Patent Application
20150286402
The disclosure pertains to devices with soft keyboards.
Many devices, such as mobile phones and tablets, have available an on-screen or soft keyboard. When using a soft keyboard, usually a user enters characters (e.g., letters, numerals, punctuation symbols) by tapping on soft keys one by one (a tap-style keyboard), or by moving a finger in fluid motion from one soft key to another (a swipe-style keyboard). Predictive technology is utilized by the mobile phone or tablet as a user enters characters using a soft keyboard, with sophisticated algorithms employed to predict a word before the user has completed typing out the word.
For tap-style keyboards, usually users are very focused on looking at the keys as they type, and do not look at the screen to see how the phone or tablet is interpreting their key presses until reaching the end of a word or sentence. Often, this requires users to backtrack and re-enter words if the predictive technology incorrectly predicts a word.
On swipe-style keyboards, present devices provide no live feedback during the swiping motion, often resulting in a user swiping entire words even if the correct word is predicted halfway through the motion. Although some devices with swipe-style keyboards offer suggestions in the middle of a word, it is difficult for the user to visually track the current suggestion while typing at the same time.
Exemplary embodiments of the disclosure are directed to systems and methods for live non-visual feedback during predictive text keyboard operation.
In an embodiment, a method provides feedback with a mobile device having a soft keyboard. The method comprises: generating a confidence level based on receiving a set of taps or locus of sensed positions on a soft keyboard; generating a set of candidate words in a dictionary based on the set of taps or locus of sensed positions; generating the confidence level as a function of the size of the set of candidate words; and providing feedback with the mobile device based on the generated confidence level
In another embodiment, an apparatus comprises: at least one processor; a display; a haptic feedback unit; and a memory to store instructions that when executed by the at least one processor cause the apparatus to perform a procedure comprising: generating a confidence level based on receiving a set of taps or locus of sensed positions on a soft keyboard displayed on the display; generating a set of candidate words in a dictionary based on the set of taps or locus of sensed positions; generating the confidence level as a function of the size of the set of candidate words; and providing feedback with the haptic feedback unit based on the generated confidence level.
In another embodiment, a non-transitory computer readable medium has stored instructions that when executed by at least one processor cause a mobile device to perform a method comprising: generating a confidence level based on receiving a set of taps or locus of sensed positions on a soft keyboard displayed on the mobile device; generating a set of candidate words in a dictionary based on the set of taps or locus of sensed positions; generating the confidence level as a function of the size of the set of candidate words; and providing feedback with the mobile device based on the generated confidence level.
The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description of various embodiments and are provided solely for illustration of the embodiments and not limitation thereof.
The description and related drawings are directed to specific embodiments. Alternate embodiments may be devised without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure relevant details.
The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Likewise, the term “embodiments” does not require that all embodiments include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of any embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising,” “includes,” and/or “including,” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Further, many embodiments are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, these sequence of actions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of computer readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that upon execution would cause an associated processor to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, various embodiments may take a number of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the embodiments described herein, the corresponding form of any such embodiments may be described herein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the described action.
Embodiments of the disclosure communicate to the user a level of confidence in word prediction as the user types out words in a soft keyboard. This communication is live in the sense that it is done in real-time, or near real-time, as the user enters characters by typing on a soft keyboard. This communication may be performed in a non-visual way to provide feedback indicative of the word prediction in such as manner as to not break a user's visual concentration when tapping or swiping the keys of the soft keyboard.
For some embodiments, the feedback communication may indicate either a low level of confidence, or a high level of confidence. A user may utilize feedback indicating a low level of confidence by quickly looking at the screen to see if the word prediction is correct, and if not correct, then re-entering the word but in a more careful fashion. A user may utilize feedback indicating a high level of confidence by immediately moving on to the next word, or perhaps moving on to the next word only after quickly checking as to whether the intended word has been correctly predicted.
It is to be understood that the functional units illustrated in
The representation of the architecture of the device 100 by the functional units illustrated in
A soft keyboard may be displayed on the display 112 by which a user may enter various characters that are interpreted by the device 100.
When using a soft keyboard, the confidence associated with the word prediction may be a function of the number of eligible (candidate) words available in a dictionary (set) of words. In a swipe-style keyboard, the confidence may also be a function of how closely the letters of the candidate words match the curve (locus of finger positions) of the user's motion on the swipe-style keyboard. For example, the positions where a user pauses on a key may be compared to the respective centers of the keys. As a particular example, in
For example, if the distance associated with a particular soft key is large in the sense that it is comparable to one-half of the width or height of a soft key, then the user may not have meant to pause on that particular soft key even though a prediction engine running on the processor 102 may have used the letter for that particular soft key as part of the intended word. Accordingly, the confidence value may be decreased based upon the number of soft keys for which the distance between the sensed position and the geometric center is greater than some threshold, where the threshold is comparable to one-half of the width or height of a soft key. Similarly, for a tap-style keyboard, the confidence value may also be a function of a metric based upon distances between the taps on the soft keys from their respective geometric centers.
Embodiments may utilize an upper threshold of confidence and a lower threshold of confidence when determining whether feedback is to be provided to the user. When the confidence falls outside the range defined by the upper and lower confidence thresholds, an embodiment notifies the user by a non-visual communication. Examples of such communications may include audio, a vibration pattern, or electro-vibratory haptic feedback. The cues provided to the user may be different depending upon whether the confidence level is too low (less than the lower confidence threshold) or too high (greater than the upper confidence threshold).
Too high a confidence may imply that the user can stop typing so that a predictive engine running on the processor 102 can complete auto-typing of the predicted word. Too low a confidence may imply that there is not a good word match or that the predictive engine is unlikely to predict the correct word, and accordingly the user may wish to revise their finger motion when using a swipe-type keyboard, or perhaps increase their accuracy with a tap-style keyboard.
In another embodiment, the level of confidence communicated to the user may comprise more than the two levels as discussed above, so that the level of confidence is communicated in an analog fashion. For example, the user holding a mobile phone may experience the phone vibrating on the left-hand side when the confidence level is low, and the vibration may move to the right hand side of the mobile phone as the confidence level increases. The vibration may be accomplished with one or more piezoelectric actuators. For example, multiple actuators may be employed to provide vibrations that are sensed by the user as moving from left to right, where the rightmost side indicates the highest level of confidence and the leftmost side the lowest level of confidence.
In another embodiment, for a swipe-style keyboard, electro vibration haptics may be employed to indicate a level of confidence that various soft keys represent the next correct letter in a word. For example, the feeling of friction that the user experiences when moving a finger toward a soft key may be reduced when with high confidence that soft key represents the correct next letter in the predicted word. Conversely, the feeling of friction may be increased in the direction of less-likely soft keys.
The confidence level may also be a function of the distances between soft key centers and positions at which the user taps the soft key, or where the user pauses when using a swipe-style keyboard (312). These taps or pauses are positions in the locus of positions 202. Associated with a soft key in a character sequence is a position in the locus of positions 202. For example, the confidence level may be a function of the sum of distances |c(n)−u(n)|, where the index n denotes the nth soft key in a character sequence, c(n) denotes the center of the nth key, and u(n) denotes the associated position in the locus of positions 202. That is, it is the position at which the user presses the soft key or pauses with their finger when using a swipe-style keyboard. The sum is over the index n, and may be a weighted sum. The confidence level may then be chosen as a function of the sum (or weighted sum), where the confidence level increases as the sum of distances for a character sequence decreases.
Depending upon the confidence level, feedback (314) is provided. For some embodiments, the feedback may depend upon whether the confidence level is less than a first threshold or greater than a second threshold. An example is illustrated in
The actions indicated by the flow diagram of
Embodiments may be used in data processing systems associated with the communication device 406, or with the base station 404C, or both, for example.
Those of skill in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.
Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the disclosure.
The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor.
Accordingly, an embodiment of the disclosure can include a computer readable media embodying a method for live non-visual feedback during predictive text keyboard operation. Accordingly, the disclosure is not limited to illustrated examples and any means for performing the functionality described herein are included in embodiments of the disclosure.
While the foregoing disclosure shows some illustrative embodiments, it should be noted that various changes and modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope of the appended claims. The functions, steps and/or actions of the method claims in accordance with the embodiments described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although some elements may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.
