Soft Keyboard Activation Region Adaptation for Typo Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for using touch-sensitive surfaces for digital soft keyboards are cumbersome and inefficient, leading to frequent typographical errors, which waste user time and battery life in battery-operated devices.
Innovation Solution
A method that detects and responds to typographical errors by adjusting the activation region and sensitivity of soft keys on a touch-screen display, such as enlarging the activation region of the intended key or decreasing the sensitivity of adjacent keys, to reduce the likelihood of future errors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the activation region of soft keys is enlarged to prevent typographical errors, then typing accuracy is improved, but the probability of adjacent key activation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating the activation sensitivity of different key regions. The intended key has increased activation sensitivity (larger activation region) while adjacent keys have decreased activation sensitivity (smaller activation region or higher activation threshold). This local differentiation allows the system to accommodate varying activation requirements across different spatial locations of the keyboard, enabling accurate key selection without triggering adjacent keys.
2Reliability
If the activation sensitivity of adjacent keys is decreased to prevent errors, then typing accuracy is improved, but the ease of operation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by implementing spatially varying activation sensitivity across the keyboard. Each key region is configured with appropriate activation characteristics: the intended key region has high sensitivity for easy activation, while adjacent key regions have reduced sensitivity to prevent accidental activation. This localized differentiation maintains overall ease of operation while improving typing accuracy.
3Device complexity
If conventional soft keyboard methods are used, then device complexity is kept low, but typographical errors occur frequently
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the activation sensitivity of soft keys adaptive rather than static. The system dynamically adjusts the activation characteristics of key regions based on detected typographical errors. When a typo is detected, the activation sensitivity of relevant keys is automatically modified to prevent recurrence. This dynamic adaptation enables the keyboard system to improve typing accuracy over time without requiring complex hardware changes.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for preventing typographical errors on digital soft keyboards are implemented by a computing device with a touch-screen display. According to one technique, a plurality of soft keys of a soft keyboard is displayed on the touch-screen display. Each soft key covers an area of the touch-screen display. One or more occurrences of a particular typographical error in which a user erroneously selects an adjacent soft key in addition to or instead of an intended soft key are detected. In response, an activation region of the intended soft key is changed to decrease the probability of the user making the same typographical error in the future.