Language keyboard

• US 8,253,694 B2
• Filed: 08/03/2007
• Issued: 08/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Raghunath, Mandayam T., Nair, Navneet, Gopalan, Balaji, Mahadevan, Chandramouli
• Primary Examiner(s): Eisen, Alexander
• Assistant Examiner(s): PHAM, VIET DAVID
• Application Number:
  US11/833,901
• Publication Number:
  US 20090037837A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,852 Days
• Field of Search: 345/173, 345/156, 715/703
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0237 using prediction or retrieval techniques
• 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

A computer implemented method includes displaying first characters of a language script in a user interface, in response to receiving a selection of a first character, identifying second characters that are each a variant of the first character according to a language rule, displaying the second characters of the language script proximate the selected first character, and in response to receiving a subsequent selection of the selected first character or one of the second characters, displaying the subsequently selected character as an input character in the user interface.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

displaying, in a user interface, first objects displaying respective first characters, each first character being a consonant of a language script, wherein the first objects are arranged circumferentially to define an interior region in which no other objects displaying characters are displayed;

receiving a single selection of one of the first objects that displays one of the first characters, wherein the single selection causes the displayed one of the first characters to be a selected first character; and

in response to receiving the single selection, displaying, in the user interface within the interior region, and while continuing to display the first objects, other, second objects displaying respective other single characters of the language script, each other, single character being a combination of the consonant of the selected first character, and a dependent vowel marker that, according to a language rule, is valid for the consonant of the selected first character.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the other, second objects comprises displaying the other, second objects proximate to the selected first object.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a selection of one of the other, second objects; and

displaying a single character displayed in the selected other, second object as an input character in the user interface.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

displaying, in the user interface, a third object displaying a symbol of the language script that is combinable with any character of the language script according to the language rule; and

receiving a selection of the third object; and

displaying, in the user interface, a single character that is a combination of the other, single character displayed as the input character and the symbol.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first objects are circumferentially arranged to define a rectangle.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising defining first character groups in the circumferentially arranged first objects, each first character group consisting of a plurality of characters according to a letter grouping based on the language rule.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the language script is an Indic script, and wherein the language rule defines permissible consonant and dependent vowel marker combinations.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying, in the user interface, first characters comprises displaying five or more characters.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying, in the user interface, first characters comprises displaying a plurality of characters that are all consonants of the language script.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying, in the user interface, an additional object displaying an additional character that is a vowel of the language script;

receiving a selection of the additional object; and

in response to receiving the selection of the additional object, displaying, in the user interface and within the interior region, other, additional objects that display additional characters that are all the vowels of the language script.

11. The system of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

receiving a selection of one of the other, second objects; and

displaying a single character displayed in the selected other, second object as an input character in the user interface.

12. The system of claim 11, the operations further comprising:

displaying, in the user interface, a third object displaying a symbol of the language script that is combinable with any character of the language script according to the language rule; and

receiving a selection of the third object; and

displaying, in the user interface, a single character that is a combination of the other, single character displayed as the input character and the symbol.

13. Software stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium and comprising instructions that are configured to cause a processing device to perform the operations comprising:

displaying, in a user interface, first objects displaying first characters, each first character being a consonant of a language script, wherein the first objects are arranged circumferentially to define an interior region in which no other objects displaying characters are displayed;

receiving a single selection of one of the first objects that displays one of the first characters that is a consonant character; and

in response to receiving the single selection, displaying, in the user interface within the interior region, and while continuing to display the first objects, other, second objects displaying single characters of the language script proximate the selected first object, wherein each of the single characters is a combination of a consonant of the selected first character and a dependent vowel marker that, according to the language rule, is valid for the consonant of the selected first character.

14. The software of claim 13, the operations further comprising:

receiving a selection of one of the other, second objects that displays one of the single characters; and

displaying the selected single character displayed in the selected second object as an input character in the user interface.

15. The software of claim 13, the operations further comprising:

displaying, in the user interface, a third object displaying a symbol of the language script that is combinable with any character of the language script according to the language rule;

receiving a selection of the third object;

displaying, in the user interface, a single character that is a combination of the other, single character displayed as the input character and the symbol.

16. The software of claim 13, wherein the language script is an Indic script.

17. The software of claim 13, wherein displaying, in the user interface, first characters comprises displaying a plurality of characters that are all consonants of the language script.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the first objects are circumferentially arranged to define a rectangle.

30. The system of claim 18, further comprising defining first character groups in the circumferentially arranged first objects, each first character group consisting of a plurality of characters according to a letter grouping based on the language rule.

31. The system of claim 17, wherein the language script is an Indic script, and wherein the language rule defines permissible consonant and dependent vowel marker combinations.

19. A computer-implemented method comprising:

displaying consonants of an Indic language script in corresponding first objects in a user interface, wherein the first objects are arranged circumferentially to define an interior region in which no other objects displaying characters are displayed;

in response to detecting a first single selection of a first object, displaying, within the interior region while continuing to display the first objects, second letters in corresponding second objects, wherein each of the second letters is a combination, according to a language rule of the Indic language script, of the consonant displayed in the first object and a dependent vowel marker in the Indic language script, wherein the combination of the consonant and a dependent vowel marker is a single letter in the Indic language script; and

in response to detecting a subsequent selection of one of the selected first object or one of the displayed second objects, displaying the letter corresponding to the subsequently selected object in another user interface.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the consonants of the Indic language script displayed in the user interface are all the consonants of the Indic language script.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein all the consonants of the Indic language are divided into a plurality of consonant groups according to the language rule, each consonant group including a plurality of consonants, the method further comprising:

displaying each consonant group in a corresponding object group that includes a plurality of objects, each object displaying a consonant in the consonant group; and

highlighting each object group by a corresponding object group indicator.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the circumferential region defines a rectangular region.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the other user interface is a text box.

24. Software stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium and comprising instructions that upon execution cause a processing device to perform operations including:

displaying consonants of an Indic language script in corresponding first objects in a user interface, wherein the first objects are arranged circumferentially to define an interior region in which no other objects displaying characters are displayed;

in response to detecting a first single selection of a first object, displaying, within the interior region and while continuing to display the first objects, second letters in corresponding second objects, wherein each of the second letters is a combination, according to a language rule of the Indic language script, of the consonant displayed in the first object and a dependent vowel marker in the Indic language script, wherein the combination of the consonant and a dependent vowel marker is a single letter in the Indic language script; and

in response to detecting a subsequent selection of one of the selected first object or one of the displayed second objects, displaying the letter corresponding to the subsequently selected object in another user interface.

25. The software of claim 24, wherein the consonants of the Indic language script displayed in the user interface are all the consonants of the Indic language script.

26. The software of claim 25, wherein all the consonants of the Indic language are divided into a plurality of consonant groups according to the language rule, each consonant group including a plurality of consonants, the operations further comprise:

displaying each consonant group in a corresponding object group that includes a plurality of objects, each object displaying a consonant in the consonant group; and

highlighting each object group by a corresponding object group indicator.

27. A graphical user interface system, comprising:

a keyboard control engine configured to generate a virtual keyboard, the keyboard control engine including;

a keyboard rendering module configured to generate primary keyboard objects arranged circumferentially to define an interior region in which no other objects displaying characters are displayed and secondary keyboard objects selectable by a user input device and generate a virtual keyboard displaying the primary keyboard objects and displaying the secondary keyboard objects adjacent a selected primary keyboard object within the interior region while continuing to display the primary keyboard objects;

a primary letters display module in data communication with the keyboard rendering module and configured to display in the primary keyboard objects all consonants of an Indic language script;

a language information module in data communication with the keyboard rendering module and configured to;

receive a single selection of a primary keyboard object displaying a first character, and

in response to receiving the single selection of the primary keyboard object, identify the first character displayed in a selected primary keyboard object and identify second characters, wherein each second character is a combination of the consonant and a dependent vowel marker in the language script, wherein each second character is valid according to a language rule of the Indic language script; and

a secondary letters display module in data communication with the keyboard rendering module and configured to display in each secondary keyboard object, the identified second characters.

28. A system comprising:

one or more data processing apparatus; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer software instructions executable by the one or more data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising;

displaying, in a user interface, first objects displaying respective first characters, each first character being a consonant of a language script, wherein the first objects are arranged circumferentially to define an interior region in which no other objects displaying characters are displayed;

receiving a single selection of one of the first objects that displays one of the first characters, wherein the single selection causes the displayed one of the first characters to be a selected first character; and

in response to receiving the single selection, displaying, in the user interface within the interior region, and while continuing to display the first objects, other, second objects displaying respective other single characters of the language script, each other, single character being a combination of the consonant of the selected first character, and a dependent vowel marker that, according to a language rule, is valid for the consonant of the selected first character.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein displaying the other, second objects comprises displaying the other, second objects proximate to the selected first object.