Soft Keyboard Character Input with Enlarged Preview on Touch Screen
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Solution Overview
Problem
Portable terminals with touch screens, such as PDAs, experience frequent character input errors due to their limited screen size, leading to inconvenience and time consumption during character editing.
Innovation Solution
The method involves displaying characters enlarged on a touch screen, allowing users to input characters by touching and releasing on a soft keyboard, with recommended words predicted and displayed, and characters input to the main screen area upon touch release, enabling error-free character input.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If characters are input by touching the soft keyboard displayed on the touch screen, then character input is enabled, but input errors occur frequently due to limited screen size
Solution Approach 1:
The screen is divided into two distinct areas: a main screen area for displaying application content and a character input area for displaying the soft keyboard and input characters. This segmentation allows the input area to be optimized for character display without compromising the main screen's functionality, thereby improving input accuracy while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
A character input area acts as an intermediary between the soft keyboard and the main screen area. When a character is touched on the soft keyboard, it is first displayed in the character input area where users can confirm it before it is transferred to the main screen area. This intermediary step prevents input errors by allowing users to verify characters before final input.
2Ease of operation
If the soft keyboard is displayed on the touch screen, then character input is possible, but screen space is limited causing frequent errors
Solution Approach 1:
The display screen is segmented into two functional areas: the main screen area for primary content and the character input area for keyboard and character display. This segmentation allows efficient use of limited screen space by dedicating specific regions to specific functions, preventing space conflicts and improving input accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The character input area is positioned at a location different from the main screen area, creating a spatial dimension for character confirmation. This dimensional separation allows users to visually confirm characters in the input area before they appear in the main screen area, improving input accuracy without consuming additional screen space.
3Reliability
If characters are confirmed before input, then input errors are reduced, but additional time is required for confirmation
Solution Approach 1:
Characters are displayed in the character input area in advance of being transferred to the main screen area. This preliminary display allows users to confirm characters before final input, improving accuracy. The system prepares the character for input in the input area, and users can verify it before it is committed to the main screen, reducing the need for corrective editing later.
4Measurement precision
If the touched character is displayed enlarged in a predetermined screen area, then character confirmation is improved, but screen layout complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The screen is divided into distinct functional areas with the character input area dedicated to displaying enlarged input characters. This segmentation provides a clear, organized layout where each area has a specific purpose, reducing overall layout complexity while improving character display clarity in the input area.
Solution Approach 2:
The character input area provides localized enhanced display quality for input characters, displaying them in a larger size than in the main screen area. This local quality enhancement improves character confirmation without requiring the entire screen to have complex layout features, maintaining overall layout simplicity while improving local display clarity.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided are an apparatus and method for inputting characters in a portable terminal. The method for inputting characters in a portable terminal includes the steps of: performing a soft keyboard when in a character input mode; recognizing a character touched on the soft keyboard; displaying the recognized character enlarged and displaying one or more recommended words formed by combining characters which have been touched so far in a predetermined screen area; and inputting the character displayed enlarged to a main screen area upon detecting the release of touch.