Virtual Keypad Touchpad Zone Remapping for Text Input
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern remote control devices for electronic consumer products, such as TVs, become complex due to additional buttons required for internet-based services, making them difficult to use without distracting the user from their viewing experience.
Innovation Solution
A virtual keypad system integrated into a remote controller with a touchpad divided into zones, a display device for showing a user interface, and modules for prediction and key mapping to facilitate text input, allowing users to input text without looking at the remote control by predicting next keys and adjusting touchpad zones accordingly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If additional buttons are added to the remote control for internet-based services and text input, then the functionality and versatility are improved, but the device complexity and ease of operation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the keypad on the TV screen rather than adding physical buttons to the remote. The virtual keypad displayed on the display device replicates the functionality of physical keys, allowing text input without modifying the remote control hardware. This resolves the contradiction by providing additional functionality through software visualization rather than physical addition.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions the keypad interface from a two-dimensional physical surface on the remote to a displayed interface on the TV screen, utilizing the display dimension. The touchpad on the remote controls a cursor that moves across the virtual keypad on the screen, adding the dimension of visual feedback and screen-based interaction to the text input process.
2Measurement precision
If users look at the remote control to press buttons, then the accuracy of button pressing is improved, but the user attention and viewing experience deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides visual feedback by displaying the virtual keypad and cursor position on the TV screen, allowing users to see which key would be activated without looking at the remote. The cursor movement on the screen gives real-time feedback about the intended key selection, maintaining accuracy while keeping the user's eyes on the screen content.
Solution Approach 2:
The cursor acts as an intermediary between the touchpad input and the virtual key selection. Instead of directly pressing physical buttons, the user interacts with the touchpad which moves the cursor on the screen, and the cursor's position indicates the selected key. This intermediary visual indicator allows accurate selection without requiring the user to look at the remote control buttons.
3Ease of operation
If a virtual keypad is displayed on the screen with cursor movement, then the ease of operation is improved, but the productivity and input speed deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements prediction functionality that anticipates which key the user intends to select based on the cursor's movement trajectory and the context of text being entered. By predicting the next likely key, the system can pre-position indicators or activate keys before the cursor fully reaches them, reducing the time needed for each key selection and maintaining input speed despite the visual interface.
Data Source
AI summary
Accordingly, a virtual keypad system for inputting text is provided. A virtual keypad system includes a remote controller having at least one touchpad incorporated therein and divided into a plurality of touch zones. A display device is in data communication with the remote controller and is operable to display a user interface including a keypad, where each key of the keypad is mapped to a touch zone of the touchpad. A prediction module, in response to an operator pressing a given touch zone to select a particular character, performs one or more key prediction methods to predict one or more next plausible keys. A key mapping module remaps the touch zones of the touchpad to the keys of the keypad based on the one or more next plausible keys.