Virtual Keyboard Predictive Text Display Method
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Solution Overview
Problem
Character input on touchscreens for electronic devices, such as smartphones and tablets, is cumbersome due to the small screen size, requiring users to divert attention from the keyboard to view and consider predictive text suggestions, leading to eye strain, inefficiency, and wasted processing cycles.
Innovation Solution
A method that allows users to input characters without diverting attention from the virtual keyboard by generating and displaying predictive text options directly on the keyboard, adjusting for typing mistakes, and using contextual data to rank and display suggestions at appropriate locations, enhancing efficiency, accuracy, and speed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If predictive text suggestions are displayed separately from the keyboard, then users can see and consider suggestions, but users must divert attention from the keyboard causing eye strain and inefficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the predictive text suggestions with the virtual keyboard by displaying suggestions directly on keyboard keys. When a user types a sequence of characters, the system identifies the next likely character and displays it as a suggestion on the corresponding key, allowing users to see suggestions without diverting attention from the keyboard layout.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the vertical dimension of the keyboard display by showing multiple characters stacked on each key. Instead of displaying suggestions in a separate horizontal area, the system stacks predictive characters vertically on the relevant keys, maximizing space utilization and keeping suggestions within the keyboard area.
2Ease of operation
If predictive text suggestions are displayed on the keyboard, then users can maintain focus on the keyboard, but processing cycles are wasted generating suggestions for every input
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-generates and stores predictive text suggestions in a database during system initialization or idle periods. When a user types, the system queries this pre-computed database rather than generating suggestions in real-time, significantly reducing processing cycles during active typing.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses contextual analysis of the user's typing pattern and the current input sequence to self-determine which suggestions to display, eliminating the need for continuous external processing or complex real-time generation for every character input.
3Measurement precision
If the system generates predictions based on all possible character sequences, then accuracy is improved, but the complexity of the prediction system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different levels of predictive analysis to different contexts. Instead of uniformly complex analysis for all inputs, the system uses contextual cues from the current sequence and user habits to determine the appropriate depth of prediction, simplifying analysis where possible and applying more complex analysis only when needed for accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts prediction parameters such as the length of the character sequence to analyze and the number of suggestions to generate, based on the current typing context and user behavior patterns, optimizing the balance between accuracy and complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes receiving an input string from a virtual keyboard, generating at least one string based on the input string, where the input string is not a substring of the generated string, responsive to a determination that the generated string was previously generated based on the input string, selecting a candidate character associated with the input string and with the generated string, and displaying the generated string at a location on the virtual keyboard that is associated with the selected candidate character.