,

receiving, by the input component, input by the user;

displaying, by the display component, one or more key images based on the input by the user;

ascertaining, by the processor, a subset of the keys selectable by the user based upon respective likelihoods that each of the keys follows a previously selected key or keys within a predetermined language or subset thereof;

defining the controllable viewing mode so that the input component displays each of the keys within the ascertained subset of keys in a manner visually distinguishable by the user from each of the keys not within the ascertained subset of keys;

defining the controllable viewing mode so that the input component is controlled to display each of the keys within the ascertained subset of keys in a three-dimensional format that includes a top surface and side surfaces, and to display each of the keys not within the ascertained subset of keys in a three-dimensional format that includes a bottom surface and side surfaces.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein a location on the input component of each of the keys selectable by the user as displayed by the input component is the same regardless of the controllable viewing mode as defined by the processor.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein displaying, by the input component, comprises displaying the plurality of keys in accordance with a QWERTY format.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the input component and the display component collectively are a touch sensitive display.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein displaying, by the input component, comprises displaying a plurality of display elements and displaying the plurality of keys selectable by the user within the display elements in accordance with the controllable view mode.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the input component includes a physical keyboard having a plurality of physical key switches and a display device;

wherein displaying, by the input component, comprises projecting by the display device images of the keys on an underside of each of the physical key switches in accordance with the controllable viewing mode as defined by the processor.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the input component includes a physical keyboard having a plurality of physical key switches and a lighting device, each of the keys selectable by the user presented on a respective one of the physical key switches, wherein displaying, by the input component, comprises projecting, by the lighting device, light on an underside of each of the physical key switches in accordance with the controllable viewing mode as defined by the processor.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein displaying, by the input component, comprises displaying the keys in a circular format.

25. The method of claim 17, wherein the keys selectable by the user are letters in the predetermined language.

26. The method of claim 17, wherein a target area of each of the keys corresponds to the respective top surface of the key displayed by the input component.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the processor recognizes a key selection input by the user upon contact within the respective target area of the key on the input component.

28. The method of claim 17, comprising recognizing a presence of a finger adjacent the input component, and wherein displaying, by the input component, comprises displaying each of the displayed keys that are proximal to the finger in a magnified format.

29. The method of claim 17, further comprising displaying, by the display component, at a location immediately adjacent to a location of the input component a duplicate copy of recently selected keys so that the user is able to view and verify the keys being selected without viewing a portion of the display component not adjacent to the input component.

30. A method of predicting text entry in a system having an input component, a display component and a processor operatively coupled to the input and display components, the method comprising:

displaying, by the input component, a set of letters selectable by a user;

displaying, by the input component, a set of word selections selectable by the user, receiving, by the input component, input by the user;

displaying, by the display component, one or more letter images or words based on the input by the user;

determining, by the processor, a corpus based on a location of a cursor displayed on the display component;

ascertaining, by the processor, a set of choices within the determined corpus that are statistically the most likely choices based on a previous input of a letter by the user;

controlling the input component to display the choices within the ascertained set of choices as the set of word selections selectable by the user,

wherein the location of the cursor displayed on the display component is a field of a form

wherein the corpus is determined based on a name of the field of the form.

31. The method of claim 30, comprising displaying, by the display component, one or more corpuses, and wherein determining comprises determining the corpus based upon the displayed corpus that is adjacent to the cursor displayed on the display component.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the corpus is determined based on a displayed name of the field of the form.

33. A predictive text entry system, comprising:

an input component controllable to display a set of letters selectable by a user and to display a set of word selections selectable by the user, the input component receiving input by the user;

a display component controllable to display one or more letter images or words;

a processor operatively coupled to the input component and the display component, and programmed to;

control the display component to display a letter or word corresponding to an input by the user on the input component;

determine a corpus based on a location of a cursor displayed on the display component;

ascertain a set of choices within the determined corpus that are statistically the most likely choices based on a previous input of a letter by the user;

control the input component to display the choices within the ascertained set of choices as the set of word selections selectable by the user,

wherein the location of the cursor displayed on the display component is a field of a form,

wherein the corpus is determined based on a displayed name of the field of the form.

34. The predictive text entry system of claim 33, wherein the display component displays one or more corpuses, and the processor determines the corpus in which to ascertain a set of choices based upon the displayed corpus that is adjacent to the cursor displayed on the display.

35. A method of predicting text entry in a system having an input component, a display component and a processor operatively coupled to the input and display components, the method comprising:

displaying, by the input component, a set of letters selectable by a user;

displaying, by the input component, a set of word selections selectable by the user, receiving, by the input component, input by the user;

displaying, by the display component, one or more letter images or words based on the input by the user;

determining, by the processor, a corpus based on a location of a cursor displayed on the display component;

ascertaining, by the processor, a set of choices within the determined corpus that are statistically the most likely choices based on a previous input of a letter by the user;

controlling the input component to display the choices within the ascertained set of choices as the set of word selections selectable by the user,

wherein the location of the cursor displayed on the display component is a field of a form,

wherein the corpus is determined based on a displayed name of the field of the form.

36. The method of claim 35, comprising displaying, by the display component, one or more corpuses, and wherein determining comprises determining the corpus based upon the displayed corpus that is adjacent to the cursor displayed on the display component.