Techniques for input of a multi-character compound consonant or vowel and transliteration to another language using a touch computing device

• US 9,665,275 B2
• Filed: 06/23/2014
• Issued: 05/30/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Feng, Hanping, Sun, Wei, Huang, Hao, Fu, Song
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Distefano, Gregory A
• Application Number:
  US14/311,490
• Publication Number:
  US 20140304640A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,072 Days
• Field of Search: 715773
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/018 Input/output arrangements for oriental characters
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/126 Character encoding

Abstract

A technique is presented for fast input of multi-character compound consonants and vowels on a touch computing device. The technique provides for fast input of multi-character compound consonants and vowels by enabling a user to touch an initial character on a first layout of characters, then slide his/her finger in different directions and/or different distances according to a second layout of characters. The second layout of characters can be based on the first touched character and therefore can have a limited set of characters, e.g., fewer characters in comparison to the first layout of characters. A syllable formed after input of both a consonant and a vowel, represented as one character set, e.g., in the Roman alphabet, can then be transliterated into another language, e.g., Chinese.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

displaying, at a touch display of a computing device having one or more processors, a first virtual keyboard having characters in a source language;

receiving, at the touch display of the computing device, a particular spot input indicating a start character of the first virtual keyboard;

displaying, at the touch display of the computing device, a second virtual keyboard having characters in the source language, the second virtual keyboard simultaneously displaying all characters for inputting a remainder of all possible multi-character compound consonants or vowels beginning with the start character using a single slide input;

receiving, at the touch display of the computing device, a particular slide input from the start character to an end character from the second virtual keyboard;

determining, at the computing device, a string of characters including the (i) start character, (ii) one or more additional characters of the second virtual keyboard along a path of the particular slide input, and (iii) the end character; and

displaying, at the touch display of the computing device, the string of characters.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first and second virtual keyboards are collectively configured for input of all possible multi-character compound consonants or vowels in the source language using a single spot input followed by the single slide input.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second virtual keyboard is displayed automatically in response to receiving the particular spot input.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the string of characters are both determined and displayed automatically in response to receiving the particular slide input.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining, at the computing device, a transliteration of the string of characters from the source language to a target language to obtain one or more transliterated characters in the target language.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising in response to obtaining the transliteration of the string of characters, automatically displaying, at the touch display of the computing device, the one or more transliterated characters.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein characters of the second virtual keyboard are arranged based on usage statistics of characters in the target language.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein characters of the second virtual keyboard are optimally arranged such that slide input paths corresponding to more frequently used characters in the target language are shorter or easier to input.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the source language is Pinyin and the target language is Chinese.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second virtual keyboard is displayed via a pop-up window overlaying the first virtual keyboard.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein a layout of the characters of the second virtual keyboard does not change during the single slide input.

12. A computing device having one or more processors configured to perform operations comprising:

displaying, at a touch display of the computing device, a first virtual keyboard having characters in a source language;

receiving, at the touch display, a particular spot input indicating a start character of the first virtual keyboard;

displaying, at the touch display, a second virtual keyboard having characters in the source language, the second virtual keyboard simultaneously displaying all characters for inputting a remainder of all possible multi-character compound consonants or vowels beginning with the start character using a single slide input;

receiving, at the touch display, a particular slide input from the start character to an end character from the second virtual keyboard;

determining a string of characters including the (i) start character, (ii) one or more additional characters of the second virtual keyboard along a path of the particular slide input, and (iii) the end character; and

displaying, at the touch display, the string of characters.

13. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the first and second virtual keyboards are collectively configured for input of all possible multi-character compound consonants or vowels in the source language using a single spot input followed by the single slide input.

14. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the second virtual keyboard is displayed automatically in response to receiving the particular spot input.

15. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the string of characters are both determined and displayed automatically in response to receiving the particular slide input.

16. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise obtaining a transliteration of the string of characters from the source language to a target language to obtain one or more transliterated characters in the target language.

17. The computing device of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise in response to obtaining the transliteration of the string of characters, automatically displaying, at the touch display, the one or more transliterated characters.

18. The computing device of claim 16, wherein characters of the second virtual keyboard are arranged based on usage statistics of characters in the target language.

19. The computing device of claim 16, wherein characters of the second virtual keyboard are optimally arranged such that slide input paths corresponding to more frequently used characters in the target language are shorter or easier to input.

20. The computing device of claim 16, wherein the source language is Pinyin and the target language is Chinese.

21. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the second virtual keyboard is displayed via a pop-up window overlaying the first virtual keyboard.

22. The computing device of claim 12, wherein a layout of the characters of the second virtual keyboard does not change during the single slide input.