System and method for effectively navigating polysemous symbols across a plurality of linked electronic screen overlays

• US 9,202,298 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2013
• Issued: 12/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Prentke Romich Company
• Original Assignee: Semantic Compaction Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Baker, Bruce R., Cross, Russell T., Kovacs, Thomas R., Halloran, Cindy C., Halloran, John D., Hershberger, David H., Read, Rob, Butler, Glenna L.
• Primary Examiner(s): WANG, JIN CHENG
• Application Number:
  US13/826,504
• Publication Number:
  US 20140028709A1
• Time in Patent Office: 992 Days
• Field of Search: 345/629, 345/173, 345/168, 345/172, 345/169, 345/589, 345/592, D14/485, D14/489, D14/492, 178/18.01, 178/18.03, 704/10, 704/276, 704/235, 704/260, 704/271, 715/835, 715/259, 715/763, 715/764, 715/771, 715/773, 715/808, 715/825, 715/840, 715/866, 400/472, 434/112, 434/169, 434/185, 708/145, 708/146
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24 Querying
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/332 Query formulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• 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 40/242 Dictionaries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/253 Grammatical analysis; Style critique
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/12 Overlay of images, i.e. displayed pixel being the result of switching between the corresponding input pixels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2354/00 Aspects of interface with display user
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/377 for mixing or overlaying two or more graphic patterns G09G5/02, G09G5/397 take precedence

Abstract

A method, apparatus and computer readable medium are disclosed. In at least one embodiment, the method includes providing polysemous symbols for selection on an initial electronic screen overlay displayed on a display; storing, in a memory, a plurality of the selectable polysemous symbols in association with a pointer identifying display of an electronic screen overlay which is different from the initial electronic screen overlay; and displaying a second electronic screen overlay on the display, in response to initial selection of one of the provided polysemous symbols. In at least one embodiment, the second electronic screen overlay is the electronic screen overlay associated with the selected polysemous symbol.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

providing polysemous symbols for selection on an initial electronic screen overlay displayed on a display, a plurality of the polysemous symbols being displayed with at least one word;

storing, in a memory, a plurality of the selectable polysemous symbols in association with a pointer identifying display of an electronic screen overlay which is different from the initial electronic screen overlay;

displaying on the display, in response to initial selection of one of the provided polysemous symbols, the second electronic screen overlay different from the initial electronic screen overlay and including a plurality of symbols, each of the plurality of symbols of the second electronic screen overlay being associated with the selected polysemous symbol and at least one of the plurality of the polysemous sysmbols of the second electronic screen overlay being displayed with at least one word different from the at least one word displayed with a similarly situated polysemous symbol previously displayed for selection on the initial electronic screen overlay; and

in response to selection of one of the symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay, either

displaying a third electronic screen overlay on the display which is different from the second electronic screen overlay and which includes symbols associated with the selected one of the symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay, or

outputting at least one of a word, phoneme, message and phrase, the output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase being stored in the memory in association with a symbol sequence including the initially selected polysemous symbol and the selected one of the symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second electronic screen overlay is displayed in place of the initial electronic screen overlay.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving via a processor, an indication of selection of the one of the provided polysemous symbols; and

controlling, via the processor, the display to display the second electronic screen overlay associated with the selected polysemous symbol in place of the initial electronic screen overlay upon the processor receiving the indication of selection.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving, via the processor, an indication of selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay; and

controlling, via the processor, output of at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase in response the processor receiving an indication of selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay, the output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase being stored in the memory in association with a symbol sequence including the initially selected polysemous symbol and the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

controlling, via the processor, display of the initial electronic screen overlay in place of the second electronic screen overlay, subsequent or simultaneous to the output of the at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving via a processor, an indication of selection of the one of the provided polysemous symbols; and

controlling, via the processor, the display to display the second electronic screen overlay associated with the selected polysemous symbol upon the processor receiving the indication of selection.

7. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving, via the processor, an indication of selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay; and

controlling, via the processor, output of at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase in response the processor receiving an indication of selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay, the output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase being stored in the memory in association with a symbol sequence including the initially selected polysemous symbol and the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

controlling, via the processor, display of the initial electronic screen overlay subsequent or simultaneous to the output of the at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing a plurality of the selectable polysemous symbols, displayed on the second electronic screen overlay, in association with a pointer identifying display of the third electronic screen overlay, the third electronic screen overlay being different from the second electronic screen overlay and including symbols associated with the selected one of the polysemous symbols of the displayed second electronic screen overlay.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the third electronic screen overlay is displayed in place of the second electronic screen overlay.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving via a processor, an indication of selection of the one of the polysemous symbols displayed on the second electronic screen overlay; and

controlling, via the processor, the display to display the third electronic screen overlay associated with the selected one of the polysemous symbols displayed on the second electronic screen overlay upon the processor receiving the indication of selection.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, via the processor, an indication of selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay; and

controlling, via the processor, output of at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase in response the processor receiving an indication of selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay, the output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase being stored in the memory in association with a symbol sequence including the initially selected polysemous symbol, the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay, and the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

outputting at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase in response to selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay, the output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase being stored in the memory in association with a symbol sequence including the initially selected polysemous symbol, the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay, and the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

controlling, via the processor, display of the initial electronic screen overlay in place of the third electronic screen overlay, subsequent or simultaneous to the output of the at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving via a processor, an indication of selection of the one of the polysemous symbols displayed on the second electronic screen overlay; and

controlling, via the processor, the display to display the third electronic screen overlay associated with the selected one of the polysemous symbols displayed on the second electronic screen overlay upon the processor receiving the indication of selection.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving, via the processor, an indication of selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay; and

controlling, via the processor, output of at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase in response the processor receiving an indication of selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay, the output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase being stored in the memory in association with a symbol sequence including the initially selected polysemous symbol, the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay, and the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay.

17. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

outputting at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase in response to selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay, the output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase being stored in the memory in association with a symbol sequence including the initially selected polysemous symbol, the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay, and the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

controlling, via the processor, display of the initial electronic screen overlay subsequent or simultaneous to the output of the at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein a unique name for each of the plurality of linked electronic screen overlays that corresponds to the symbol sequence is stored in memory.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium including program segments for, when executed on a computer system, causing the computer system to implement the method of claim 1.

21. An apparatus, comprising:

an integrated input and display device configured to provide displayed polysemous symbols for selection on an initial electronic screen overlay, a plurality of the polysemous symbols being displayed with at least one word; and

a memory configured to store a plurality of the selectable polysemous symbols in association with a pointer identifying display of an electronic screen overlay which is different from the initial electronic screen overlay,

the integrated input and display device being configured to display a second electronic screen overlay, in response to selection of one of the provided polysemous symbols, different from the initial electronic screen overlay and including a plurality of symbols, each of the plurality of symbols of the second electronic screen overlay being associated with the selected polysemous symbol and at least one of the plurality of the polysemous symbols of the second electronic screen overlay being displayed with at least one word different from the at least one word displayed with a similarly situated polysemous symbol previously displayed for selection on the initial electronic screen overlay; and

in response to selection of one of the symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay, either

the integrated input and display device being configured to display a third electronic screen overlay on the display which is different from the second electronic screen overlay and which includes symbols associated with the selected one of the symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay, or

an output device being configured to output at least one of a word, phoneme, message and phrase, the output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase being stored in the memory in association with a symbol sequence including the initially selected polysemous symbol and the selected one of the symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the second electronic screen overlay displayed on the integrated input and display device is displayed, in response to receiving an indication of selection of the associated one of the provided polysemous symbols, in place of the initial electronic screen overlay.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising:

a processor, configured to receive an indication of selection of the one of the provided polysemous symbols and configured to control the integrated input and display device to display the second electronic screen overlay associated with the selected polysemous symbol in place of the initial electronic screen overlay upon the processor receiving the indication of selection.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising:

a processor, configured to receive an indication of selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay and configured to control the output of at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase in response the processor receiving an indication of selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay, the output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase being stored in the memory in association with a symbol sequence including the initially selected polysemous symbol and the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay.

25. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the processor is further configured to receive an indication of selection of the one of the provided polysemous symbols and to control the display to display the second electronic screen overlay associated with the selected polysemous symbol in place of the initial electronic screen overlay upon the processor receiving the indication of selection.

26. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising:

the output device, configured to output the at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase in response to selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay, the output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase being stored in the memory in association with a symbol sequence including the initially selected polysemous symbol and the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay.

27. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising:

a processor, configured to receive an indication of selection of the one of the provided polysemous symbols and configured to control the integrated input and display device to display the second electronic screen overlay associated with the selected polysemous symbol upon the processor receiving the indication of selection.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising:

a processor, configured to receive an indication of selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay and configured to control the output of at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase in response the processor receiving an indication of selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay, the output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase being stored in the memory in association with a symbol sequence including the initially selected polysemous symbol and the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay.

29. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising:

the output device, configured to output the at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase in response to selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay, the output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase being stored in the memory in association with a symbol sequence including the initially selected polysemous symbol and the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay.

30. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the memory is further configured to store a plurality of the selectable polysemous symbols, displayed on the second electronic screen overlay, in association with a pointer identifying display of third electronic screen overlay which is different from the second electronic screen overlay and wherein the integrated input and display is configured to display a third electronic screen overlay, in response to selection of one of the selectable polysemous symbols of the displayed second electronic screen overlay, the third electronic screen overlay being different from the displayed second electronic screen overlay and including symbols associated with the selected one of the symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the third electronic screen overlay is displayed in place of the second electronic screen overlay.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, further comprising:

a processor, configured to receive an indication of selection of the one of the polysemous symbols displayed on the second electronic screen overlay and configured to control the display to display the third electronic screen overlay including symbols associated with the selected one of the polysemous symbols displayed on the second electronic screen overlay upon the processor receiving the indication of selection.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the processor is configured to receive an indication of selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay and is configured to control output of at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase in response the processor receiving an indication of selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay, the output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase being stored in the memory in association with a symbol sequence including the initially selected polysemous symbol, the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay, and the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay.

34. The apparatus of claim 31, further comprising:

an output device configured to output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase in response to selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay, the output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase being stored in the memory in association with a symbol sequence including the initially selected polysemous symbol, the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay, and the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the processor is further configured to control the display to display the initial electronic screen overlay on the display, in place of the third electronic screen overlay, subsequent or simultaneous to the output of the at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase.

36. The apparatus of claim 30, further comprising:

a processor, configured to receive an indication of selection of the one of the polysemous symbols displayed on the second electronic screen overlay and configured to control the display to display the third electronic screen overlay including symbols associated with the selected one of the polysemous symbols displayed on the second electronic screen overlay upon the processor receiving the indication of selection.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the processor is configured to receive an indication of selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay and is configured to control output of at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase in response the processor receiving an indication of selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay, the output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase being stored in the memory in association with a symbol sequence including the initially selected polysemous symbol, the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay, and the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay.

38. The apparatus of claim 30, further comprising:

an output device configured to output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase in response to selection of one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay, the output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase being stored in the memory in association with a symbol sequence including the initially selected polysemous symbol, the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed second electronic screen overlay, and the selected one of the provided symbols on the displayed third electronic screen overlay.

39. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the processor is further configured to control the display to display the initial electronic screen overlay on the display subsequent or simultaneous to the output of the at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase.

40. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein a unique name for each of the plurality of linked electronic screen overlays that corresponds to the symbol sequence is stored in memory.

41. A method, comprising:

displaying, on a display, a virtual keyboard including a plurality of polysemous symbols for selection on an initial electronic screen overlay, a plurality of the polysemous symbols being displayed with at least one word;

storing, in a memory, a plurality of the selectable polysemous symbols in association with a pointer identifying display of an electronic screen overlay which is different from the initial electronic screen overlay;

displaying a second electronic screen overlay on the display, in response to initial selection of one of the provided polysemous symbols, the second electronic screen overlay being different from the initial electronic screen overlay and including a plurality of symbols, each of the plurality of symbols of the second electronic screen overlay being associated with the selected polysemous symbol and including a virtual keyboard wherein less than all of a plurality of key locations on the virtual keyboard include a non-polysemous symbol, at least one of the plurality of the polysemous symbols of the second electronic screen overlay being displayed with at least one word different from the at least one word displayed with a similarly situated polysemous symbol previously displayed for selection on the initial electronic screen overlay;

displaying a third electronic screen overlay on the display in place of the second electronic screen overlay, or outputting at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase, in response to selection of one of the non-polysemous symbols; and

outputting at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase and displaying the initial electronic screen overlay in place of the third electronic screen overlay, in response to the third electronic screen being displayed and in response to subsequent selection of one of the non-polysemous symbols of the third electronic screen overlay.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein at least a majority of the non-polysemous symbols on the second electronic screen overlay belong to the same semantic category.

43. The method of claim 41, wherein the third electronic screen overlay includes a virtual keyboard, and wherein at least a majority of the plurality of keys on the virtual keyboard includes a non-polysemous symbol.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein at least a majority of the non-polysemous symbols on the third electronic screen overlay belong to the same semantic category.

45. A non-transitory computer readable medium including program segments for, when executed on a computer system, causing the computer system to implement the method of claim 41.

46. The method of claim 41, wherein a unique name for each of the plurality of linked electronic screen overlays that corresponds to the symbol sequence is stored in memory.

47. A apparatus, comprising:

an integrated input and display configured to display a virtual keyboard including a plurality of polysemous symbols for selection on an initial electronic screen overlay, a plurality of the polysemous symbols being displayed with at least one word;

a memory, configured to store a plurality of the selectable polysemous symbols in association with a pointer identifying display of an electronic screen overlay which is different from the initial electronic screen overlay;

a processor configured to determine initial selection of one of the provided polysemous symbols, and configured to control the display of a second electronic screen overlay on the integrated input and display, in response to the determined initial selection, the second electronic screen overlay being different from the initial electronic screen overlay and including a plurality of symbols, each of the plurality of symbols of the second electronic screen overlay being associated with the selected polysemous symbol and including a virtual keyboard wherein less than all of a plurality of key location on the virtual keyboard include a non-polysemous symbol, at least one of the plurality of the polysemous symbols of the second electronic screen overlay being displayed with at least one word different from the at least one word displayed with a similarly situated polysemous symbol previously displayed for selection on the initial electronic screen overlay, the integrated input and display device being further configured to either control output of at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase or display a third electronic screen overlay on the display in place of the second electronic screen overlay, in response to the processor determining selection of one of the non-polysemous symbols; and

an output device, configured to output at least one of a word, sentence, phoneme, message, letter, number, morpheme, command and phrase, the initial electronic screen overlay being displayed in place of the third electronic screen overlay, in response to the processor controlling the display of the third electronic screen and in response to the processor subsequently determining selection of one of the non-polysemous symbols of the third electronic screen overlay.

48. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein at least a majority of the non-polysemous symbols on the second electronic screen overlay belong to the same semantic category.

49. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the third electronic screen overlay includes a virtual keyboard, and wherein at least a majority of the plurality of keys on the virtual keyboard includes a non-polysemous symbol.

50. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein at least a majority of the non-polysemous symbols on the third electronic screen overlay belong to the same semantic category.

51. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein a unique name for each of the plurality of linked electronic screen overlays that corresponds to the symbol sequence is stored in memory.