Coarse-n-Fine Keyboard Layout for Mixed Reality Text Entry
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current AR and VR text entry methods, such as mid-air keyboards, suffer from slow typing speed, accuracy issues due to sensor limitations, and hands being occupied, necessitating innovative solutions for efficient text input in mixed-reality environments.
Innovation Solution
The Coarse-n-Fine keyboard layout, which divides the keyboard into coarse and fine areas, requiring a two-step selection process, utilizing multiple input sensors like eye-tracking and controllers, and suggesting words based on contextual information for improved accuracy and efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a standard QWERTY keyboard layout is used in AR/VR environments, then users can access all characters, but the text entry speed becomes slow and accuracy is reduced due to limited sensor precision and hand occupation
Solution Approach 1:
The keyboard layout is segmented into multiple groups of characters arranged in a grid pattern. Users first select a row group, then select a column group, and finally select the specific character at the intersection. This segmentation reduces the search space and enables faster, more accurate text entry by breaking down the complex task of selecting from all 26 letters into simpler sequential steps.
2Measurement precision
If multiple input sensors (eye-tracking, IMU, controllers) are integrated to improve selection accuracy, then text entry accuracy improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system is designed to support multiple input modalities (eye-tracking, IMU, controllers, gestures) that can all serve the same functional purpose of character selection. This multi-functionality allows the system to achieve high measurement precision through various sensors while managing complexity by providing flexible input options rather than requiring all sensors to be active simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-arranging characters in a grid layout and pre-processing sensor data to identify user intent before final character selection. This allows the system to leverage multiple sensors more effectively, as their data can be combined and processed in advance to narrow down selection options, thereby improving accuracy without proportionally increasing operational complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A system including a user interface that includes a processor in communication with a display and an input interface, the processor programmed to output on the display the user interface including a keyboard layout, wherein the keyboard layout includes at least a keyboard includes a collection of characters, in response to a first input from the input interface, output a first portion of the keyboard layout associated with a first subset of characters of the keyboard layout, wherein the first subset does not include all of the characters, in response to a second input from the input interface, select a second subset of characters, wherein the second subset of characters is from and include less characters than the first subset of characters and the second subset includes two or more characters, and output a character on a text field associated with the user interface based on the selection of the second subset.