US20030006956A1 - Data entry device recording input in two dimensions - Google Patents
Data entry device recording input in two dimensions Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20030006956A1 US20030006956A1 US09/317,518 US31751899A US2003006956A1 US 20030006956 A1 US20030006956 A1 US 20030006956A1 US 31751899 A US31751899 A US 31751899A US 2003006956 A1 US2003006956 A1 US 2003006956A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- data entry
- entry device
- input
- identifiers
- discrete
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
Images
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
- G06F3/02—Input arrangements using manually operated switches, e.g. using keyboards or dials
- G06F3/023—Arrangements for converting discrete items of information into a coded form, e.g. arrangements for interpreting keyboard generated codes as alphanumeric codes, operand codes or instruction codes
- G06F3/0233—Character input methods
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
- G06V10/00—Arrangements for image or video recognition or understanding
- G06V10/10—Image acquisition
- G06V10/17—Image acquisition using hand-held instruments
Definitions
- This invention relates to a method which permits a user to input data (including Chinese strokes and characters, Roman letters and Arabic numerals) using a compact input device in a novel and convenient manner.
- strokes of Chinese characters can be classified into certain number of basic stroke types. A typical example of that number is 26. We refer to such a number as N. These N basic strokes can be further grouped into 5 to 9 stroke categories according to various defining criteria. From now onwards, we refer to the stroke categories simply as strokes.
- a user enters the strokes of a character by pressing on the corresponding keys one at a time.
- a set of candidate characters is generated and presented on a display as matching alternatives.
- the displayed set of candidate characters is updated with every entry of a stroke. The user selects the character he or she wants from the set of candidate characters.
- This method involves two steps when inputting a letter. First, a specific key is to be selected from the keypad for the intended letter. Second, the user needs to press that particular key for an exact number of times in order to retrieve the letter. The latter step can be avoided by using a disambiguation scheme such as that described in Arnott, J. L et al, “Probabalistic Character Disambiguation for Reduced Keyboards Using Small Text Samples”, Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 1992.
- a data entry device comprising an array of switching elements capable of recording input movement between at least four discrete points arranged in two dimensions and providing a series of discrete inputs.
- the array of switching elements may be touch-sensitive or proximity-sensitive switches or pushbuttons and may be activated with a pen, finger or stylus, or they may be discrete points of operation of a joystick, trackball, mouse or similar device. They may be arranged at points of a compass or in a two-dimensional matrix array.
- a table of handwriting input identifiers (e.g. strokes, character components, characters or pseudo-characters) is stored in memory with at least one series of discrete inputs for each handwriting input identifier.
- the table of handwriting input identifiers is indexed (e.g. by a look-up operation or a search operation) with a series of discrete inputs received from the array of switching elements. In this manner, a handwriting input represented by the series of discrete inputs is identified and may be displayed to the user or stored or otherwise used as original data entry.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a data entry device in accordance with the invention.
- FIGS. 2 a - 2 f are diagrams showing different examples of stroke inputs using a four-switch input device.
- FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating operation of the program controlling the microprocessor of FIG. 1.
- FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are a front view, rear view and elevation view respectively of a joystick-type device for use in place of the input device of FIG. 1.
- FIG. 7 is a diagram of examples of Roman letter input using a four-switch input device.
- FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of the invention.
- a data entry device 10 (such as a cellular telephone, a wireless messaging communicator, a personal digital assistant, a memo-writer or other device) is shown comprising a microprocessor 11 , an input device 12 , a display 13 (or other output device such as a RF or IR link), a program memory 14 and a data memory 15 .
- the input device may take a number of forms, any of which is capable of recording input movement between at least four discrete points arranged in two dimensions.
- it comprises four push keys 20 in a matrix or square of about 1.5 cm in height and 1.5 cm width, with one key at each corner.
- the top-left key is numbered 1 , the top-right 2 , the bottom-left 3 , and the bottom-right 4 .
- Each key can be sensitive to pressure or sensitive to merely the presence of the fingertip on or near the key.
- the four keys provide four inputs into the microprocessor.
- the four inputs are illustrated as four discrete lines, but it will be understood that four data states can be represented by two data lines (with or without a “data active” line).
- the data entry device 10 may have further buttons (not shown) for other functions.
- it preferably has a 12-key keypad for entry of digits 0-9 and for calling. Scrolling keys may be provided for menu control.
- the memory 15 is illustrated as having two tables 25 and 26. Tables are not essential, but it will be explained below that tables are a useful and convenient manner of translating inputs from the input device 12 into primitive handwriting elements and (if required by the ultimate character set of the language in question) for translating primitive handwriting elements into data characters.
- a user enters vector or movement strokes into the input device 12 by passing his or her finger across the keys 20 in two dimensions in a horizontal plane.
- the input device 12 generates a series or sequence of discrete inputs to the microprocessor 11 , dependent on the keys activated. This is explained in greater detail below with reference to language examples.
- the microprocessor under the control of program code stored in program memory 14 , performs a look-up or search operation in the memory 15 to uniquely identify the intended character or to identify the most likely intended character.
- a character is uniquely identified by the microprocessor 11 , it is displayed on display 13 . Where several likely intended characters are identified, one or more is or are displayed on display 13 . Where one character only is displayed, the character that is deemed to be the most likely intended character is displayed. Where several candidate characters are displayed, these are displayed in a selection list in decreasing order of likelihood of usage. Likelihood of intended usage is determined by frequency information in the memory 15 , showing the frequency of usage of a character in the language in question (or the relative frequency of usage from among several candidates) or the frequency of usage of a character in the context of the character in the language (e.g. taking into account the previous N characters). A more detailed explanation is set out below.
- an apparatus for inputting Chinese strokes.
- Strokes 1 - 6 are illustrated in FIGS. 2 a - 2 f respectively.
- a stroke is classified as “clockwise turn” type if and only if the first turn of the stroke is of clockwise direction, no matter how many turns may follow thereafter and no matter what direction they are. The same applies to the “counter-clockwise turn” stroke type.
- a thumb move path is the sequence of keys which have been visited during a preset time period from the first key of the sequence being visited until a pre-defined time-off is detected.
- a time-off is the time elapse from the moment the previous key is visited to the moment the next key is visited.
- the microprocessor 11 Upon entering strokes using discrete thumb, finger, stylus, trackball, mouse or other two-dimensional stroke inputs, i.e. discrete signals representative of discrete vectors, the microprocessor 11 translates the vector inputs into strokes using Table 1 and then performs a tabular look-up or other search in table 26 in memory 15 for Chinese characters corresponding to the stroke inputs.
- a two-stage translation is preferred, as this reduces the size of table 26, but it is not necessary.
- Chinese character identifiers can alternatively be stored in table 26 in a manner indexable by a raw vector input sequence.
- a method for storing and performing look-up of Chinese characters from primitive stroke data is described in co-pending patent application No. 08/806,504 of Chen, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference, which describes a table of digit streams representative of characters in a desired language and character addresses corresponding to the digit streams.
- the digit streams are equivalent to sequences of strokes (e.g. strokes 1 - 6 above).
- the digit streams can be key sequences representative of stroke vectors.
- a further table 27 of characters located at addresses corresponding to character addresses from table 26 is also described in the co-pending patent application, and illustrated in FIG. 3 herein.
- a character is read from table 27 located at a character address obtained from table 26.
- Characters in the table 27 that have a common stroke sequence (or common digit stream) are stored in order of relatively decreasing frequency of use. This scheme allows for changing the relative addresses of characters in the table 27 to adjust for relative frequency of use of characters.
- a further table 28 can optionally be provided to perform bigram look-up operations.
- the output of table 27 (or table 28 if used) is standard hexGB coding of one or more Chinese characters.
- a further look-up is used to obtain and display the pictorial representation of the character.
- the above method has the following two notable and advantageous features. First, it makes use of only four keys. Therefore, the keypad can be relatively small in size. The four keys are distinctively positioned, the chance of getting confused with different keys and thus resulting misfires on wrong keys has been greatly reduced.
- this method does not require a one-to-one match from an actual writing stroke to a designated key. Instead, it associates the thumb move path over the keys with the actual writing trajectory of the intended stroke. This builds an intuitive relationship between the stroke writing and key pressing processes.
- the definition of six fundamental strokes allows 17 different kinds of entry variations in total, which cover all N basic stroke types. It has an unprecedented feature that the majority of basic strokes can be drawn on the 4-key keypad. This scheme makes it possible that a user only needs to look at the set of candidate characters and make a selection among them without the need of watching closely the movement of the thumb over the keys on the keypad. It allows a user to input strokes in a natural and convenient manner.
- a list of strokes is defined for each of the 26 uppercase Roman letters, as shown in Table 2.
- the first column is the corresponding uppercase Roman letter, the second column is the number of variations of strokes.
- the third column is the strokes defined as the sequence of keys to be pressed during the time period from the first key of the sequence is visited until a pre-defined time-off is detected.
- a time-off is defined as the maximum time elapse allowed from the moment a key is visited to the moment its subsequent key is visited.
- the strokes can be drawn on four keys by moving around the thumb or a finger. This is illustrated in FIG. 4 for the first four letters of the Roman alphabet.
- the letter “A” can be drawn in four (or more) ways and can be drawn as a single pen-down (or thumb-down) stroke (as in “Graffiti”) or using two pen-down strokes, each starting at the apex.
- a dotted line in FIG. 4 illustrates the thumb being lifted, generally to return the thumb to a key to begin a new stroke at another key. Note that the table does not distinguish between two keys being visited in a thumb-down sequence and two keys being visited in a thumb-up sequence. These distinctions are shown only for ease of understanding.
- sequences can be added to the sequences shown, provided the time-out timer permits.
- a horizontal cross-stroke can be added to the sequence of stroke vectors that represent the letter “A” (e.g. 232434 or 32434 ).
- such an additional stroke is redundant, because the extra stroke 3 - 4 adds nothing to disambiguate the input sequence, which is already uniquely identified by the first two strokes 2 - 3 - 2 - 4 or 3 - 2 - 4 .
- a timer is started for each letter entry.
- the timer begins with the first key-press of a new character. All strokes entered before the time-out are considered as a single entry (character or numeral). Any additional strokes not necessary for character recognition (e.g. the cross-stroke of the letter “A”) are simply disregarded. This has the advantage that a user does not need to learn a special style of input (e.g. the user does not need to drop the cross-stroke on the letter “A”).
- the timer is reset as soon as a character is uniquely decoded and the immediate following stroke entered is not a legitimate stroke, thus allowing a user to immediately begin entry of the next character. However, if the immediate following stroke entered before the time-out is a legitimate stroke although not necessary, it is still disregarded, but the timer will not be reset until either after the time-out or the immediate following stroke entered is not a legitimate stroke.
- no two letters of the Roman alphabet can be represented by the same sequence of keys, but this is not essential. If there are ambiguities (e.g 3143 for “A” and for “B”), these ambiguities will need to be resolved using disambiguation techniques such as through n-grams.
- the above method has the following advantageous features. First, it uses a small number of keys. Hence, the keypad can be designed relatively small to allow very compact implementations. Second, this method uses an intuitive relationship between the actual letter writing and key pressing. In addition, the multiple definitions of strokes provide reasonable variations to give users more freedom in writing than, for example rigid adherence to a single-stroke scheme (such as “Graffiti”). The scheme makes it possible to do blind typing of Roman letters on a small keypad.
- FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 a front view, rear view and elevation view respectively of an alternative input device 50 are shown.
- the alternative input device has a joystick element 100 (which term is to be understood as including other button or lever devices moveable in two dimensions in a horizontal plane, including mouse-buttons).
- the joystick element 100 is mounted on a spring-loaded mounting illustrated as a ball-and-socket mounting 101 by way of example. The mounting is biased such that the joystick element returns to a central resting position (not shown) when not under thumb or finger pressure.
- Springs 104 - 107 are shown as providing bias, but it will be understood that these need not be discrete helical springs and may be replaced by a single elastomeric member.
- Four discrete contacts 110 - 113 are shown at four equally spaced compass points around the center (north-west, north-east, south-east and south-west respectively).
- a user moves the joystick element 100 with his or her thumb or finger and the ball rotates such that the silvered circle 120 makes contact between the ground contact 121 and one of the discrete compass-point contacts 110 - 113 .
- the input device of FIG. 5 can generate a series of discrete inputs just like the four-key input device 12 of FIG. 1.
- a north-west movement of the joystick generates the same input as key 1 of input device 12 , and so on.
- joystick elements can achieve the same result.
- a ball-and-socket arrangement with an asymmetric ball can be used that activates four or more microswitches similar to the buttons of input device 12 of FIG. 1.
- the joystick does not need to have a ball-and-socket at all.
- buttons or contacts can be used for the input device 12 of FIG. 1 or the input device 50 of FIG. 5.
- a matrix of 3 ⁇ 3 or 4 ⁇ 4 buttons or contacts could be used. Tables 1 and 2 would need to be reformulated accordingly, and there would be many more stroke variations permissible for each item in these tables.
- the joystick button input device of FIG. 5 does not have a ball-and-socket, but is fixed on its mounting and uses orthogonal strain gauge elements to provide a continuous (i.e. progressive, non-discrete) 2-dimensional output (e.g. two analog voltage outputs) which is divided into discrete values by the microprocessor 11 or by an interface into the microprocessor 11 (e.g. an analog-to-digital converter).
- a microswitch 150 is shown mounted beneath the ball-and-socket mounting 101 of the input device 50 of FIG. 5.
- the microswitch 150 is a push-to-make switch and can be used for a number of purposes.
- the microswitch 150 is used as a pen-down indicator.
- a single input stroke is measured from pen-down to pen-up.
- a “data active” line on the input device 12 of FIG. 1 can perform the same function, such that all continuous thumb-down movements cause an activation of at least one button and cause activation of the “data active” line, whereas a thumb-up event gives no data active signal.
- timing measurements by the processor 11 can be used to measure the time lapse between button presses (if any) and so determine if there has been a thumb-up event.
- a joystick element 200 is shown having strain gauges (or other analog elements) 201 and 202 that provide analog movement indications for movement of the joystick element 200 in orthogonal x and y dimensions in a horizontal plane.
- a push switch 204 Integral with the joystick element 200 is a push switch 204 , preferably a push-to-make switch.
- the analog elements 201 and 202 are connected to analog-to-digital (A/D) converters 210 and 211 (or to a single shared A/D converter), which are coupled to a processor 220 .
- the switch 204 is also coupled to the processor 220 .
- the processor 220 has a program stored in program memory that causes it to perform a scaling (normalizing) function 221 on the inputs from the A/D converters 210 and 211 , for example as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,273. Inputs from the A/D converters are accepted by the scaling function 221 when the switch 204 indicates a “push” condition (equivalent to a pen-down state). Following the scaling function, an optional smoothing function 222 is carried out and a segmentation function 223 . The segmentation function segments the two-dimensional input into segments at natural bends in the input, thereby providing a sequence of raw stroke segments.
- a matching function 224 matches the segments against pre-stored templates from template store 230 in a manner known in the art, for example as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,705.
- FIG. 8 is particularly useful for entry and recognition of ideographic characters (e.g. Chinese characters), but is not limited thereto, and is useful for Roman character entry or Grafitti (trade mark) type of stroke entry.
- ideographic characters e.g. Chinese characters
- Grafitti trade mark
- the smoothing, segmenting and matching steps can be modified (or omitted where unnecessary) to suit the type of data entry.
- This method makes inputting of alphanumeric letter on a small input device in a convenient and efficient manner, and it also leads to very compact implementations.
Abstract
A data entry device having an integral input element capable of recording input movement in two dimensions (including Chinese strokes and characters, Roman letters and Arabic numerals) and delivering resultant signals to a processor. The processor is programmed for identifying a handwriting input represented by the signals.
Description
- This invention relates to a method which permits a user to input data (including Chinese strokes and characters, Roman letters and Arabic numerals) using a compact input device in a novel and convenient manner.
- Many proposals and designs exist for using keypad on small hand-held devices for entry of Chinese strokes as part of character input process. In operation, a user simply types in the strokes by pressing the keys in a sequence according to the natural writing order of the strokes of the character he wishes to generate.
- Generally, strokes of Chinese characters can be classified into certain number of basic stroke types. A typical example of that number is 26. We refer to such a number as N. These N basic strokes can be further grouped into 5 to 9 stroke categories according to various defining criteria. From now onwards, we refer to the stroke categories simply as strokes.
- The prevailing method for entry of Chinese strokes on a keypad requires that each kind of stroke be assigned to a specific key on the keypad. A user types in a stroke by pressing the corresponding key. One example of such a scheme can be found in US patent application No. 09/220,308 of Guo et al., filed on Dec. 23, 1998 and assigned to the assignee of the present application, where 9 strokes are defined and assigned to 9 corresponding keys on the phone keypad respectively. Such an example can also be found in Motorola's CD928C cellular telephone.
- In operation, a user enters the strokes of a character by pressing on the corresponding keys one at a time. A set of candidate characters is generated and presented on a display as matching alternatives. The displayed set of candidate characters is updated with every entry of a stroke. The user selects the character he or she wants from the set of candidate characters.
- Two disadvantages with the above method lie in, first, the separately defined keys and second, the less intuitive relationship between the stroke writing process and the key pressing process. Due to the first constraint, for every intended stroke a user has to select a specific key among several corresponding keys. When fast or blind typing of strokes is required, a user may encounter many misfires when doing the key selecting and pressing at a fast pace or in a dark environment. The method requires the conversion from the natural stroke writing process to the key pressing process. The relationship between these two is not very straightforward nor highly intuitive. Therefore, in addition to decoding characters into strokes, a user's mind also needs to constantly engage in matching strokes to associated keys. For a casual user, in order to be assured of a correct result, the user's eyes have to monitor not only the set of candidate characters, but also the key pressing on the keypad. It makes the whole character entry process inefficient and stressful.
- There also exists a method for inputting Roman letters on a small keypad, as can be found on many fixed-line phones or cell phones. In this method, generally, nine of the ten numerical keys are employed to input Roman letters, with each key assigned to a certain number of Roman letters. Typically,
numerical key 1 is assigned to ABC,key 2 is assigned to DEF, . . . , key 8 is assigned to WXYZ. In operation, a user presseskey 1 once to enter A, twice to enter B, three times to enter C. The user presses onkey 2 to enter D or E or F, onkey 3 to enter G or H or I, and so on. - This method involves two steps when inputting a letter. First, a specific key is to be selected from the keypad for the intended letter. Second, the user needs to press that particular key for an exact number of times in order to retrieve the letter. The latter step can be avoided by using a disambiguation scheme such as that described in Arnott, J. L et al, “Probabalistic Character Disambiguation for Reduced Keyboards Using Small Text Samples”, Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 1992.
- Although this method is fairly straightforward, with almost no learning curve needed, it has two disadvantages. First, for a casual user, it requires intensive visual checking on the keypad when doing key selecting and pressing. Second, it is neither compatible to the way a user types on a normal size keyboard nor analogous to the way the user writes on paper. Hence, it affects the efficiency in user's content composing and results in slower input speed.
- Other methods of data entry involve writing characters on a tablet using a stylus and performing hand recognition on the input penstrokes. Devices manufactured for this method require a tablet of significant area and generally require a special stylus. The tablet area does not permit use of the method on very small devices such as small mobile telephones. The stylus is an inconvenient additional element, as it can be lost. Two-handed operation is necessary: one hand to hold the device and the other hand to operate the stylus. Such a method is not optimal for a busy user.
- There is therefore a demand for an improved method for data entry where fewer keys are needed, and where there is an intuitive relationship between the writing and the key pressing process, so as to achieve better ergonomic efficiency.
- According to one aspect of the present invention, a data entry device is provided comprising an array of switching elements capable of recording input movement between at least four discrete points arranged in two dimensions and providing a series of discrete inputs. The array of switching elements may be touch-sensitive or proximity-sensitive switches or pushbuttons and may be activated with a pen, finger or stylus, or they may be discrete points of operation of a joystick, trackball, mouse or similar device. They may be arranged at points of a compass or in a two-dimensional matrix array.
- A table of handwriting input identifiers (e.g. strokes, character components, characters or pseudo-characters) is stored in memory with at least one series of discrete inputs for each handwriting input identifier. The table of handwriting input identifiers is indexed (e.g. by a look-up operation or a search operation) with a series of discrete inputs received from the array of switching elements. In this manner, a handwriting input represented by the series of discrete inputs is identified and may be displayed to the user or stored or otherwise used as original data entry.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a data entry device in accordance with the invention.
- FIGS. 2a-2 f are diagrams showing different examples of stroke inputs using a four-switch input device.
- FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating operation of the program controlling the microprocessor of FIG. 1.
- FIGS. 4, 5 and6 are a front view, rear view and elevation view respectively of a joystick-type device for use in place of the input device of FIG. 1.
- FIG. 7 is a diagram of examples of Roman letter input using a four-switch input device.
- FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of the invention.
- Referring to FIG. 1, a data entry device10 (such as a cellular telephone, a wireless messaging communicator, a personal digital assistant, a memo-writer or other device) is shown comprising a microprocessor 11, an
input device 12, a display 13 (or other output device such as a RF or IR link), aprogram memory 14 and adata memory 15. - The input device may take a number of forms, any of which is capable of recording input movement between at least four discrete points arranged in two dimensions. In the preferred embodiment it comprises four
push keys 20 in a matrix or square of about 1.5 cm in height and 1.5 cm width, with one key at each corner. For convenience's sake, the top-left key is numbered 1, the top-right 2, the bottom-left 3, and the bottom-right 4. Each key can be sensitive to pressure or sensitive to merely the presence of the fingertip on or near the key. The four keys provide four inputs into the microprocessor. The four inputs are illustrated as four discrete lines, but it will be understood that four data states can be represented by two data lines (with or without a “data active” line). - The data entry device10 may have further buttons (not shown) for other functions. For example, it preferably has a 12-key keypad for entry of digits 0-9 and for calling. Scrolling keys may be provided for menu control.
- The
memory 15 is illustrated as having two tables 25 and 26. Tables are not essential, but it will be explained below that tables are a useful and convenient manner of translating inputs from theinput device 12 into primitive handwriting elements and (if required by the ultimate character set of the language in question) for translating primitive handwriting elements into data characters. - In operation, a user enters vector or movement strokes into the
input device 12 by passing his or her finger across thekeys 20 in two dimensions in a horizontal plane. Theinput device 12 generates a series or sequence of discrete inputs to the microprocessor 11, dependent on the keys activated. This is explained in greater detail below with reference to language examples. The microprocessor, under the control of program code stored inprogram memory 14, performs a look-up or search operation in thememory 15 to uniquely identify the intended character or to identify the most likely intended character. - Where a character is uniquely identified by the microprocessor11, it is displayed on
display 13. Where several likely intended characters are identified, one or more is or are displayed ondisplay 13. Where one character only is displayed, the character that is deemed to be the most likely intended character is displayed. Where several candidate characters are displayed, these are displayed in a selection list in decreasing order of likelihood of usage. Likelihood of intended usage is determined by frequency information in thememory 15, showing the frequency of usage of a character in the language in question (or the relative frequency of usage from among several candidates) or the frequency of usage of a character in the context of the character in the language (e.g. taking into account the previous N characters). A more detailed explanation is set out below. - In one example, an apparatus is described for inputting Chinese strokes.
- In operation, if a user wishes to input a left-right horizontal stroke, the user moves his or her thumb horizontally across key1 and key2. The signal that key1 and key2 have been consecutively visited in a particular sequence is sent to the microprocessor 11 for interpretation as horizontal stroke. In the same manner, for a top-down vertical stroke, the user moves his or her thumb across key1 and key2.
- The method presented here defines6 fundamental strokes, namely “horizontal”, “vertical”, “slash”, “back slash”, “clockwise” and “counter-clockwise”. There now follows, with reference to FIGS. 2a-2 f, a brief description of the six fundamental strokes and how they can be entered via sequence of keys. In the following table (Table 1), “No.” is a serial number for the fundamental strokes; “Type” is the name of the fundamental strokes; “Var” is the number of variations of thumb move paths; and “Path” is the thumb move paths defined by the sequence of keys being visited.
TABLE 1 No. Type Var Path Description 1 Horizontal 3 12 34 32 left-right, stroke “HENG” or “TI” 2 Vertical 2 13 24 top-down, stroke “SHU” 3 Slash 1 23 top-right to bottom- left, stroke “PIE” 4 Backslash 1 14 top-left to bottom- right, stroke “DIAN” or “NA” 5 Clockwise 5 124 123 241 1241 1231 clockwise turn, stroke “ZHE” 6 Counter- 5 134 234 132 142 1342 counter-clockwise clockwise turn, stroke “ZHE” - Strokes1-6 are illustrated in FIGS. 2a-2 f respectively. A stroke is classified as “clockwise turn” type if and only if the first turn of the stroke is of clockwise direction, no matter how many turns may follow thereafter and no matter what direction they are. The same applies to the “counter-clockwise turn” stroke type. A thumb move path is the sequence of keys which have been visited during a preset time period from the first key of the sequence being visited until a pre-defined time-off is detected. A time-off is the time elapse from the moment the previous key is visited to the moment the next key is visited.
- Upon entering strokes using discrete thumb, finger, stylus, trackball, mouse or other two-dimensional stroke inputs, i.e. discrete signals representative of discrete vectors, the microprocessor11 translates the vector inputs into strokes using Table 1 and then performs a tabular look-up or other search in table 26 in
memory 15 for Chinese characters corresponding to the stroke inputs. A two-stage translation is preferred, as this reduces the size of table 26, but it is not necessary. Chinese character identifiers can alternatively be stored in table 26 in a manner indexable by a raw vector input sequence. - A method for storing and performing look-up of Chinese characters from primitive stroke data is described in co-pending patent application No. 08/806,504 of Chen, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference, which describes a table of digit streams representative of characters in a desired language and character addresses corresponding to the digit streams. The digit streams are equivalent to sequences of strokes (e.g. strokes1-6 above). Alternatively, in accordance with the teaching of the present invention, the digit streams can be key sequences representative of stroke vectors.
- Also described in the co-pending patent application, and illustrated in FIG. 3 herein, is a further table 27 of characters located at addresses corresponding to character addresses from table 26. A character is read from table 27 located at a character address obtained from table 26. Characters in the table 27 that have a common stroke sequence (or common digit stream) are stored in order of relatively decreasing frequency of use. This scheme allows for changing the relative addresses of characters in the table 27 to adjust for relative frequency of use of characters. A further table 28 can optionally be provided to perform bigram look-up operations. The output of table 27 (or table 28 if used) is standard hexGB coding of one or more Chinese characters. A further look-up is used to obtain and display the pictorial representation of the character.
- The above method has the following two notable and advantageous features. First, it makes use of only four keys. Therefore, the keypad can be relatively small in size. The four keys are distinctively positioned, the chance of getting confused with different keys and thus resulting misfires on wrong keys has been greatly reduced.
- Second, this method does not require a one-to-one match from an actual writing stroke to a designated key. Instead, it associates the thumb move path over the keys with the actual writing trajectory of the intended stroke. This builds an intuitive relationship between the stroke writing and key pressing processes. In addition, the definition of six fundamental strokes allows 17 different kinds of entry variations in total, which cover all N basic stroke types. It has an unprecedented feature that the majority of basic strokes can be drawn on the 4-key keypad. This scheme makes it possible that a user only needs to look at the set of candidate characters and make a selection among them without the need of watching closely the movement of the thumb over the keys on the keypad. It allows a user to input strokes in a natural and convenient manner.
- Some editing functions have also been defined by the thumb move path over the keys, as described below.
TABLE 1 continued No. Type Var Path Description 7 DEL 1 21 delete 8 UNDO 1 212 undo 9 ENTER 1 143 return, newline 10 CASE 1 41 in Chinese mode: do radical expansion in Roman mode: toggle between upper and lowercase 11 MODE 1 11 toggle among Chinese/Roman/ Number 12 OK 1 22 confirmation on selection 13 SPACE 1 44 insert a space 14 ONOFF 1 33 toggle among input mode/ scroll mode 15 LEFT 2 21 43 left-arrow scroll 16 RIGHT 2 12 34 right-arrow scroll 17 UP 2 31 42 up scroll 18 DOWN 2 13 24 down scroll - A further embodiment of the invention is now described with reference to entry of Roman letters and Arabic numerals (alphanumeric data entry). The embodiment will again be described using a 4-key keypad.
- In operation, to enter a Roman letter, the user draws a stroke with his thumb on the four keys. Different schemes can be used to represent Roman letters using a single stroke (i.e. pen-down to pen-up strokes) or a small number of strokes. Graffiti (trademark) is an example of a scheme.
- A list of strokes is defined for each of the 26 uppercase Roman letters, as shown in Table 2. The first column is the corresponding uppercase Roman letter, the second column is the number of variations of strokes. The third column is the strokes defined as the sequence of keys to be pressed during the time period from the first key of the sequence is visited until a pre-defined time-off is detected. Here a time-off is defined as the maximum time elapse allowed from the moment a key is visited to the moment its subsequent key is visited.
TABLE 2 Letter Var Strokes A 4 314 324 1314 2324 B 2 131443 3143 C 1 2134 D 4 131243 23424 4234 24234 E 6 13121212 13343434 1341212 1341334 13121234 13123434 F 2 211312 131212 G 2 134124 2134124 H 3 131224 13124 132412 I 1 24 J 3 243 1243 12243 K 1 13214 L 1 134 M 2 13142324 314324 N 3 3142 13142 1324 O 8 12431 13421 24312 34213 31243 21342 43124 42134 P 2 13123 3123 Q 8 124314 134214 2431214 3421314 3124314 2134(2)14 4312414 R 4 1312 312 31214 131214 S 1 2143 T 2 1224 124 U 1 1342 V 2 132 142 W 1 132142 X 3 2314 1423 3214 Y 2 1323 1424 Z 1 1234 - On a well-designed keypad, the strokes can be drawn on four keys by moving around the thumb or a finger. This is illustrated in FIG. 4 for the first four letters of the Roman alphabet. Thus, the letter “A” can be drawn in four (or more) ways and can be drawn as a single pen-down (or thumb-down) stroke (as in “Graffiti”) or using two pen-down strokes, each starting at the apex. A dotted line in FIG. 4 illustrates the thumb being lifted, generally to return the thumb to a key to begin a new stroke at another key. Note that the table does not distinguish between two keys being visited in a thumb-down sequence and two keys being visited in a thumb-up sequence. These distinctions are shown only for ease of understanding.
- Note also that other sequences can be added to the sequences shown, provided the time-out timer permits. Thus, for example, a horizontal cross-stroke can be added to the sequence of stroke vectors that represent the letter “A” (e.g.232434 or 32434). In this particular example, such an additional stroke is redundant, because the extra stroke 3-4 adds nothing to disambiguate the input sequence, which is already uniquely identified by the first two strokes 2-3-2-4 or 3-2-4. Thus it can be seen that it is not necessary to include further strokes of a letter in Table 1.
- A timer is started for each letter entry. Preferably the timer begins with the first key-press of a new character. All strokes entered before the time-out are considered as a single entry (character or numeral). Any additional strokes not necessary for character recognition (e.g. the cross-stroke of the letter “A”) are simply disregarded. This has the advantage that a user does not need to learn a special style of input (e.g. the user does not need to drop the cross-stroke on the letter “A”). In addition, the timer is reset as soon as a character is uniquely decoded and the immediate following stroke entered is not a legitimate stroke, thus allowing a user to immediately begin entry of the next character. However, if the immediate following stroke entered before the time-out is a legitimate stroke although not necessary, it is still disregarded, but the timer will not be reset until either after the time-out or the immediate following stroke entered is not a legitimate stroke.
- Ultimately the exact choices for stroke sequences in Table 2 is a matter for compromise and is dependent on handwriting habits and preferences of typical users.
- Preferably no two letters of the Roman alphabet can be represented by the same sequence of keys, but this is not essential. If there are ambiguities (e.g3143 for “A” and for “B”), these ambiguities will need to be resolved using disambiguation techniques such as through n-grams.
- The above method has the following advantageous features. First, it uses a small number of keys. Hence, the keypad can be designed relatively small to allow very compact implementations. Second, this method uses an intuitive relationship between the actual letter writing and key pressing. In addition, the multiple definitions of strokes provide reasonable variations to give users more freedom in writing than, for example rigid adherence to a single-stroke scheme (such as “Graffiti”). The scheme makes it possible to do blind typing of Roman letters on a small keypad.
- Based on the same concept, the ten Arabic digits0-9 can also be input by stroke sequences, as presented below.
TABLE 2 continued Digit Var Strokes 1 2 13 24 2 1 1234 3 3 12343 12143 12123 4 2 13424 23424 5 1 14312 6 1 13423 7 2 124 123 8 2 21432 12341 9 1 21324 0 8 12431 13421 24312 34213 31243 21342 43124 42134 - It can be easily seen that there are some overlaps between the strokes defined for letters and those for digits. Therefore, a mode switch between these two is preferably introduced to avoid confusions.
- Referring to FIGS. 5, 6 and7, a front view, rear view and elevation view respectively of an
alternative input device 50 are shown. The alternative input device has a joystick element 100 (which term is to be understood as including other button or lever devices moveable in two dimensions in a horizontal plane, including mouse-buttons). Thejoystick element 100 is mounted on a spring-loaded mounting illustrated as a ball-and-socket mounting 101 by way of example. The mounting is biased such that the joystick element returns to a central resting position (not shown) when not under thumb or finger pressure. Springs 104-107 are shown as providing bias, but it will be understood that these need not be discrete helical springs and may be replaced by a single elastomeric member. Four discrete contacts 110-113 are shown at four equally spaced compass points around the center (north-west, north-east, south-east and south-west respectively). - As shown in FIG. 6, there is a
silvered circle 120 on the rear of the ball of the ball-and-socket mounting 101 and there is aground contact 121 fixed relative to the ball-and socket mounting and positioned centrally behind the ball. - In operation, a user moves the
joystick element 100 with his or her thumb or finger and the ball rotates such that thesilvered circle 120 makes contact between theground contact 121 and one of the discrete compass-point contacts 110-113. In this way, the input device of FIG. 5 can generate a series of discrete inputs just like the four-key input device 12 of FIG. 1. A north-west movement of the joystick generates the same input askey 1 ofinput device 12, and so on. - It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the act that other joystick elements can achieve the same result. For example, a ball-and-socket arrangement with an asymmetric ball can be used that activates four or more microswitches similar to the buttons of
input device 12 of FIG. 1. The joystick does not need to have a ball-and-socket at all. - It will also be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that more than four contacts can be used for the
input device 12 of FIG. 1 or theinput device 50 of FIG. 5. For example, six, eight, twelve or sixteen compass point contacts can be used. Alternatively, a matrix of 3×3 or 4×4 buttons or contacts could be used. Tables 1 and 2 would need to be reformulated accordingly, and there would be many more stroke variations permissible for each item in these tables. Alternatively, the joystick button input device of FIG. 5 does not have a ball-and-socket, but is fixed on its mounting and uses orthogonal strain gauge elements to provide a continuous (i.e. progressive, non-discrete) 2-dimensional output (e.g. two analog voltage outputs) which is divided into discrete values by the microprocessor 11 or by an interface into the microprocessor 11 (e.g. an analog-to-digital converter). - Referring to FIG. 7, a
microswitch 150 is shown mounted beneath the ball-and-socket mounting 101 of theinput device 50 of FIG. 5. Themicroswitch 150 is a push-to-make switch and can be used for a number of purposes. - In one embodiment, the
microswitch 150 is used as a pen-down indicator. In this variation, a single input stroke is measured from pen-down to pen-up. This has the advantage of disambiguating between pen-down and pen-up segments. All contiguous pen-down segments can be captured and used for character recognition, regardless of whether they are captured within a time-out time or after expiry of a time-out timer. This allows for greater flexibility in user-variations of time duration when entering strokes or characters. A “data active” line on theinput device 12 of FIG. 1 can perform the same function, such that all continuous thumb-down movements cause an activation of at least one button and cause activation of the “data active” line, whereas a thumb-up event gives no data active signal. Instead of a data active line, timing measurements by the processor 11 can be used to measure the time lapse between button presses (if any) and so determine if there has been a thumb-up event. - If an
input device 50 such as that of FIG. 7 is used that gives a continuous analog output, the preprocessing technique of U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,273 followed by the recognition technique of U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,705 can be used to interpret and recognize Roman letters or Chinese characters written as pen-down writing segments. This is illustrated in FIG. 8. - In FIG. 8, a
joystick element 200 is shown having strain gauges (or other analog elements) 201 and 202 that provide analog movement indications for movement of thejoystick element 200 in orthogonal x and y dimensions in a horizontal plane. Integral with thejoystick element 200 is apush switch 204, preferably a push-to-make switch. - The
analog elements converters 210 and 211 (or to a single shared A/D converter), which are coupled to aprocessor 220. Theswitch 204 is also coupled to theprocessor 220. - The
processor 220 has a program stored in program memory that causes it to perform a scaling (normalizing)function 221 on the inputs from the A/D converters scaling function 221 when theswitch 204 indicates a “push” condition (equivalent to a pen-down state). Following the scaling function, anoptional smoothing function 222 is carried out and asegmentation function 223. The segmentation function segments the two-dimensional input into segments at natural bends in the input, thereby providing a sequence of raw stroke segments. Amatching function 224 matches the segments against pre-stored templates fromtemplate store 230 in a manner known in the art, for example as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,705. - The arrangement of FIG. 8 is particularly useful for entry and recognition of ideographic characters (e.g. Chinese characters), but is not limited thereto, and is useful for Roman character entry or Grafitti (trade mark) type of stroke entry. The smoothing, segmenting and matching steps can be modified (or omitted where unnecessary) to suit the type of data entry.
- This method makes inputting of alphanumeric letter on a small input device in a convenient and efficient manner, and it also leads to very compact implementations.
Claims (21)
1. A data entry device comprising:
an array of switching elements capable of recording input movement between at least four discrete points arranged in two dimensions and providing a series of discrete inputs;
a memory having stored therein handwriting input identifiers and at least one series of discrete inputs for each handwriting input identifier;
a processor coupled to the array of switching elements and the memory and programmed for searching the handwriting input identifiers with a series of discrete inputs received from the array of switching elements for identifying a handwriting input represented by the series of discrete inputs.
2. The data entry device of claim 1 wherein the array is an array of finger-operated switches.
3. The data entry device of claim 2 , wherein the array comprises at least four and not more than sixteen switches.
4. The data entry device of claim 2 , wherein the array comprises at least four and not more than eight switches arranged at points of a compass.
5. The data entry device of claim 2 , wherein the array comprises four switches arranged at northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest sectors of the input device.
6. The data entry device of claim 1 , wherein the array comprises a joystick element.
7. The data entry device of claim 6 , wherein the joystick element includes a push switch.
8. The data entry device of claim 7 , wherein the data entry device generates the series of discrete inputs when the push switch is active and the joystick element is moved in a horizontal plane.
9. The data entry device of claim 1 , wherein the handwriting input identifiers are stored as a table of Roman character identifiers.
10. The data entry device of claim 1 , wherein the handwriting input identifiers are stored as a table of stroke identifiers.
11. The data entry device of claim 10 , wherein the memory further comprises a table of ideographic character identifiers, and the processor is programmed to index the table of ideographic character identifiers using at least one handwriting input identifier from the table of stroke identifiers.
12. The data entry device of claim 11 , wherein the table of ideographic character identifiers is a table of Chinese character identifiers.
13. The data entry device of claim 11 , wherein the table of ideographic character identifiers is a table of Japanese character identifiers.
14. A method of data entry comprising:
providing a data entry device capable of recording input movement between at least four discrete points arranged in two dimensions;
receiving from the data entry device a series of discrete inputs identifying a series of discrete points of the data entry device;
storing in memory a table of characters having at least one series of discrete inputs for each character;
indexing the table of characters with a series of discrete inputs received, thereby identifying a character represented by the series of discrete inputs.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the data entry device has at least four and not more than sixteen discrete points.
16. The method of claim 14 wherein the data entry device has at least four and not more than eight discrete points arranged at points of a compass.
17. The method of claim 14 wherein the discrete points are arranged at northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest sectors of the input device.
18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the step of receiving comprises moving a pointer element across the input device and generating the discrete inputs from movement of the pointer relative to the input device.
19. A data entry device comprising:
a two-dimensional input device comprising:
a joystick element;
analog elements mounted in first and second dimensions providing analog movement signals responsive to movement of the joystick element in first and second dimensions of a horizontal plane;
an analog-to-digital converter coupled to the input device; and
a processor coupled to the analog-to-digital converter for receiving digitized inputs from the input device, the processor having instructions that cause the processor to perform pre-processing operations for segmenting into strokes digitized inputs received from the input device, and to perform recognition operations recognizing the strokes as handwritten input and generating character identifications therefrom.
20. The data entry device of claim 19 , further comprising a push switch integral with the joystick element and responsive to pushing of the joystick element.
21. The data entry device of claim 20, wherein the processor is responsive to the push switch for segmenting into strokes digitized input received while the switch is pushed.
Priority Applications (5)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US09/317,518 US20030006956A1 (en) | 1999-05-24 | 1999-05-24 | Data entry device recording input in two dimensions |
JP2000620614A JP2003500771A (en) | 1999-05-24 | 2000-04-28 | A data input device that records inputs in two dimensions |
PCT/US2000/011427 WO2000072300A1 (en) | 1999-05-24 | 2000-04-28 | Data entry device recording input in two dimensions |
CN00807998A CN1358299A (en) | 1999-05-24 | 2000-04-28 | Data entry device recording input in two dimensions |
US10/285,258 US6992658B2 (en) | 1999-05-24 | 2002-10-31 | Method and apparatus for navigation, text input and phone dialing |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US09/317,518 US20030006956A1 (en) | 1999-05-24 | 1999-05-24 | Data entry device recording input in two dimensions |
Related Child Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US10/285,258 Continuation US6992658B2 (en) | 1999-05-24 | 2002-10-31 | Method and apparatus for navigation, text input and phone dialing |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20030006956A1 true US20030006956A1 (en) | 2003-01-09 |
Family
ID=23234036
Family Applications (2)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US09/317,518 Abandoned US20030006956A1 (en) | 1999-05-24 | 1999-05-24 | Data entry device recording input in two dimensions |
US10/285,258 Expired - Lifetime US6992658B2 (en) | 1999-05-24 | 2002-10-31 | Method and apparatus for navigation, text input and phone dialing |
Family Applications After (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US10/285,258 Expired - Lifetime US6992658B2 (en) | 1999-05-24 | 2002-10-31 | Method and apparatus for navigation, text input and phone dialing |
Country Status (4)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (2) | US20030006956A1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP2003500771A (en) |
CN (1) | CN1358299A (en) |
WO (1) | WO2000072300A1 (en) |
Cited By (38)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20040083198A1 (en) * | 2002-07-18 | 2004-04-29 | Bradford Ethan R. | Dynamic database reordering system |
US20040196256A1 (en) * | 2003-04-04 | 2004-10-07 | Wobbrock Jacob O. | Using edges and corners for character input |
US20040223644A1 (en) * | 2003-09-16 | 2004-11-11 | Meurs Pim Van | System and method for chinese input using a joystick |
US20050052406A1 (en) * | 2003-04-09 | 2005-03-10 | James Stephanick | Selective input system based on tracking of motion parameters of an input device |
US20050060448A1 (en) * | 2003-09-11 | 2005-03-17 | Eatoni Ergonomics, Inc | Efficient Method and Apparatus For Text Entry Based On Trigger Sequences |
US20050066291A1 (en) * | 2003-09-19 | 2005-03-24 | Stanislaw Lewak | Manual user data entry method and system |
US6885317B1 (en) * | 1998-12-10 | 2005-04-26 | Eatoni Ergonomics, Inc. | Touch-typable devices based on ambiguous codes and methods to design such devices |
US20060007162A1 (en) * | 2001-04-27 | 2006-01-12 | Misawa Homes Co., Ltd. | Touch-type key input apparatus |
US20070173240A1 (en) * | 2006-01-25 | 2007-07-26 | Microsoft Corporation | Handwriting style data input via keys |
US20080015841A1 (en) * | 2000-05-26 | 2008-01-17 | Longe Michael R | Directional Input System with Automatic Correction |
US20080074400A1 (en) * | 2000-11-30 | 2008-03-27 | Palm,Inc. | Input detection system for a portable electronic device |
US20080100579A1 (en) * | 1999-05-27 | 2008-05-01 | Robinson B A | Keyboard System with Automatic Correction |
US20080138135A1 (en) * | 2005-01-27 | 2008-06-12 | Howard Andrew Gutowitz | Typability Optimized Ambiguous Keyboards With Reduced Distortion |
US20080183472A1 (en) * | 2002-03-15 | 2008-07-31 | International Business Machine Corporation | Speech recognition system and program thereof |
US20090040179A1 (en) * | 2006-02-10 | 2009-02-12 | Seung Soo Lee | Graphic user interface device and method of displaying graphic objects |
US20090213134A1 (en) * | 2003-04-09 | 2009-08-27 | James Stephanick | Touch screen and graphical user interface |
US20090284471A1 (en) * | 1999-05-27 | 2009-11-19 | Tegic Communications, Inc. | Virtual Keyboard System with Automatic Correction |
US20100073203A1 (en) * | 2008-09-23 | 2010-03-25 | Burrell Iv James W | WORLDs SMALLEST KEYBOARD AND CONTROL MEANS |
US20100141584A1 (en) * | 2008-12-04 | 2010-06-10 | Research In Motion | Stroke based input system for character input |
US7761175B2 (en) | 2001-09-27 | 2010-07-20 | Eatoni Ergonomics, Inc. | Method and apparatus for discoverable input of symbols on a reduced keypad |
US20110063787A1 (en) * | 2003-12-31 | 2011-03-17 | Griffin Jason T | Keyboard arrangement |
US7938589B2 (en) | 2003-12-31 | 2011-05-10 | Research In Motion Limited | Keyboard arrangement |
US20110193797A1 (en) * | 2007-02-01 | 2011-08-11 | Erland Unruh | Spell-check for a keyboard system with automatic correction |
US8201087B2 (en) | 2007-02-01 | 2012-06-12 | Tegic Communications, Inc. | Spell-check for a keyboard system with automatic correction |
US20130293362A1 (en) * | 2012-05-03 | 2013-11-07 | The Methodist Hospital Research Institute | Multi-degrees-of-freedom hand controller |
USRE45566E1 (en) | 2001-01-25 | 2015-06-16 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Method and apparatus for aliased item selection from a list of items |
US10198086B2 (en) | 2016-10-27 | 2019-02-05 | Fluidity Technologies, Inc. | Dynamically balanced, multi-degrees-of-freedom hand controller |
US10324487B2 (en) | 2016-10-27 | 2019-06-18 | Fluidity Technologies, Inc. | Multi-axis gimbal mounting for controller providing tactile feedback for the null command |
US10331232B2 (en) | 2016-10-27 | 2019-06-25 | Fluidity Technologies, Inc. | Controller with situational awareness display |
US10331233B2 (en) | 2016-10-27 | 2019-06-25 | Fluidity Technologies, Inc. | Camera and sensor controls for remotely operated vehicles and virtual environments |
US10520973B2 (en) | 2016-10-27 | 2019-12-31 | Fluidity Technologies, Inc. | Dynamically balanced multi-degrees-of-freedom hand controller |
US10664002B2 (en) | 2016-10-27 | 2020-05-26 | Fluidity Technologies Inc. | Multi-degrees-of-freedom hand held controller |
US11194407B2 (en) | 2017-10-27 | 2021-12-07 | Fluidity Technologies Inc. | Controller with situational awareness display |
US11194358B2 (en) | 2017-10-27 | 2021-12-07 | Fluidity Technologies Inc. | Multi-axis gimbal mounting for controller providing tactile feedback for the null command |
US11199914B2 (en) | 2017-10-27 | 2021-12-14 | Fluidity Technologies Inc. | Camera and sensor controls for remotely operated vehicles and virtual environments |
US11599107B2 (en) | 2019-12-09 | 2023-03-07 | Fluidity Technologies Inc. | Apparatus, methods and systems for remote or onboard control of flights |
US11662835B1 (en) | 2022-04-26 | 2023-05-30 | Fluidity Technologies Inc. | System and methods for controlling motion of a target object and providing discrete, directional tactile feedback |
US11696633B1 (en) | 2022-04-26 | 2023-07-11 | Fluidity Technologies Inc. | System and methods for controlling motion of a target object and providing discrete, directional tactile feedback |
Families Citing this family (81)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20030006956A1 (en) | 1999-05-24 | 2003-01-09 | Charles Yimin Wu | Data entry device recording input in two dimensions |
US7020270B1 (en) * | 1999-10-27 | 2006-03-28 | Firooz Ghassabian | Integrated keypad system |
GB2359697A (en) * | 2000-02-18 | 2001-08-29 | Sensei Ltd | Mobile telephone with improved display navigation |
JP2001290595A (en) * | 2000-03-01 | 2001-10-19 | Hewlett Packard Co <Hp> | Personal digital assistant |
DE60142101D1 (en) | 2000-08-11 | 2010-06-24 | Alps Electric Co Ltd | Input device with key input operation and coordinate input operation |
US6593914B1 (en) * | 2000-10-31 | 2003-07-15 | Nokia Mobile Phones Ltd. | Keypads for electrical devices |
GB0115822D0 (en) * | 2001-06-28 | 2001-08-22 | Koninkl Philips Electronics Nv | Data input device |
US6683599B2 (en) * | 2001-06-29 | 2004-01-27 | Nokia Mobile Phones Ltd. | Keypads style input device for electrical device |
US7002553B2 (en) * | 2001-12-27 | 2006-02-21 | Mark Shkolnikov | Active keyboard system for handheld electronic devices |
US7333092B2 (en) | 2002-02-25 | 2008-02-19 | Apple Computer, Inc. | Touch pad for handheld device |
US7466307B2 (en) * | 2002-04-11 | 2008-12-16 | Synaptics Incorporated | Closed-loop sensor on a solid-state object position detector |
GB0208655D0 (en) * | 2002-04-16 | 2002-05-29 | Koninkl Philips Electronics Nv | Electronic device with display panel and user input function |
TWI313835B (en) * | 2002-06-04 | 2009-08-21 | Koninkl Philips Electronics Nv | Method of measuring the movement of an object relative to a user's input device and related input device,mobile phone apparatus, cordless phone apparatus, laptor computer, mouse and remote control |
US7031759B2 (en) * | 2002-12-30 | 2006-04-18 | Motorola, Inc. | Rotating user interface |
US7429978B2 (en) * | 2003-03-06 | 2008-09-30 | Fujitsu Limited | Portable electronic apparatus |
JP2005316931A (en) * | 2003-06-12 | 2005-11-10 | Alps Electric Co Ltd | Input method and input device |
US20060181517A1 (en) * | 2005-02-11 | 2006-08-17 | Apple Computer, Inc. | Display actuator |
EP1524587A1 (en) * | 2003-10-15 | 2005-04-20 | Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB | Device having a joystick keypad |
US20080129552A1 (en) * | 2003-10-31 | 2008-06-05 | Iota Wireless Llc | Concurrent data entry for a portable device |
CA2531524A1 (en) * | 2003-10-31 | 2005-05-12 | Iota Wireless Llc | Concurrent data entry for a portable device |
US7570247B2 (en) * | 2003-11-24 | 2009-08-04 | Avago Technologies Ecbu Ip (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. | Modular assembly for a self-indexing computer pointing device |
US7429976B2 (en) * | 2003-11-24 | 2008-09-30 | Avago Technologies Ecbu Ip (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. | Compact pointing device |
KR100754687B1 (en) * | 2003-12-12 | 2007-09-03 | 삼성전자주식회사 | Multi input device of wireless terminal and his control method |
US7359505B2 (en) * | 2004-01-02 | 2008-04-15 | Proprietary Technologies, Inc. | Space-efficient ergonomic telephony keypad |
US8151209B2 (en) | 2004-04-23 | 2012-04-03 | Sony Corporation | User input for an electronic device employing a touch-sensor |
AU2005253600B2 (en) * | 2004-06-04 | 2011-01-27 | Benjamin Firooz Ghassabian | Systems to enhance data entry in mobile and fixed environment |
JP2006155205A (en) * | 2004-11-29 | 2006-06-15 | Fujitsu Ltd | Electronic apparatus, input controller, and input control program |
US7978173B2 (en) * | 2005-01-14 | 2011-07-12 | Avago Technologies Ecbu Ip (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. | Pointing device including a moveable puck with mechanical detents |
US20060176279A1 (en) * | 2005-02-08 | 2006-08-10 | Research In Motion | Handheld electronic device having keyboard that provides two-dimensional navigation, and associated method |
US7586480B2 (en) | 2005-02-28 | 2009-09-08 | Avago Technologies Ecbu Ip (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. | Hybrid pointing device |
KR100638585B1 (en) * | 2005-03-23 | 2006-10-26 | 엔에이치엔(주) | Apparatus And Method For Inputting A Character |
EP1900103B1 (en) * | 2005-06-16 | 2011-04-27 | Firooz Ghassabian | Data entry system |
US7279647B2 (en) * | 2005-06-17 | 2007-10-09 | Harald Philipp | Control panel |
US9152840B2 (en) * | 2005-06-23 | 2015-10-06 | Nokia Technologies Oy | Method and program of controlling electronic device, electronic device and subscriber equipment |
US9244602B2 (en) * | 2005-08-24 | 2016-01-26 | Lg Electronics Inc. | Mobile communications terminal having a touch input unit and controlling method thereof |
DE102005041309A1 (en) * | 2005-08-31 | 2007-03-15 | Siemens Ag | Operating unit for communication devices |
US20070057922A1 (en) * | 2005-09-13 | 2007-03-15 | International Business Machines Corporation | Input having concentric touch pads |
JP2007102664A (en) * | 2005-10-07 | 2007-04-19 | Smk Corp | Method for use of rotation input device |
US7649478B1 (en) | 2005-11-03 | 2010-01-19 | Hyoungsoo Yoon | Data entry using sequential keystrokes |
US8049715B2 (en) * | 2005-11-30 | 2011-11-01 | Motorola Mobility, Inc. | Method and system for accessing data stored in an electronic device |
US7701440B2 (en) * | 2005-12-19 | 2010-04-20 | Avago Technologies Ecbu Ip (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. | Pointing device adapted for small handheld devices having two display modes |
US20070152983A1 (en) * | 2005-12-30 | 2007-07-05 | Apple Computer, Inc. | Touch pad with symbols based on mode |
US7860536B2 (en) * | 2006-01-05 | 2010-12-28 | Apple Inc. | Telephone interface for a portable communication device |
US8918736B2 (en) * | 2006-01-05 | 2014-12-23 | Apple Inc. | Replay recommendations in a text entry interface |
TW200731118A (en) * | 2006-02-08 | 2007-08-16 | Inventec Appliances Corp | Portable electronic device input method and device |
US20070220443A1 (en) * | 2006-03-17 | 2007-09-20 | Cranfill David B | User interface for scrolling |
TWI337338B (en) * | 2006-03-17 | 2011-02-11 | Lite On Technology Corp | Pointing method and system for quickly moving an object to a designated area |
US9395905B2 (en) * | 2006-04-05 | 2016-07-19 | Synaptics Incorporated | Graphical scroll wheel |
US9274807B2 (en) | 2006-04-20 | 2016-03-01 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Selective hibernation of activities in an electronic device |
US20070247431A1 (en) * | 2006-04-20 | 2007-10-25 | Peter Skillman | Keypad and sensor combination to provide detection region that overlays keys |
US8296684B2 (en) | 2008-05-23 | 2012-10-23 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Navigating among activities in a computing device |
US8683362B2 (en) | 2008-05-23 | 2014-03-25 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Card metaphor for activities in a computing device |
US20070247421A1 (en) * | 2006-04-25 | 2007-10-25 | Timothy James Orsley | Capacitive-based rotational positioning input device |
US20070247446A1 (en) * | 2006-04-25 | 2007-10-25 | Timothy James Orsley | Linear positioning input device |
CN101075164B (en) * | 2006-05-19 | 2010-05-26 | 鸿富锦精密工业(深圳)有限公司 | Electronic device for inputting character by runner |
US7825797B2 (en) | 2006-06-02 | 2010-11-02 | Synaptics Incorporated | Proximity sensor device and method with adjustment selection tabs |
US20070290992A1 (en) * | 2006-06-16 | 2007-12-20 | Creative Technology Ltd | Control interface for media player |
US20080141125A1 (en) * | 2006-06-23 | 2008-06-12 | Firooz Ghassabian | Combined data entry systems |
US20090201248A1 (en) * | 2006-07-05 | 2009-08-13 | Radu Negulescu | Device and method for providing electronic input |
US8022935B2 (en) | 2006-07-06 | 2011-09-20 | Apple Inc. | Capacitance sensing electrode with integrated I/O mechanism |
US7889176B2 (en) * | 2006-07-18 | 2011-02-15 | Avago Technologies General Ip (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. | Capacitive sensing in displacement type pointing devices |
US7714839B2 (en) * | 2006-09-29 | 2010-05-11 | Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ab | Jog dial for mobile terminal |
US8274479B2 (en) | 2006-10-11 | 2012-09-25 | Apple Inc. | Gimballed scroll wheel |
US20100005389A1 (en) * | 2006-10-27 | 2010-01-07 | Soren Borup Jensen | Apparatus and method for a user to select one or more pieces of information |
US7942570B2 (en) * | 2006-10-31 | 2011-05-17 | Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc. | Blender for blending foodstuff |
TWI325551B (en) * | 2006-12-29 | 2010-06-01 | Htc Corp | Input methods, and electronic devices thereof |
KR101376894B1 (en) * | 2007-02-28 | 2014-03-20 | 엘지전자 주식회사 | Method of dialling in mobile communication terminal and the mobile communication terminal with a thouch screen |
US8232963B2 (en) * | 2007-08-27 | 2012-07-31 | Avago Technologies Ecbu Ip (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. | Control and data entry apparatus |
US20090058802A1 (en) * | 2007-08-27 | 2009-03-05 | Avago Technologies Ecbu Ip (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. | Input device |
IL188523A0 (en) * | 2008-01-01 | 2008-11-03 | Keyless Systems Ltd | Data entry system |
US7978175B2 (en) * | 2007-11-23 | 2011-07-12 | Avago Technologies Ecbu Ip (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. | Magnetic re-centering mechanism for a capacitive input device |
US20090135157A1 (en) * | 2007-11-27 | 2009-05-28 | Avago Technologies Ecbu Ip (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. | Capacitive Sensing Input Device with Reduced Sensitivity to Humidity and Condensation |
US8982105B2 (en) * | 2008-12-09 | 2015-03-17 | Sony Corporation | Ergonomic user interfaces and electronic devices incorporating same |
US20100238125A1 (en) * | 2009-03-20 | 2010-09-23 | Nokia Corporation | Method, Apparatus, and Computer Program Product For Discontinuous Shapewriting |
US8383967B2 (en) * | 2009-08-04 | 2013-02-26 | Simplexgrinnell Lp | Method and apparatus for indicia selection |
US20110095998A1 (en) * | 2009-10-28 | 2011-04-28 | Fortrend Taiwan Scientific Corp. | External input device |
US9442572B2 (en) | 2013-03-15 | 2016-09-13 | Peter James Tooch | 5-key data entry system and accompanying interface |
JP2015066354A (en) * | 2013-09-30 | 2015-04-13 | オムロン株式会社 | Game machine |
JP2015066352A (en) * | 2013-09-30 | 2015-04-13 | オムロン株式会社 | Game machine |
US9984209B2 (en) | 2015-02-13 | 2018-05-29 | Medtronic, Inc. | Graphical controls for programming medical device operation |
USD877630S1 (en) * | 2018-03-20 | 2020-03-10 | Detroit Watch Company | Watch |
Family Cites Families (19)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3495232A (en) * | 1966-10-07 | 1970-02-10 | Westinghouse Electric Corp | Display screen and switching matrix |
CH603174A4 (en) | 1974-05-03 | 1977-06-15 | ||
US4017848A (en) * | 1975-05-19 | 1977-04-12 | Rockwell International Corporation | Transparent keyboard switch and array |
US4679951A (en) * | 1979-11-06 | 1987-07-14 | Cornell Research Foundation, Inc. | Electronic keyboard system and method for reproducing selected symbolic language characters |
US5559512A (en) * | 1995-03-20 | 1996-09-24 | Venturedyne, Ltd. | Method and apparatus for entering alpha-numeric data |
US6107997A (en) * | 1996-06-27 | 2000-08-22 | Ure; Michael J. | Touch-sensitive keyboard/mouse and computing device using the same |
NO301040B1 (en) | 1995-12-04 | 1997-09-01 | Ziad Badarneh | Keyboards for phones and the like |
US5943044A (en) * | 1996-08-05 | 1999-08-24 | Interlink Electronics | Force sensing semiconductive touchpad |
US5982303A (en) | 1997-02-03 | 1999-11-09 | Smith; Jeffrey | Method for entering alpha-numeric data |
US6278442B1 (en) * | 1998-06-26 | 2001-08-21 | Research In Motion Limited | Hand-held electronic device with a keyboard optimized for use with the thumbs |
NO994723L (en) | 1998-12-09 | 2000-06-13 | Ziad Badarneh | Keyboard device |
US6320942B1 (en) * | 1998-12-31 | 2001-11-20 | Keytouch Corporation | Directionally-mapped, keyed alpha-numeric data input/output system |
US6339643B1 (en) * | 1999-01-29 | 2002-01-15 | Agere Systems Guardian Corp. | Telephone disable feature |
US20030006956A1 (en) | 1999-05-24 | 2003-01-09 | Charles Yimin Wu | Data entry device recording input in two dimensions |
GB2353184A (en) * | 1999-08-13 | 2001-02-14 | Nokia Mobile Phones Ltd | Disabling a touch sensitive display screen when a call is established |
US20020105497A1 (en) | 1999-12-17 | 2002-08-08 | Guo Jin | Chart navigation using compact input devices |
US6682235B2 (en) * | 2001-03-20 | 2004-01-27 | Logitech Europe, S.A. | Computer keyboard |
US7345671B2 (en) * | 2001-10-22 | 2008-03-18 | Apple Inc. | Method and apparatus for use of rotational user inputs |
US7154480B2 (en) * | 2002-04-30 | 2006-12-26 | Kazuho Iesaka | Computer keyboard and cursor control system with keyboard map switching system |
-
1999
- 1999-05-24 US US09/317,518 patent/US20030006956A1/en not_active Abandoned
-
2000
- 2000-04-28 JP JP2000620614A patent/JP2003500771A/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2000-04-28 CN CN00807998A patent/CN1358299A/en active Pending
- 2000-04-28 WO PCT/US2000/011427 patent/WO2000072300A1/en active Search and Examination
-
2002
- 2002-10-31 US US10/285,258 patent/US6992658B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Cited By (82)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US6885317B1 (en) * | 1998-12-10 | 2005-04-26 | Eatoni Ergonomics, Inc. | Touch-typable devices based on ambiguous codes and methods to design such devices |
USRE43082E1 (en) | 1998-12-10 | 2012-01-10 | Eatoni Ergonomics, Inc. | Touch-typable devices based on ambiguous codes and methods to design such devices |
US20090284471A1 (en) * | 1999-05-27 | 2009-11-19 | Tegic Communications, Inc. | Virtual Keyboard System with Automatic Correction |
US20100277416A1 (en) * | 1999-05-27 | 2010-11-04 | Tegic Communications, Inc. | Directional input system with automatic correction |
US20080100579A1 (en) * | 1999-05-27 | 2008-05-01 | Robinson B A | Keyboard System with Automatic Correction |
US8441454B2 (en) | 1999-05-27 | 2013-05-14 | Tegic Communications, Inc. | Virtual keyboard system with automatic correction |
US9557916B2 (en) | 1999-05-27 | 2017-01-31 | Nuance Communications, Inc. | Keyboard system with automatic correction |
US8294667B2 (en) | 1999-05-27 | 2012-10-23 | Tegic Communications, Inc. | Directional input system with automatic correction |
US7880730B2 (en) | 1999-05-27 | 2011-02-01 | Tegic Communications, Inc. | Keyboard system with automatic correction |
US9400782B2 (en) | 1999-05-27 | 2016-07-26 | Nuance Communications, Inc. | Virtual keyboard system with automatic correction |
US8576167B2 (en) | 1999-05-27 | 2013-11-05 | Tegic Communications, Inc. | Directional input system with automatic correction |
US8466896B2 (en) | 1999-05-27 | 2013-06-18 | Tegic Communications, Inc. | System and apparatus for selectable input with a touch screen |
US20080015841A1 (en) * | 2000-05-26 | 2008-01-17 | Longe Michael R | Directional Input System with Automatic Correction |
US7778818B2 (en) | 2000-05-26 | 2010-08-17 | Tegic Communications, Inc. | Directional input system with automatic correction |
US8976115B2 (en) | 2000-05-26 | 2015-03-10 | Nuance Communications, Inc. | Directional input system with automatic correction |
US20080074400A1 (en) * | 2000-11-30 | 2008-03-27 | Palm,Inc. | Input detection system for a portable electronic device |
US9489018B2 (en) * | 2000-11-30 | 2016-11-08 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Input detection system for a portable electronic device |
US20100045633A1 (en) * | 2000-11-30 | 2010-02-25 | Palm, Inc. | Input detection system for a portable electronic device |
US20080117184A1 (en) * | 2000-11-30 | 2008-05-22 | Palm, Inc. | Flexible screen display with touch sensor in a portable computer |
US20100045628A1 (en) * | 2000-11-30 | 2010-02-25 | Palm, Inc. | Input detection system for a portable electronic device |
USRE45566E1 (en) | 2001-01-25 | 2015-06-16 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Method and apparatus for aliased item selection from a list of items |
US8928588B2 (en) | 2001-04-27 | 2015-01-06 | Blackberry Limited | Touch-type key input apparatus |
US7800587B2 (en) | 2001-04-27 | 2010-09-21 | Tip Communications, Llc | Touch-type key input apparatus |
US20060007162A1 (en) * | 2001-04-27 | 2006-01-12 | Misawa Homes Co., Ltd. | Touch-type key input apparatus |
US7761175B2 (en) | 2001-09-27 | 2010-07-20 | Eatoni Ergonomics, Inc. | Method and apparatus for discoverable input of symbols on a reduced keypad |
US20080183472A1 (en) * | 2002-03-15 | 2008-07-31 | International Business Machine Corporation | Speech recognition system and program thereof |
US20040083198A1 (en) * | 2002-07-18 | 2004-04-29 | Bradford Ethan R. | Dynamic database reordering system |
US20040196256A1 (en) * | 2003-04-04 | 2004-10-07 | Wobbrock Jacob O. | Using edges and corners for character input |
US7729542B2 (en) * | 2003-04-04 | 2010-06-01 | Carnegie Mellon University | Using edges and corners for character input |
US20090213134A1 (en) * | 2003-04-09 | 2009-08-27 | James Stephanick | Touch screen and graphical user interface |
US8456441B2 (en) | 2003-04-09 | 2013-06-04 | Tegic Communications, Inc. | Selective input system and process based on tracking of motion parameters of an input object |
US7821503B2 (en) | 2003-04-09 | 2010-10-26 | Tegic Communications, Inc. | Touch screen and graphical user interface |
US8237682B2 (en) | 2003-04-09 | 2012-08-07 | Tegic Communications, Inc. | System and process for selectable input with a touch screen |
US20050052406A1 (en) * | 2003-04-09 | 2005-03-10 | James Stephanick | Selective input system based on tracking of motion parameters of an input device |
US8237681B2 (en) | 2003-04-09 | 2012-08-07 | Tegic Communications, Inc. | Selective input system and process based on tracking of motion parameters of an input object |
US7750891B2 (en) | 2003-04-09 | 2010-07-06 | Tegic Communications, Inc. | Selective input system based on tracking of motion parameters of an input device |
US20050060448A1 (en) * | 2003-09-11 | 2005-03-17 | Eatoni Ergonomics, Inc | Efficient Method and Apparatus For Text Entry Based On Trigger Sequences |
US8200865B2 (en) | 2003-09-11 | 2012-06-12 | Eatoni Ergonomics, Inc. | Efficient method and apparatus for text entry based on trigger sequences |
US20060072824A1 (en) * | 2003-09-16 | 2006-04-06 | Van Meurs Pim | System and method for Chinese input using a joystick |
US7088861B2 (en) * | 2003-09-16 | 2006-08-08 | America Online, Inc. | System and method for chinese input using a joystick |
US7218781B2 (en) * | 2003-09-16 | 2007-05-15 | Tegic Communications, Inc. | System and method for chinese input using a joystick |
SG144721A1 (en) * | 2003-09-16 | 2008-08-28 | Aol Llc | System and method for chinese input using joystick |
US20040223644A1 (en) * | 2003-09-16 | 2004-11-11 | Meurs Pim Van | System and method for chinese input using a joystick |
US20050066291A1 (en) * | 2003-09-19 | 2005-03-24 | Stanislaw Lewak | Manual user data entry method and system |
US8570292B2 (en) | 2003-12-22 | 2013-10-29 | Tegic Communications, Inc. | Virtual keyboard system with automatic correction |
US8419303B2 (en) | 2003-12-31 | 2013-04-16 | Research In Motion Limited | Keyboard with overlaid numeric phone keypad |
US20110063787A1 (en) * | 2003-12-31 | 2011-03-17 | Griffin Jason T | Keyboard arrangement |
US7938589B2 (en) | 2003-12-31 | 2011-05-10 | Research In Motion Limited | Keyboard arrangement |
US20080138135A1 (en) * | 2005-01-27 | 2008-06-12 | Howard Andrew Gutowitz | Typability Optimized Ambiguous Keyboards With Reduced Distortion |
US20070173240A1 (en) * | 2006-01-25 | 2007-07-26 | Microsoft Corporation | Handwriting style data input via keys |
US7961903B2 (en) * | 2006-01-25 | 2011-06-14 | Microsoft Corporation | Handwriting style data input via keys |
US20090040179A1 (en) * | 2006-02-10 | 2009-02-12 | Seung Soo Lee | Graphic user interface device and method of displaying graphic objects |
US9395906B2 (en) * | 2006-02-10 | 2016-07-19 | Korea Institute Of Science And Technology | Graphic user interface device and method of displaying graphic objects |
US8892996B2 (en) | 2007-02-01 | 2014-11-18 | Nuance Communications, Inc. | Spell-check for a keyboard system with automatic correction |
US20110193797A1 (en) * | 2007-02-01 | 2011-08-11 | Erland Unruh | Spell-check for a keyboard system with automatic correction |
US9092419B2 (en) | 2007-02-01 | 2015-07-28 | Nuance Communications, Inc. | Spell-check for a keyboard system with automatic correction |
US8225203B2 (en) | 2007-02-01 | 2012-07-17 | Nuance Communications, Inc. | Spell-check for a keyboard system with automatic correction |
US8201087B2 (en) | 2007-02-01 | 2012-06-12 | Tegic Communications, Inc. | Spell-check for a keyboard system with automatic correction |
US20100073203A1 (en) * | 2008-09-23 | 2010-03-25 | Burrell Iv James W | WORLDs SMALLEST KEYBOARD AND CONTROL MEANS |
US20100141584A1 (en) * | 2008-12-04 | 2010-06-10 | Research In Motion | Stroke based input system for character input |
US8648796B2 (en) * | 2008-12-04 | 2014-02-11 | Blackberry Limited | Stroke based input system for character input |
US9547380B2 (en) * | 2012-05-03 | 2017-01-17 | Fluidity Technologies, Inc. | Multi-degrees-of-freedom hand controller |
US10481704B2 (en) * | 2012-05-03 | 2019-11-19 | Fluidity Technologies, Inc. | Multi-degrees-of-freedom hand controller |
US20130293362A1 (en) * | 2012-05-03 | 2013-11-07 | The Methodist Hospital Research Institute | Multi-degrees-of-freedom hand controller |
US11281308B2 (en) * | 2012-05-03 | 2022-03-22 | Fluidity Technologies Inc. | Multi-degrees-of-freedom hand controller |
US10324540B1 (en) * | 2012-05-03 | 2019-06-18 | Fluidity Technologies, Inc. | Multi-degrees-of-freedom hand controller |
US20160195939A1 (en) * | 2012-05-03 | 2016-07-07 | Fluidity Technologies, Inc. | Multi-Degrees-of-Freedom Hand Controller |
US10921904B2 (en) | 2016-10-27 | 2021-02-16 | Fluidity Technologies Inc. | Dynamically balanced multi-degrees-of-freedom hand controller |
US11500475B2 (en) | 2016-10-27 | 2022-11-15 | Fluidity Technologies Inc. | Dynamically balanced, multi-degrees-of-freedom hand controller |
US10331232B2 (en) | 2016-10-27 | 2019-06-25 | Fluidity Technologies, Inc. | Controller with situational awareness display |
US10520973B2 (en) | 2016-10-27 | 2019-12-31 | Fluidity Technologies, Inc. | Dynamically balanced multi-degrees-of-freedom hand controller |
US10664002B2 (en) | 2016-10-27 | 2020-05-26 | Fluidity Technologies Inc. | Multi-degrees-of-freedom hand held controller |
US10324487B2 (en) | 2016-10-27 | 2019-06-18 | Fluidity Technologies, Inc. | Multi-axis gimbal mounting for controller providing tactile feedback for the null command |
US10331233B2 (en) | 2016-10-27 | 2019-06-25 | Fluidity Technologies, Inc. | Camera and sensor controls for remotely operated vehicles and virtual environments |
US10198086B2 (en) | 2016-10-27 | 2019-02-05 | Fluidity Technologies, Inc. | Dynamically balanced, multi-degrees-of-freedom hand controller |
US11199914B2 (en) | 2017-10-27 | 2021-12-14 | Fluidity Technologies Inc. | Camera and sensor controls for remotely operated vehicles and virtual environments |
US11194358B2 (en) | 2017-10-27 | 2021-12-07 | Fluidity Technologies Inc. | Multi-axis gimbal mounting for controller providing tactile feedback for the null command |
US11194407B2 (en) | 2017-10-27 | 2021-12-07 | Fluidity Technologies Inc. | Controller with situational awareness display |
US11644859B2 (en) | 2017-10-27 | 2023-05-09 | Fluidity Technologies Inc. | Multi-axis gimbal mounting for controller providing tactile feedback for the null command |
US11599107B2 (en) | 2019-12-09 | 2023-03-07 | Fluidity Technologies Inc. | Apparatus, methods and systems for remote or onboard control of flights |
US11662835B1 (en) | 2022-04-26 | 2023-05-30 | Fluidity Technologies Inc. | System and methods for controlling motion of a target object and providing discrete, directional tactile feedback |
US11696633B1 (en) | 2022-04-26 | 2023-07-11 | Fluidity Technologies Inc. | System and methods for controlling motion of a target object and providing discrete, directional tactile feedback |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US6992658B2 (en) | 2006-01-31 |
WO2000072300A1 (en) | 2000-11-30 |
US20030048262A1 (en) | 2003-03-13 |
CN1358299A (en) | 2002-07-10 |
JP2003500771A (en) | 2003-01-07 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US20030006956A1 (en) | Data entry device recording input in two dimensions | |
US6944472B1 (en) | Cellular phone allowing a hand-written character to be entered on the back | |
US9557916B2 (en) | Keyboard system with automatic correction | |
US8553007B2 (en) | Method and handheld electronic device including first input component and second touch sensitive input component | |
US7075520B2 (en) | Key press disambiguation using a keypad of multidirectional keys | |
US7508324B2 (en) | Finger activated reduced keyboard and a method for performing text input | |
US20060176283A1 (en) | Finger activated reduced keyboard and a method for performing text input | |
US20100225592A1 (en) | Apparatus and method for inputting characters/numerals for communication terminal | |
US20030064686A1 (en) | Data input device | |
US20080088487A1 (en) | Hand Writing Input Method And Device For Portable Terminal | |
JP2004213269A (en) | Character input device | |
CN100374991C (en) | Portable keyboard and fingerprint feature information extracting method thereof | |
US7642932B2 (en) | Method of mapping characters for a mobile telephone keypad | |
KR100651396B1 (en) | Alphabet recognition apparatus and method | |
EP2073101B1 (en) | Method and handheld electronic device including first input component and second touch sensitive input component | |
JP2001333166A (en) | Character entry device and character entry method | |
US20030053695A1 (en) | Method and apparatus for entry of multi-stroke characters | |
US20050088415A1 (en) | Character input method and character input device | |
WO2001045034A1 (en) | Ideographic character input using legitimate characters as components | |
CN100373401C (en) | Chinese character handwriting inputting method based on stroke sequence | |
WO2004051457A1 (en) | Method and apparatus for secure data entry using multiple function keys | |
US20020105497A1 (en) | Chart navigation using compact input devices | |
KR20030030563A (en) | Character input apparatus and method using pointing device | |
KR100935338B1 (en) | Hangul character input device using touch sensor | |
JP2003108564A (en) | Pen type dictionary |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: MOTOROLA, INC., ILLINOIS Free format text: MORTGAGE;ASSIGNORS:WU, CHARLES YIMIN;JIN, GUO;REEL/FRAME:009993/0958;SIGNING DATES FROM 19990510 TO 19990514 |
|
STCB | Information on status: application discontinuation |
Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION |