Method for operating an electronic device or application and corresponding apparatus

Abstract

Methods for operating at least one electronic device and / or application comprising: Capturing an input of at least one character (31, 41, 51, 72, 82) independently of an input prompt, and displaying a data set on a display device (7, 8) depending on the captured at least one letter, wherein the data set is displayed as a list and wherein the input capture comprises capturing an input by speech and / or capturing a handwritten input on a touch-sensitive element (7, 8), characterized in that the display device (8) comprises a touch-sensitive screen and serves to capture the handwritten input, wherein the input of the at least one character comprises capturing a handwritten input of the at least one character on the display device (8) at the location of the display of the preceding data set.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to methods for operating electronic devices and / or applications, as well as corresponding devices, particularly in a vehicle such as a motor vehicle. The present invention further relates to correspondingly equipped vehicles.

[0002] The amount of data available to a driver of a motor vehicle has steadily increased in recent years. For example, large amounts of data for audio or video playback or navigation purposes can be accessed and corresponding applications controlled via an electronic control unit in a motor vehicle. This can also integrate media or contact data from internet-based services. Therefore, it is necessary to provide operating procedures and user interfaces that allow easy access to such data, for example, by enabling the selection of a desired piece of music or a desired navigation destination.

[0003] Particularly in a motor vehicle, it is desirable that such operation be as simple and efficient as possible in order to minimize driver distraction from operating devices and / or applications, for example via a control device such as a vehicle's infotainment system.

[0004] For example, DE 100 42 983 B4 discloses the ability to input alphanumeric characters into a navigation system to determine a destination. Such a method for a navigation system is also disclosed in DE 10 2008 049 636 A1.

[0005] From US patent 2003 / 0093419 A1, a system is known in which a user can enter information by voice input or by operating a touchscreen.

[0006] German patent DE 10 2009 021 124 A1 describes an operating system for a vehicle with an input unit, an output unit, and a so-called "speller function." Input can be entered character by character into the operating system. Depending on the entered character or string, the input is compared with an existing list entry and completed or partially completed accordingly. The output is then displayed on the output unit. In addition to the visual display, acoustic feedback is provided in the form of a tone signal.

[0007] From DE 100 03 737 A1, a method for inputting information into an electrical device is known. In this method, after a character of the alphabet is entered via an input unit, or if one or more characters have already been entered before the character being entered, the string formed from the previously or last entered characters is compared with information from a reference set. If the character matches the first character of information in the reference set, or if the string matches the beginning of information in the reference set, this information is displayed on a display unit as the information to be entered.

[0008] Furthermore, the following non-patented literature should be mentioned, which deals with the structure and function of a touchscreen, the functionality of an incremental search, and the basics of text input systems: Touchscreen. Wikipedia article. In: Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Revision date: June 27, 2011. URL: https: / / de.wikipedia.org / w / index.php?title=Touchscreen&oldid=90537127 - Incremental Search. In: Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Revision as of 16 September 2011. URL: https: / / en.wikipedia.org / w / index.php?title=Incremental search&oldid=450806376 - I. SCOTT MACKENZIE, Kumiko TAMAKA-ISHII: Text Entry Systems - Mobility, Accessibility, Universality. San Francisco, CA, USA: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc, 2007. ISBN 0123735912 97880489797

[0009] It is an object of the present invention to provide methods for operating an electronic device and / or an application as well as appropriately configured devices, which facilitate the operation of the device and which are particularly suitable for use in a vehicle.

[0010] This problem is solved by a method according to claim 1 and a device according to claim 7. The dependent claims define further embodiments.

[0011] The procedure includes capturing an input of at least one character, for example a letter, a digit or a symbol, independently of an input prompt, and displaying a set of data, e.g. a list, on a display device, e.g. a screen, depending on the at least one character.

[0012] By capturing input independently of prompts in this way, the electronic device can be operated by entering characters without the operator having to wait for prompts, such as input fields, or perform actions to generate such prompts. This simplifies the operation of the electronic device.

[0013] The input of at least one character can be done via two different input methods: voice input or handwriting input on a touch-sensitive screen, also known as a touchscreen, or another touch-sensitive element, such as a touchpad. This allows for great flexibility.

[0014] Preferably, the amount of data is displayed regardless of the input method used to enter the character. In other words, in such implementations, the different input methods are treated equally, so that it makes no difference to the user how they select the one or more characters.

[0015] In some embodiments, displaying the data set involves modifying an already displayed data set based on at least one character. For example, the initially displayed data set can be reduced based on the at least one character, so that, depending on the at least one character, only some elements of the initially displayed data set are shown, or a displayed portion of the data set can be changed depending on the at least one character. In other embodiments, entering the at least one character triggers a search across all or part of the data present in or linked to the electronic device, and the data set includes the search results.

[0016] If the displayed data set contains only one entry, in some embodiments a function linked to the entry can be executed automatically; otherwise, an entry can be selected from the data set to execute a function, for example by entering and capturing further characters or by selection using a control element of the electronic device.

[0017] A corresponding device comprises a detection device for capturing input of at least one character independently of an input prompt, a display device, and a control device configured to control the display device to display a data set depending on the at least one character. The detection device may, in particular, include a microphone for capturing voice input of the at least one character. According to the invention, the display device includes a touch-sensitive screen, which thus serves as part of the detection device for capturing handwritten input. The detection device may include a further touch-sensitive screen or another touch-sensitive element.

[0018] The device may be configured in particular to perform one or more of the procedures described above.

[0019] The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and exemplary embodiments. The drawings show: Fig. 1 a cockpit of a vehicle which is equipped with a device according to an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 2 a block diagram of an embodiment of a device according to the invention, Fig. 3-8 different examples of letter inputs according to embodiments of the invention, and Fig. 9 a flowchart to illustrate an embodiment of a method according to the invention.

[0020] Various embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail below. It should be noted that features of different embodiments can be combined unless otherwise specified. Conversely, a description of an embodiment with a multitude of features should not be interpreted as meaning that all of these features are necessary for carrying out the invention, since other embodiments may have fewer or alternative features.

[0021] In Fig. Figure 1 shows the cockpit of a vehicle 1, which is equipped with a device 2 according to an embodiment of the invention. The device 2 serves in particular to operate functions of the vehicle 1. For example, a radio, a navigation system, playback of stored music and / or an air conditioning system, other electronic devices, or other comfort functions or applications of the vehicle 1 can be controlled with the device 2. Such devices are also known as infotainment systems. The device 2 has a display device in the area of ​​a center console of the vehicle 1 in the form of a touch-sensitive screen 8, also referred to as a touchscreen, wherein this screen 8 can be easily viewed and operated by both a driver of the vehicle 1 and a passenger of the vehicle 1.Below the screen 8, mechanical controls, such as buttons, rotary knobs or combinations thereof, such as push-button rotary knobs, may also be arranged.

[0022] In Fig. Figure 2 schematically illustrates a possible embodiment of the device 2 according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. Components of the device 2, which are shown in Fig. 1 not shown, can nevertheless also be used in the exemplary embodiment of Fig. 1 must be present and located in a suitable place in vehicle 1, for example in the cockpit of the vehicle.

[0023] Device 2 of the exemplary embodiment of the Fig. 2 comprises various means and devices for capturing user input, for example, a microphone 6 connected to a control unit 5, the control unit 5 being equipped with an analysis unit 4 for processing and analyzing speech input via the microphone 6. In addition, the touchscreen 8 is provided for capturing input by touch. Furthermore, another touchscreen 7 may be provided. This additional touchscreen 7 may also be a detachable terminal device with a touch-sensitive surface, such as a smartphone or tablet computer.This terminal device can, for example, be placed in a designated holder in the vehicle and establish a data connection to the control unit 5 of the device 2, for example a wireless connection such as a Bluetooth connection or a wired connection. In other embodiments, instead of the additional touch-sensitive screen 7, another touch-sensitive element, for example a so-called touchpad, can be provided. As will be explained in more detail later, graphic objects 12 and lists 15, in particular, can be displayed on the screen 8 or 7, whereby the display of the lists can depend on input from a user, in particular a driver of the vehicle.

[0024] The control unit 5 can optionally be connected to a camera system 9, which monitors an area around the screen 8. The camera system 9 can be positioned, for example, next to the screen 8 or at a suitable location in the cockpit or on the ceiling of the passenger compartment and can, in particular, capture gestures without contact even in front of the screen's display area, thus creating an additional input modality.

[0025] In the illustrated embodiment, the control unit 5 integrates a data storage device 3, which can store various pieces of information, such as information about available music tracks or information relating to a navigation system. Furthermore, the control unit 5 includes the analysis unit 4, which analyzes user input and can trigger functions in the vehicle based on this analysis, for example, changing the display on the screen 8 or initiating other functions, such as playing music tracks.

[0026] The control unit 5 is connected to a data bus 10 in the vehicle 1, via which it can communicate with other functional units 11A, 11B in the vehicle 1, wherein the functional units 11A, 11B have data storage devices 3A and 3B, respectively. Such functional units can include, for example, a navigation system, a music playback device, or a device for setting and operating various functions in the vehicle 1. The data storage devices 3A, 3B can then contain, for example, map data in the case of a navigation system or music data such as MP3 files in the case of a music playback system. Information about which data is located in the data storage devices 3A, 3B can be stored in the memory 3 of the control unit 5. In other embodiments, the control unit 5 accesses the functional units 11A, 11B directly to obtain such information.

[0027] As will be explained in more detail below using examples, the device 2 provides, in particular, possibilities by which an operator can easily locate content, for example, content stored in memory 3 or in data storage devices 3A and 3B, or select from a larger number of items. For this purpose, characters, such as letters, numbers, or symbols, can be entered by hand via screen 8 or screen 7, or entered as speech via microphone 6, especially for selection in lists. Various examples of this are given below with reference to the Fig. 3 to 8 explained.

[0028] In Fig. Figure 3 shows an example of a display on the touchscreen 8, which, for instance, involves selecting a musical artist. A list 30 displays various artists whose names begin with Pete. An operator can then manually enter another letter, for example, "R" 31, which further refines the list 30. Examples of such list refinements will be explained later. This type of functionality can generally be provided when lists are displayed without requiring a separate input request or operator input.

[0029] Especially with smaller screens like those in Fig. As shown in Figure 4, writing a letter (41) can be done directly on a list (40). Such smaller screens could, for example, be screens like screen 7. Fig. 2, which can be assigned to a mobile device such as a smartphone. In the example of the Fig. 4 is represented as the character or letter T. Writing directly to lists or other datasets can also be advantageous when other data is displayed in other areas of the screen, making it easy to assign the character to a search within the list. For example, when writing directly to a list, the analysis unit 4 of the Fig. 2. The system must be configured to distinguish between typing a letter and other user gestures, such as scrolling a list. This can be achieved, for example, by reserving an area at the edge of the list for such additional gestures, or by interpreting an input as an additional gesture if it cannot be assigned to a letter.

[0030] It should be noted that in addition to operating or specifying the lists using characters, the list can also be operated with other control elements, such as a rotary push-button mentioned earlier.

[0031] In further embodiments, when a character, such as a letter, is entered (e.g., handwritten input), and no list or other data is displayed, a search can be initiated based on that letter, and then a corresponding data set, for example, in a list, can be displayed. The search can be a global search across all content of the electronic device and / or its associated functions, or a search limited to a subset of the content. The type of search performed can be context-dependent. For example, if a user interface for music playback is displayed on a screen like screen 8, a search can be performed only on music-related data, such as searching for artists and / or music tracks.If, however, a screen display cannot be assigned to a specific application (for example, a menu display that can be used to access various applications such as music playback, navigation, or vehicle settings), a global search across all content can be performed. Such a search can be triggered, in particular, when typing on an empty area of ​​the screen.

[0032] With reference to the Fig. 3 and Fig. Section 4 explained operation via handwritten character input. Additionally or alternatively, characters can also be entered by speaking them, for example, via the [function / method - context needed]. Fig. 2. Microphone 6. Preferably, both options are provided, so that different modalities for character input are available. Preferably, handwritten and spoken characters are treated equally, i.e., they trigger the same reactions. This will now be discussed with reference to Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 explained.

[0033] In Fig. List 50 is displayed on the left. By manually entering a character 51, here an "M", the list is modified to list 52, in this case only displaying list items beginning with the letter "M". Additionally, the recognized character, in this case "M", can be briefly displayed as the letter 53 on the list, for example, in a transparent form.

[0034] In Fig. Figure 6 essentially depicts the same process, except that instead of a handwritten input of the letter 51, a voice input of a character 54, also an "M", is used. Otherwise, the system's response is the same as in Figure 6. Fig. 6 is displayed exactly as if the input were handwritten.

[0035] A list can be modified in various ways by entering a character, for example by writing a letter on the list or by voice input. Two possibilities for this are described in the Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 shown.

[0036] In the example of the Fig. The letter 72, in this case a "Z", is written to a list 70, which, for example, shows various artists. As a result, the list is now displayed as list 71 with only those elements that begin with "Z", in this case only a single element. Thus, the list content changes with this procedure.

[0037] In the example of the Fig. 8 again displays a list 80 with various artists. Upon entering a letter 82, in this case a "W", the list is shifted ("scrolled"). In this example, the display then changes as indicated by a reference mark 81, meaning the beginning of the displayed section of the list corresponds to the first entry that begins with "W". The content of the list itself is not changed in this process, but the displayed list positions change. The possibility of Fig. Option 8 is particularly suitable for sorted lists.

[0038] It should be noted that input is not limited to a single character; multiple characters, such as letters, can be entered consecutively, for example, as a word or word part. With sufficient space on a touchscreen, this can be done as handwritten input side-by-side, or multiple characters, such as a word or word part, can be spoken consecutively. With limited space, such as on a smartphone, the characters can be written one on top of the other. Evaluation unit 4 can be configured to consider multiple consecutively entered characters as belonging together if no more than a predefined time interval elapses between the inputs.

[0039] In Fig. Figure 9 shows a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method according to the invention. The method of Fig. 9 can, for example, be in device 2 of the Fig. 1 and Fig. It can be implemented in 2, but can also be used independently of this.

[0040] Step 91 involves handwriting input of one or more characters. Alternatively, step 92 allows for voice input of one or more characters. Optionally, speech recognition can be activated in a preceding step 90, for example, by a user action, to prevent normal conversations in a vehicle from being interpreted as voice input.

[0041] Regardless of how one or more letters are entered, the procedure continues in the same way in step 93, which checks the context in which the characters were entered. If the characters were entered from a list, the list is modified in step 95, for example, as described above. Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 explained. If the character input was not generated on a list and / or no list was displayed, a search is performed across content in step 94 and the search result is displayed, for example, as a list, whereby, depending on the context, the search can be global or only across a subset of available content, as explained above.

[0042] It should be noted that the exemplary embodiments shown above serve only for illustrative purposes and are not to be interpreted as limiting. In particular, various modifications and variations of the exemplary embodiments described above are possible.

[0043] For example, instead of lists, other ways of displaying data sets can be used, such as pictograms representing individual data points. The different data elements, such as list items or pictograms, do not necessarily have to be arranged vertically as shown in the figures.

[0044] If the number of elements in a list is reduced to one by character input, in some implementation examples a function linked to the remaining element can be executed without further consultation with an operator, for example, a corresponding piece of music can be played or navigation to a corresponding destination can be started.

[0045] Although the embodiments described above relate to the use of the invention in a vehicle, the invention can generally be applied to electronic devices, in particular to electronic devices which have a touch-sensitive screen or other touch-sensitive element and / or a microphone.

Claims

[1] Method for operating at least one electronic device and / or application comprising: Capturing an input of at least one character (31, 41, 51, 72, 82) independently of an input prompt, and displaying a set of data on a display device (7, 8) depending on the captured at least one letter, wherein the set of data is displayed as a list and wherein the capture of an input includes capturing an input by speech and / or capturing a handwritten input on a touch-sensitive element (7, 8), characterized by , that the display device (8) comprises a touch-sensitive screen and serves to capture handwritten input, wherein capturing the input of the at least one character comprises capturing a handwritten input of the at least one character on the display device (8) at the location of the display of the preceding data set. [2] Method according to claim 1, characterized by , that the handwritten input on the display device (8) is made by writing at least one character directly on lists (40, 50, 70, 80). [3] Method according to claim 2, characterized by , that the character (53) recognized by the input is briefly displayed on the displayed list (52). [4] Method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by , that the input of the at least one character can be optionally captured via at least two different input modalities, whereby a camera system (9) monitors an area around the display device (8) and thereby creates a further input modality. [5] Method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising: Displaying a previous set of data on the display device (8) before capturing the input of the at least one letter, wherein the display of the data set is achieved by modifying the display of the previous set of data. [6] Method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one character comprises at least one letter, at least one digit and / or at least one symbol. [7] Device (2) comprising: a capture device (6, 7, 8) for capturing an input of at least one character independently of an input prompt, a display device (7, 8), and a control device (5) which is configured to control the display device (8) to display a set of data depending on at least one letter, characterized bythat the display device (8) comprises a touch-sensitive screen, wherein the device (2) is configured to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 [8] Device (2) according to claim 7, characterized by , that the control device (5) has an analysis unit (4) which analyzes user input and can trigger functions depending on it, wherein the analysis unit (4) is configured to distinguish between writing a letter and other operating gestures, such as scrolling a list, when writing directly onto a list. [9] Vehicle (1), characterized by a device (2) according to claim 7 or 8. [10] Vehicle (1) according to claim 9, characterized by , that the control unit (5) is connected to a camera system (9) and can detect gestures without contact even in front of a display area of ​​the touch-sensitive screen of the display unit (8).

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