Hybrid Keyboard With Grouped Keys And Visual Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional mobile devices face challenges with physical keyboards that occupy significant space and virtual keyboards that can be cumbersome, leading to typing difficulties due to small or fewer keys, which are not ergonomic.
Innovation Solution
A hybrid keyboard for mobile devices featuring smaller, grouped physical keys with capacitive touch sensors that display corresponding characters onscreen, providing visual feedback and haptic force feedback to improve typing ergonomics and user experience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a physical keyboard is provided, then typing ergonomics and accuracy are improved, but device frontal space is significantly occupied
Solution Approach 1:
The physical keyboard is segmented into multiple smaller key groups arranged in a compact layout, allowing the keyboard to occupy less frontal space while maintaining adequate key size for ergonomics. The keys are organized in clusters that can be selectively activated based on typing context.
Solution Approach 2:
The keyboard layout transitions from a traditional full-row arrangement to a multi-dimensional compact arrangement where keys are organized in vertical and diagonal groupings, effectively utilizing three-dimensional space to reduce the frontal footprint while preserving key accessibility.
2Area of stationary object
If a virtual keyboard is displayed, then device space is preserved, but typing becomes cumbersome due to small key size
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges physical and virtual keyboard characteristics by providing tactile physical keys that trigger visual displays on the screen. This combination allows the device to maintain compact form factor while providing both tactile feedback and visual confirmation for accurate typing.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides dual feedback mechanisms: tactile feedback through physical key press and visual feedback through onscreen character display. This immediate visual confirmation reduces typing errors and improves accuracy without requiring larger physical keys.
3Ease of operation
If slide-out keyboard is provided, then full-size keys are achieved, but device girth, weight and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the essential typing function from the complex slide-out mechanism by providing static physical keys directly on the device surface. This eliminates the need for moving parts and mechanical complexity while maintaining adequate key size for comfortable typing.
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical slide-out keyboard system is replaced with a static physical key layout combined with electronic display. The tactile feedback function is maintained through physical keys while the visual feedback function is handled electronically, eliminating complex mechanical movements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The hybrid keyboard allows for efficient and accurate text entry by displaying character groups onscreen, enhancing user experience through visual and tactile feedback, thus addressing the limitations of conventional keyboards.
Implementation Method 1
The keys may have capacitive touch sensors to detect contact or proximity of a finger or thumb
Data Source
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AI summary
A mobile device has a user interface comprising a plurality of keys arranged in a plurality of groups. A processor is operatively coupled to the user input device to receive user input from the user input device and to identify which group of keys has received the user input. A display is operatively coupled to the processor for displaying characters corresponding to the keys of the group in response to the user input. The keys may have capacitive touch sensors with haptic feedback.