Electronic device and method of managing its keyboard

• US 20050253816A1
• Filed: 06/12/2003
• Published: 11/17/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Takala, Roope, Hakkila, Jonna, Keski-Jaskari, Turo, Himberg, Johan, Mantyjarvi, Jani
• Granted Patent: US 7,170,428 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• 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

The invention relates to an electronic device and a method of managing a virtual keyboard of the electronic device. The device comprises a touch pad (106), a processing unit (600) and a feedback unit (612), which provides tactile feedback unit (612) for the user. The processing unit (600) is configured to determine a virtual keyboard (104) for the touch pad (106) and a tactile appearance of the keyboard (104), receive information generated by the pressing of a keyboard (104) key and identify the key that was pressed on the basis of the information. The processing unit (600) is further configured to collect information on the key presses and carry out an analysis of them, and re-determine the tactile appearance of the keyboard (104) on the basis of the collected information and the analysis carried out so as to make the keyboard more ergonomic for the user, which makes it easier to use the keyboard (104) and/or the pressing of a wrong key less likely.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising

a touch pad,

a processing unit connected to the touch pad over a data transmission connection, the processing unit being configured to determine a virtual keyboard for the touch pad and a tactile appearance of the keyboard, receive information generated by the pressing of a keyboard key and identify the key that was pressed on the basis of the information, and

a feedback unit connected to the processing unit over a data transmission connection, the feedback unit being configured to provide tactile feedback on the keyboard use for the device user,

wherein the processing unit is further configured to collect information on the key presses and carry out an analysis of them, and re-determine the tactile appearance of the keyboard on the basis of the collected information and the analysis carried out so as to make the keyboard more ergonomic for the user, which makes it easier to use the keyboard and/or the pressing of a wrong key less likely.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the information comprises at least one of the following:

key press coordinates, keyboard control data and force of the key press.

3. A device according to claim 1, wherein the analysis is used to generate at least one of the following results:

coordinates of an acceptable key press, coordinates of a rejected key press, coordinates of a corrected key press, time used for successive key presses, mean of the coordinates of presses of one key, variance of the presses of one key, another statistical variable describing the presses of one key.

4. A device according to claim 3, wherein the processing unit is configured to identify a press at the border of two keys or outside the keyboard as a rejected key press.

5. A device according to claim 3, wherein the processing unit is configured to identify the following sequence as a corrected key press:

the first key press is deleted by the delete key, after which another key is pressed.

6. A device according to claim 1, wherein the tactile keyboard appearance comprises at least one of the following:

key size, key shape and key location.

7. A device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to define limits for the tactile keyboard appearance that the tactile keyboard appearance cannot exceed.

8. A device according to claim 6, wherein the processing unit is configured to change the key shape in the main directions.

9. A device according to claim 6, wherein the processing unit is configured to change the key shape arbitrarily.

10. A device according to claim 6, wherein the processing unit is configured to move the key centre point according to the mean of the coordinates of key presses.

11. A device according to claim 6, wherein the processing unit is configured to change the key shape according to the variance of the coordinates of key presses.

12. A device according to claim 6, wherein the processing unit is configured to change the key shape using vector quantization, expectation maximization, clustering or another suitable adaptive and/or optimizing method.

13. A device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the tactile keyboard appearance by giving a first tactile feedback on a key press.

14. A device according to claim 13, wherein the processing unit is configured to determine various first tactile feedbacks, a separate one either for each key or for each key group.

15. A device according to claim 1, wherein any one of the preceding claims, the processing unit is configured to determine the tactile keyboard appearance by giving a second tactile feedback on the key when it is not pressed.

16. A device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the tactile keyboard appearance by giving a third tactile feedback on an area which is outside the keys but belongs to the tactile keyboard appearance.

17. A device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the visual keyboard appearance and re-determine the visual keyboard appearance on the basis of the collected information and the analysis carried out so as to make the keyboard more ergonomic for the user, which makes it easier to use the keyboard and/or the pressing of a wrong key less likely.

18. A device according to claim 17, wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the tactile keyboard appearance and the visual keyboard appearance so that they correspond to each other.

19. A method of managing a virtual keyboard of an electronic device, the method comprising:

determining a tactile appearance of the virtual keyboard; and

receiving information generated by the pressing of a keyboard key and identifying the key pressed on the basis of the information;

collecting information on the key presses and carrying out an analysis of them; and

re-determining the tactile appearance of the keyboard on the basis of the collected information and the analysis carried out so as to make the keyboard more ergonomic for the user, which makes the use of the keyboard easier and/or the pressing of a wrong key less likely.

20. A method according to claim 19, wherein the information comprises at least one of the following:

key press coordinates, keyboard control data and force of the key press.

21. A method according to preceding claim 19, the method comprising using the analysis is used to generate at least one of the following results:

coordinates of an accepted key press, coordinates of a rejected key press, coordinates of a corrected key press, time used for successive key presses, mean of the coordinates of the presses of one key, variance of the presses of one key, another statistical variable describing the presses of one key.

22. A method according to claim 21, further comprising identifying a press at the border of two keys or outside the keyboard as a rejected key press.

23. A method according to claim 21, further comprising identifying the following sequence as a corrected key press:

the first key press is deleted by the delete key, after which another key is pressed.

24. A method according to claim 19, wherein the tactile keyboard appearance comprises at least one of the following:

key size, key shape and key location.

25. A method according to claim 19, further comprising defining limits for the keyboard appearance that the keyboard appearance cannot exceed.

26. A method according to claim 24, further comprising changing the key shape in the main directions.

27. A method according to claim 24, further comprising changing the key shape arbitrarily.

28. A method according to claim 24, further comprising moving the key centre point according to the mean of the coordinates of key presses.

29. A method according to claim 24, further comprising changing the key shape according to the variance of the coordinates of key presses.

30. A method according to claim 24, further comprising changing the key shape using vector quantization, expectation maximization, clustering or another suitable adaptive and/or optimizing method.

31. A method according to claim 19, further comprising determining the tactile keyboard appearance by giving a first tactile feedback on a key press.

32. A device according to claim 31, further comprising determining various first feedbacks, a separate one either for each key or for each key group.

33. A method according to claim 19, further comprising determining the tactile keyboard appearance by giving a second tactile feedback on the key when it is not pressed.

34. A method according to claim 19, further comprising determining the tactile keyboard appearance by giving a third tactile feedback on an area which is outside the keys but belongs to the tactile keyboard appearance.

35. A method according to claim 19, further comprising determining the visual keyboard appearance and re-determining the visual keyboard appearance on the basis of the collected information and the analysis carried out so as to make the keyboard more ergonomic for the user, which makes it easier to use the keyboard and/or the pressing of a wrong key less likely.

36. A method according to claim 35, further comprising determining the tactile keyboard appearance and the visual keyboard appearance so that they correspond to each other.