WO2012155776A1

WO2012155776A1 - Virtual keyboard layout method and keyboard

Info

Publication number: WO2012155776A1
Application number: PCT/CN2012/074684
Authority: WO
Inventors: 胡蝶
Original assignee: 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Priority date: 2011-10-25
Filing date: 2012-04-25
Publication date: 2012-11-22
Also published as: CN102375691A

Abstract

Disclosed are a virtual keyboard layout method and a keyboard. The method comprises: setting a shape of a virtual keyboard so that the shape is corresponding to a moving range of a thumb; dividing the virtual keyboard into multiple arc areas, and arranging character keys or control keys on each arc area, comprising arranging a set key, an input prompt and select key, and a delete key on a first arc area, arranging number keys, an asterisk key and a pound sign key that are independent of one another on other arc areas, and attaching English letters on the number keys, the asterisk key and the pound sign key in groups of two. The method of the present invention arranges the keys in the moving range of the thumb, so that the thumb can flexibly click the keys and input characters in the moving range thereof, thereby avoiding extreme action of the thumb and improving comfort of inputting characters by a single hand.

Description

Virtual keyboard layout method and keyboard

The present invention relates to an input keyboard of an electronic device, and more particularly to a virtual keyboard layout method and a keyboard applied to a touch screen of an electronic device. Background technique

With the development of technology, handheld electronic devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, handheld game consoles, handheld music players, and handheld movie players, hereinafter referred to as handheld devices, have become more and more popular. The front of a typical handheld device is a touch screen display, hereinafter referred to as a touch screen. The touch screen often occupies most of the front area, and there are only a few physical buttons next to the touch screen. When entering text on such a handheld device, you need to enter it by tapping the virtual keyboard on the touch screen.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a layout structure of a virtual keyboard provided by the prior art. As shown in Fig. 1, the virtual keyboard includes a plurality of numeric keys corresponding to the numbers 0 to 9, and each of the numeric keys has at least three letters distributed thereon, and the numbers and letters on the numeric keys can be switched. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the layout structure of another virtual keyboard provided by the prior art. As shown in Fig. 2, the virtual keyboard includes 26 independent letter keys and some other keys, such as numeric keys, punctuation keys, etc., and the special feature is that there is no re-code when inputting English, and the efficiency is high. In the virtual keyboard layout scheme provided by the prior art, there may be a large difference in the number of buttons between different schemes, but the buttons are generally arranged vertically parallel on the touch screen, that is, the direction of the button arrangement is parallel and perpendicular to the edge of the touch screen. .

In normal use, many times the user can only operate the handheld device with one hand. When operating with one hand, all operations need to be done by clicking and sliding the thumb. As shown in Figure 3, the range of motion of the thumb on the surface of the touch screen is limited, and its shape approximates an irregular quarter-sector. The existing virtual buttons are generally arranged in a rectangular shape, which occupies the touch screen as a whole. The large area of the lower part, which causes the existing virtual keyboard part to be within the range of the thumb's range of activity, and part of which is outside the range of activity, as shown in Figure 1, Figure 2.

For buttons within the active range, the thumb can be operated flexibly; but for buttons outside the range of activity, the thumb is difficult to operate. In order to operate the buttons outside the range of motion, the joints of the thumb need to reach its extreme position, which will cause the grip to be unstable and the device to slip off from the hand; on the other hand, this posture is very uncomfortable, long-term Repeating this posture is easy for the thumb to fatigue.

Since large screens can provide a good visual experience for users, more and more users tend to choose handheld devices equipped with large screens. However, as the screen becomes larger and larger, the existing virtual keyboard layout has become less and less suitable for text input with a one-handed thumb. Summary of the invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a virtual keyboard layout method and a keyboard to optimize the layout of the existing virtual keyboard, and to solve the problem that the existing virtual keyboard is not suitable for one-handed thumb operation and is prone to operational fatigue.

The present invention solves the above technical problems by adopting the following technical solutions:

A virtual keyboard layout method, the method includes:

Setting the shape of the virtual keyboard so that the shape of the virtual keyboard corresponds to the range of motion of the thumb;

The virtual keyboard is divided into a plurality of curved areas, and character keys or control keys are arranged on the respective curved areas.

The setting of the shape of the virtual keyboard includes: setting the shape of the virtual keyboard to a fan shape. A method for arranging a character button or a control button on each curved region includes:

Arranging a setting key, an input prompt and a selection key, and a delete key on the first curved area;

Arrange the numeric keys, star keys, and pound keys independently of each other on other curved areas, and attach the punctuation input and space input to the two numeric keys respectively. The English letters A to Z are three or four. One group is attached to other number keys.

Arranging mutually independent numeric keys, star keys, and hash keys on other curved areas includes: arranging numbers 1 to 6 six numeric keys in a second curved area immediately adjacent to the first curved area; The third curved area adjacent to the second curved area arranges the number 7 to 0 five-digit keys; the asterisk key and the hash key are arranged in the fourth curved area immediately adjacent to the third curved area.

Punctuation input and space input are respectively attached to the two number keys, and the English letters A to Z are attached to the other number keys in groups of three or four.

The punctuation input is attached to the number key corresponding to the number 1, and the space input is attached to the number key corresponding to the number 0;

The English letters A to 0 are respectively attached to the respective numeric keys corresponding to the numbers 2 to 6 in groups of three;

The English letters 8 to 8, and W to Z are respectively attached as a group to the respective numeric keys corresponding to the numbers 7 to 9.

The second method of arranging character buttons or control buttons on each curved area includes:

Arranging a setting key, a punctuation key, an input prompt and a selection key, a space key, and a delete key on the first curved area;

Arrange the English alphabet keys that are independent of each other on the other curved areas, and attach the numbers 0 to 9 to the different English alphabet keys.

Arrange the English alphabet keys that are independent of each other on other curved areas, and append the numbers 0 to 9 on the different English alphabet keys:

Arranging English alphabets A to J for ten English alphabet keys in a second curved region immediately adjacent to the first curved region, and attaching numbers 0 to 9 respectively to the English alphabet keys corresponding to the English letters A to J; The third curved area immediately adjacent to the second curved area is arranged with English letters K to R for eight English letter keys;

Arrange the English letter S to W in the fourth arc area immediately adjacent to the third curved area described above. Letter key

Arrange the English letter X to Z three letter keys in the fifth arc area immediately adjacent to the fourth curved area.

The third method of arranging character buttons or control buttons on each curved area includes:

Arranging mutually independent numeric keys, star keys, and pound keys on other curved areas, and attaching English letters A to X to the above-mentioned numeric keys, the above-mentioned star keys, and the above-mentioned well key respectively. Upper

Arrange a button for the English letters Υ, Ζ on the last arc, and arrange a button for the punctuation input and the space input.

Arranging mutually independent numeric keys, star keys, and pound keys on other curved areas, and arranging the English letters to X in groups of two, respectively, the above-mentioned numeric keys, the above-mentioned star keys, and the above-mentioned well key Includes:

Arranging numbers 1 to 7 seven numeric keys in a second arc area immediately adjacent to the first curved area, and respectively affixing the English letters A to N to the respective numeric keys corresponding to the numbers 1 to 7 Upper

Arranging a number 8 to 0 three-digit key and an asterisk key, a hash key in a third arc area immediately adjacent to the second curved area, and respectively assigning the letter 8 to T in groups of two To each of the corresponding numeric keys of 0, the English letters U and V are attached to the above-mentioned star key, and the English letter IX is attached to the above-mentioned hash key.

The above virtual keyboard layout method further includes:

The display area of the virtual keyboard is set such that the virtual keyboard is displayed on the lower right or lower left of the touch screen of the electronic device.

The invention also adopts the following technical solutions:

A keyboard, wherein the keyboard is information that exists through hardware setting or software running display mode The input keyboard includes: a shape setting module and a button arrangement module;

The shape setting module is configured to set the shape of the keyboard, so that the shape of the keyboard corresponds to the movable range of the thumb;

The button arrangement module is configured to divide the keyboard into a plurality of arc zones, and arrange character buttons or control buttons on the arc regions.

The keyboard further includes a display setting module, configured to set a display area of the keyboard, so that the keyboard is displayed on a lower right or a lower left of the touch screen of the electronic device.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial technical effects: The keyboard layout method of the present invention arranges all the keys in the range of the thumb, and the thumb can flexibly click the button within the range of its motion. Enter text to avoid extreme movements of the thumb and improve the comfort of one-handed text. The keyboard layout method of the present invention is particularly suitable for handheld devices having large screens. When an existing virtual keyboard inputs text, it often requires two hands to cooperate at the same time, and it is difficult for the operator to do other things when inputting text. However, when the virtual keyboard of the present invention inputs text, all operations can be completed by one hand, which is convenient for the operator to use. DRAWINGS

The drawings are intended to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are intended to be a part of the invention. In the drawing:

1 is a schematic structural diagram of a virtual keyboard provided by the prior art;

1 is a schematic structural diagram of another virtual keyboard provided by the prior art;

Figure 3 is a schematic illustration of the range of motion of the thumb on the surface of the touch screen when the handheld device is operated with one hand;

4 is a schematic diagram of an optimized layout structure of a virtual keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a layout method of a virtual keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention;

6 is a schematic structural diagram of a virtual keyboard obtained by the method of the present invention; 7 is a schematic structural diagram of another virtual keyboard obtained by the method of the present invention;

8 is a schematic structural diagram of still another virtual keyboard obtained by the method of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a module of a keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention. detailed description

The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments in order to make the present invention. It is understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic illustration of the range of motion of the thumb on the surface of the touch screen when the handheld device is operated with one hand. As can be seen from Figure 3, when the handheld device is held in one hand, the range of motion of the thumb is approximately one quarter of a sector, and the operation of the thumb is more natural and comfortable in the sector. Based on the characteristics of the range of motion of the thumb on the touch screen, the present invention proposes an optimized keyboard layout that completely covers the range of motion of the thumb, facilitating the operation of the keyboard with a single thumb.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an optimized layout structure of a virtual keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the virtual keyboard provided by the embodiment of the present invention is composed of 10 to 40 basic keys Κι~Κη and a long special key, that is, an input prompt and a selection key, wherein the 10 < η < 40, η is an integer. The basic buttons include control buttons and character buttons. The control buttons are used for line feed, delete, page turning, input method setting, input method switching, etc. Character buttons are used to input letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and so on. Each character button can correspond to 1 to 5 letters, numbers, or punctuation. Letters, numbers, and punctuation marks can be distributed in any position on the buttons at any position according to actual needs. The overall shape of the virtual keyboard of the present invention coincides with the range of motion of the thumb, and each of the keys is arranged in approximately one quarter of the sector.

When the number of buttons is small, each button occupies a large area, and each button has more letters allocated; when the number of buttons is large, the area occupied by each button is correspondingly reduced, and each button is simultaneously reduced. There are fewer letters assigned. Regardless of the number of buttons, each button is arranged in an approximately quarter-shaped area in which the thumb can operate. In general, multiple sets of virtual keyboards of the present invention can be built in the handheld device, and they can optimize the button size, Chinese input, English input, punctuation input, etc., and the user can switch the layout of the keyboard at any time as needed. the way.

Since a character key may correspond to 1 to 4 letters, different Chinese Pinyin, Chinese homophones, Chinese phrases, and English words may have the same encoding. The present invention refers to these same Chinese Pinyin, Chinese homophones, and Chinese phrases. The English word is a heavy code. Special button Used to dynamically display the re-code generated during the input process. After the user clicks on multiple basic buttons, the special buttons can dynamically display these basic buttons to generate an effective combination of Chinese pinyin, Chinese homophones, Chinese phrases, and English words for the user to select and input to the handheld device.

The overall layout structure of the virtual keyboard provided by the present invention has been generally described above. The layout method of the virtual keyboard of the present invention will be described in detail below. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for laying out a virtual keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the method of the embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

Step S1: setting a shape of the virtual keyboard, so that the shape of the virtual keyboard corresponds to the active range of the thumb;

Different from the prior art virtual keyboard, the virtual keyboard has a fan-shaped structure, and its shape corresponds to the movable range of the thumb, that is, the shape and size of the virtual keyboard of the embodiment can cover the movable range of the thumb. quasi.

Step S2: dividing the virtual keyboard into a plurality of arc zones, and arranging character keys or control buttons on the arc zones.

The present invention provides a plurality of method embodiments for arranging character buttons or control buttons.

Embodiment 1:

1) Arrange the setting key, the input prompt and the selection key, the delete key on the first curved area, and arrange the independent numeric keys, the star key, and the hash key on the other curved areas. For example, a number 1 to 6 six numeric keys are arranged in a second curved area immediately adjacent to the first curved area, and the second curved shape is The third arcuate area adjacent to the area arranges the number 7 to 0 five-digit keys, and the asterisk key and the pound key are arranged in the fourth curved area immediately adjacent to the third curved area.

2) Attach the punctuation input and the space input to the two numeric keys respectively, and attach the English letters A to Z to the other numeric keys in groups of three or four. For example, the punctuation input is attached to the number key corresponding to the number 1, the space input is attached to the number key corresponding to the number 0, and the English letters A to 0 are respectively grouped in three groups corresponding to the numbers 2 to 6. On the numeric keys, the English letters 8 to 8, and to W to Z are respectively attached as a group to the respective numeric keys corresponding to the numbers 7 to 9.

The virtual keyboard obtained by the method of the first embodiment is shown in FIG. 6. This virtual keyboard can be called "numeric keyboard". It has the following features: 12 independent buttons with 0~9, *, #, A~Z These twenty-six letters are assigned in groups of 3 or 4 On the 7 to 9 numeric buttons. This "numeric keypad" button has a large area and is easy to operate with one hand. It is suitable for small size mobile phones and fixed telephones. The disadvantage is that the bit rate is higher, but today's input method software is relatively smart, and the problem of re-code can be solved in a variety of ways. The "numeric keypad" shown in Figure 6 differs from the traditional "numeric keypad" in terms of key position and layout, but maintains a large degree of compatibility in software, so it is easier to implement.

Embodiment 2:

1) Arranging a setting key, a punctuation key, an input prompt and a selection key, a space key, and a delete key on the first curved area;

2) Arrange the English alphabet keys that are independent of each other on the other curved areas, and attach the numbers 0 to 9 to the different English letter keys.

For example, the English alphabet keys A to J are arranged in the second curved area immediately adjacent to the first curved area, and the numbers 0 to 9 are respectively attached to the English alphabet keys corresponding to the English letters A to J. The English alphabet K to R eight English alphabet keys are arranged in a third curved area immediately adjacent to the second curved area. Arrange the English letters S to W in the fourth curved area immediately adjacent to the third curved area described above Five English letter keys. Arrange the English letter X to Z three English letter keys in the fifth arc area immediately adjacent to the fourth curved area.

The virtual keyboard obtained by the method of the second embodiment is shown in FIG. This virtual keyboard can be called "full keyboard" and features: A~Z Each of the twenty-six letters corresponds to a separate button. This "full keyboard" can be applied to large-size mobile phones or PDAs in the form of physical buttons or virtual buttons. "Full keyboard" There is no re-code when entering English, which is very efficient. The disadvantage is that the number of buttons is too large, the button area is small, and it is not convenient to operate with one hand. The "full keyboard" shown in Figure 7 has a large difference in compatibility with the traditional "full keyboard" of the button position and layout, so it is easier to implement.

Embodiment 3:

1) arranging a setting key, an input prompt and a selection key, and a delete key on the first curved area;

2) Arranging mutually independent numeric keys, star keys, and pound keys on other curved areas, and attaching English letters A to X in groups of two, respectively, the above-mentioned number keys, the above-mentioned star keys, and the above wells On the number key;

For example, the number 1 to 7 number keys are arranged in the second arc area immediately adjacent to the first curved area, and the English letters A to N are respectively attached to the respective numbers 1 to 7 respectively. On the number keys;

3) Arrange a button for the English letter Y, Ζ on the last arc, and arrange a button for the punctuation input and the space input respectively.

The virtual keyboard obtained by the method of the third embodiment is as shown in FIG. This virtual keyboard can be called a "two-letter keyboard." It is a "numeric keyboard" and "full keyboard" implementation Optimization improvements. In this embodiment, A~Z, the twenty-six letters, every two letters are assigned to one button, twenty-six letters occupy only thirteen buttons, 0~9, *, #12 Characters are also assigned to thirteen letters, plus four special buttons, "Punctuation Key", "Spacebar", "Setting Key", and "Delete Key". A total of only seventeen buttons are required.

In the "two-letter keyboard", each button only corresponds to two letters, and only a total of seventeen buttons are required. Considering the three aspects of the number of buttons, button area and weight ratio, it is an optimal implementation. The number of the buttons is small for the user to select, and the button area is large for the user to click, and the fewer the letters on the single button, the lower the code rate.

Step S3: setting a display area of the virtual keyboard, so that the virtual keyboard is displayed on the lower right or lower left of the touch screen of the electronic device.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a module of a keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, the above keyboard is an information input keyboard existing through a hardware setting or a software running display mode, and includes: a shape setting module, a button arrangement module 2;

The shape setting module 1 is configured to set a shape of the keyboard, so that the shape of the keyboard corresponds to a range of motion of the thumb;

The button arrangement module 2 is configured to divide the keyboard into a plurality of arc zones, and arrange character buttons or control buttons on the arc regions.

Further, the keyboard further includes a display setting module 3, configured to set a display area of the keyboard, so that the keyboard is displayed on the lower right or lower left of the touch screen of the electronic device.

The above description shows and describes a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but as described above, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the form disclosed herein, and should not be construed as being Other combinations, modifications, and environments are possible and can be modified by the teachings of the above teachings or related art within the scope of the inventive concept described herein. All changes and modifications made by those skilled in the art are intended to be within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

Claim

A virtual keyboard layout method, the method comprising:

The shape of the virtual keyboard is set such that the shape of the virtual keyboard corresponds to the movable range of the thumb; the virtual keyboard is divided into a plurality of curved areas, and character keys or control keys are arranged on the curved areas.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the setting of the virtual keyboard is: setting the shape of the virtual keyboard to a fan shape.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the method of arranging a character button or a control button on each of the arc regions is:

Arranging a setting key, an input prompt, a selection key, and a delete key on the first curved area;

Arrange the numeric keys, the star key and the hash key independently of each other on other curved areas, and attach the punctuation input and the space input to the two numeric keys respectively, and the English letters A to Z are three or four. One set is attached to other numeric keys.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the number keys, the star key, and the hash key are arranged independently of each other on the other curved areas:

Arranging numbers 1 to 6 six numeric keys in a second arc area immediately adjacent to the first curved area; arranging numbers 7 to 0 five numbers in a third arc area immediately adjacent to the second curved area a key; an asterisk key and a hash key are arranged in a fourth arc area immediately adjacent to the third curved area.

The method according to claim 4, wherein the punctuation input and the space input are respectively attached to two numeric keys, and the English letters A to Z are attached to the group of three or four. On the number keys:

The English letters A to 0 are respectively attached to the respective numeric keys corresponding to the numbers 2 to 6 in groups of three; The English letters 8 to 8, 到, W to Z are respectively attached as a group to the respective numeric keys corresponding to the numbers 7 to 9.

6. The method according to claim 2, wherein the method of arranging a character button or a control button on each curved region is:

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the other English alphabet keys are arranged on the other curved areas, and the numbers 0 to 9 are attached to different English alphabet keys: The second curved area immediately adjacent to the first curved area arranges English alphabet letters A to J for ten English alphabet keys, and the numbers 0 to 9 are respectively attached to the English alphabet keys corresponding to the English letters A to J; a third curved area adjacent to the second curved area is arranged with English letters K to R for eight English letter keys;

Arranging English letters S to W for five English letter keys in a fourth arc area immediately adjacent to the third curved area;

Arrange the English letters X to Z three English letter keys in the fifth arc area immediately adjacent to the fourth curved area.

8. The method according to claim 2, wherein the method of arranging the character keys or the control keys on each of the curved areas is as follows:

Arranging mutually independent numeric keys, star keys, and hash keys on other curved areas, and attaching English letters A to X to the numeric keys, the asterisk keys, and the On the pound key;

Arrange a key for the English letter Υ, Ζ on the last arc, for punctuation input and empty The grid input arranges a button separately.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the other numeric keys, the star key and the hash key are arranged on the other curved areas, and the English letters A to X are two. The groups are respectively attached to the number keys, the star key and the hash key:

Arranging numbers 1 to 7 seven numeric keys in a second arc area immediately adjacent to the first curved area, and respectively affixing the English letters A to N to each of the numbers corresponding to the numbers 1 to 7 Key on;

Arranging numbers 8 to 0 three numeric keys, an asterisk key and a hash key in a third arc area immediately adjacent to the second curved area, and respectively assigning the letters 0 to T to each of the two groups On each of the numeric keys corresponding to 8 to 0, the English letters U and V are attached to the star key, and the English letter IX is attached to the hash key.

The method according to claim 5, 7 or 9, wherein the method further comprises:

A keyboard, wherein the keyboard comprises: a shape setting module and a button arrangement module;

The shape setting module is configured to set a shape of the keyboard, so that a shape of the keyboard corresponds to a range of motion of the thumb;

The button arrangement module is configured to divide the keyboard into a plurality of arc zones, and arrange character buttons or control buttons on each arc zone.

The keyboard according to claim 11, wherein the keyboard further comprises a display setting module;

The display setting module is configured to set a display area of the keyboard, so that the keyboard is displayed on a lower right or a lower left of the touch screen of the electronic device.