Virtual Predictive Keypad

• US 20110074685A1
• Filed: 09/30/2009
• Published: 03/31/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Howard, Jeffrey Norbert, Causey, Mark Edward, Smoak, Andrew Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 9,128,610 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/168
• 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

Devices and methods are disclosed which relate to improving the efficiency of text input by generating a dynamic virtual keyboard. Certain examples display a soft keyboard on a touchscreen of a text-entry device. The touchscreen works with the soft keyboard as a form of text input. Keyboard logic on the text-entry device is programmed to change the footprint of each key within the soft keyboard based on the prior entry. The keyboard logic assigns a prediction value to each key based on a statistical probability that the key will be entered next. The touchscreen displays a dynamic virtual keyboard based on these prediction values. Enhancements include resizing keys and their respective footprints relative to their prediction value. Other examples exploit the possible character sequences and their probabilities in a language and restructuring the keyboard to make text input more efficient. The devices and methods use modeling techniques to dynamically generate the size of the characters on the keyboard.

Claims

1. A text-entry device for generating a dynamic virtual keyboard comprising:

a processor;

a memory in communication with the processor;

a touchscreen in communication with the processor; and

a keyboard logic stored on the memory;

wherein the keyboard logic;

displays a dynamic keyboard having a plurality of visible keys and respective footprints substantially the same size on the touchscreen;

assigns a prediction value to each key after a user enters a key; and

resizes at least one visible key and footprint relative to the assigned prediction value.

2. The device in claim 1, wherein the keyboard logic enhances the dynamic keyboard by resizing each visible key and footprint to a proportion of its prediction value.

3. The device in claim 1, wherein the keyboard logic assigns a prediction value to each key by referencing a language database.

4. The device in claim 3, wherein the language database includes a dictionary and a plurality of statistical data.

5. The device in claim 1, further comprising a transceiver.

6. The device in claim 5, wherein the transceiver uses one of cellular RF, BLUETOOTH, and WiFi.

7. A method of enhancing a dynamic virtual keyboard comprising:

displaying a dynamic keyboard having a plurality of visible keys and respective footprints substantially the same size on the touchscreen;

assigning a prediction value to each key after each key entry; and

resizing at least one visible key and footprint relative to the assigned prediction value;

wherein the dynamic keyboard is displayed on the touchscreen of a text-entry device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the enhancing further comprises resizing each visible key and footprint to a proportion of its prediction value.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the enhancing further comprises referencing a language database.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the language database includes a dictionary and a plurality of statistical data.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising resetting a dynamic keyboard to a display of visible keys and footprints having substantially the same size.

12. A computer program stored on a computer readable medium for enhancing a dynamic keyboard comprising:

a first code segment for displaying a dynamic keyboard having a plurality of visible keys and respective footprints substantially the same size on the touchscreen;

a second code segment for assigning a prediction value to each key after each key entered; and

a third code segment for resizing at least one visible key and footprint relative to the assigned prediction value;

wherein the dynamic keyboard is displayed on the touchscreen of a text-entry device.

13. The computer program of claim 12, wherein the third code segment enhances the dynamic keyboard by resizing each visible key and footprint to a proportion of its prediction value.

14. The computer program of claim 12, wherein the second code segment assigns a prediction value to each key by referencing a language database.

15. The computer program of claim 14, wherein the language database includes a dictionary and a plurality of statistical data.

16. The computer program of claim 12, further comprising a fourth code segment for resetting a dynamic keyboard to a display of visible keys and footprints having substantially the same size.