Scrollable Auxiliary Virtual Keyboard for Mobile Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing touch-sensitive devices face challenges in displaying extended or modifier keys on virtual keyboards due to space limitations, making it difficult for users to access function keys, cursor keys, and other special function keys on mobile devices with limited screen real estate.
Innovation Solution
A touch screen device with a processor and operating system configured to display an auxiliary virtual keyboard as a scrollable strip of keys, allowing users to access a subset of auxiliary keys, which can include modifier keys, function keys, and positional keys, and providing responses similar to physical hardware keyboards, enabling key-code and key-event generation for identified touched keys.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If all auxiliary keys are displayed on the virtual keyboard, then key accessibility is improved, but screen space is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The auxiliary keyboard is segmented into multiple pages, with each page displaying a subset of keys. Users can navigate between pages to access different groups of auxiliary keys, allowing comprehensive key availability while maintaining a compact display that fits within limited screen space.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a temporal dimension through pagination, transforming the spatial problem of fitting all keys into a time-based navigation system. Keys are organized in pages that users can switch between, effectively adding a time-based access layer without increasing spatial footprint.
2Ease of operation
If a scrollable strip of auxiliary keys is implemented, then key accessibility is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The auxiliary keyboard implements dynamic pagination where the displayed page changes in response to user interactions such as scrolling gestures or keyboard navigation. This dynamic behavior allows the interface to adapt to user needs while maintaining a consistent visual structure, balancing accessibility with manageable complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If modifier keys and function keys are added to the virtual keyboard, then functionality is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to space constraints
Solution Approach 1:
Modifier keys and function keys are segmented into dedicated sections within the auxiliary keyboard pages. This organization groups related keys together, making them systematically accessible while maintaining a compact layout that preserves ease of operation despite the increased functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
A touch screen device configured to implement an auxiliary virtual keyboard on a touch screen, the device having touch/gesture sensing and image display functions, a processor, and memory storing control code and data defining the keyboard comprising a set of keys and a key layout map. The processor is configured to determine a size of a window in which the keyboard is to be displayed as a strip of keys; send instructions to display a partial view of the keyboard within the window so that a subset of keys are displayed, whereby the keyboard is scrollable in response to user input to alter the partial view to display a different subset of keys; receive touch data; map said touch data to a key using the key layout map to identify a touched key; and provide a response dependent on the identified touched key.