Character entry apparatus and associated methods

• US 10,241,670 B2
• Filed: 03/31/2011
• Issued: 03/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Colley, Ashley
• Primary Examiner(s): Li, Lin
• Application Number:
  US13/076,883
• Publication Number:
  US 20120249425A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,917 Days
• Field of Search: 345156, 345467, 382186, 382187, 715773
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0227 Cooperation and interconnection of the input arrangement with other functional units of a computer G06F3/023 - G06F3/037 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0489 using dedicated keyboard keys or combinations thereof

Abstract

An apparatus comprising: a processor; and a memory including computer program code, the memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the following: detect, from a key user interface of an electronic device, key input of a particular key character from a first set of key characters; detect, from a user-scribe delineation user interface of the electronic device, user-scribed delineation input of a particular delineation character from a second set of delineation characters; wherein the first and sets of characters comprise respective mutually exclusive sets of characters, and wherein the apparatus is configured to associate together the particular key character and the particular delineation character for display.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory including computer program code,

the memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the following;

detect, from a key user interface of an electronic device, key input of a particular key character from a first set of key characters;

detect, from a user-scribe delineation user interface of the electronic device, user-scribed delineation input of a particular delineation character from a second set of delineation characters;

wherein the first and second sets of characters are respective mutually exclusive sets of characters, such that the characters of the first and second sets of characters are ineligible as belonging to both the first set of key characters and the second set of delineation characters in a single instance of time;

associate together the particular key character and the particular delineation character for display; and

change at least one frequently used character of the set of delineation characters to belong to the first set of key characters based on a frequency of use of the at least one frequently used delineation character, such that the at least one frequently used character is no longer recognized by the apparatus as belonging to the second set of delineation characters in an instance the at least one frequently used character is provided via the user-scribe delineation user interface.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first set of key characters and the second set of delineation characters are mutually exclusive such that the second set delineation characters are characters which are not immediately available for entry via the key user interface.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein user interface comprises a display, the display configured to:

display a key user interface region representing a virtual keyboard; and

a separate user-scribe delineation user interface region configured to produce delineation input in response to user interaction.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein apparatus is configured to:

denote an input character as being either a key input character or a delineation input character, based on at least one of type of character, user selection and frequency of use.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the association of a delineation input character with a said received delineation input is configured to be performed using at least one of gesture recognition and handwriting recognition.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus comprises:

a user interface, wherein the user interface is configured to detect at least one of motion and position of a scriber to generate user-scribed delineations.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the user interface comprises a wand, a touchpad, a touch-screen, a mouse, a motion detector, a position detector, a scriber or an accelerometer.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the textual message is a combination of one or more of an SMS message, a MMS message, an email, a document, an address bar entry, a search entry, a URL and a telephone number.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein a said character comprises a combination of one or more of a word, a letter character, a graphic character, a drawing, a phrase, a syllable, a diacritical mark, an embellishment mark, an emoticon, a punctuation mark and a sentence.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the key input comprises a combination of one or more of:

single-press key input corresponding to a single press of a single key;

multiple-press key input corresponding to multiple presses of a single key; and

multiple-key key input corresponding to single presses of multiple keys.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the key user interface comprises an alphanumeric key input area, a numeric key input area, an AZERTY key input area, a QWERTY key input area or an ITU-T E.161 key input area.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the first set of key characters comprises alphabetic characters;

and

the second set of delineation characters comprises numeric characters.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the first set of key characters comprises alphanumeric characters;

and

the second set of delineation characters comprises emoticons.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the first set of key characters comprises alphanumeric characters;

and

the second set of delineation characters comprises punctuation marks.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the first set of key characters comprises logograph characters;

and

the second set of delineation characters comprises alphanumeric marks.

16. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is at least one of a portable electronic device, circuitry for a portable electronic device, a module for a portable electronic device, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a mobile phone, a Smartphone, a monitor, a personal digital assistant or a digital camera.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein changing the at least one of the set of delineation characters to belong to the first set of key characters results comprises:

removing the particular character from the set of delineation characters such that the particular character is no longer recognized by the user-scribe delineation user interface; and

providing the particular character as a key characters by the key character interface in subsequent use.

18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the following:

changing at least one infrequently used character of the set of key characters to belong to the set of delineation characters based on a frequency of use of the at least one infrequently used character.

19. A method comprising:

detecting, from a key user interface of an electronic device, key input of a particular key character from a first set of key characters;

detecting, from a user-scribe delineation user interface of the electronic device, user-scribed delineation input of a particular delineation character from a second set of delineation characters, wherein the first and second sets of characters are respective mutually exclusive sets of characters, such that the characters of the first and second sets of characters are ineligible as belonging to both the first set of key characters and the second set of delineation characters in a single instance of time;

associating together the particular key character and the particular delineation character for display; and

changing at least one frequently used character of the set of delineation characters to belong to the first set of key characters based on a frequency of use of the at least one frequently used delineation character, such that the at least one frequently used character is no longer recognized by the electronic device as belonging to the second set of delineation characters in an instance the at least one frequently used character is provided via the user-scribe delineation user interface.

20. A computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, the computer program comprising computer code configured to:

detect, from a key user interface of an electronic device, key input of a particular key character from a first set of key characters;

detect, from a user-scribe delineation user interface of the electronic device, user-scribed delineation input of a particular delineation character from a second set of delineation characters;

wherein the first and second sets of characters are respective mutually exclusive sets of characters, such that the characters of the first and second sets of characters are ineligible as belonging to both the first set of key characters and the second set of delineation characters in a single instance of time;

associate together the particular key character and the particular delineation character for display; and

change at least one frequently used character of the set of delineation characters to belong to the first set of key characters based on a frequency of use of the at least one frequently used delineation character, such that the at least one frequently used character is no longer recognized by the electronic device as belonging to the second set of delineation characters in an instance the at least one frequently used character is provided via the user-scribe delineation user interface.