Text input using key and gesture information
Text input may be identified from a combination of key stroke information and handwriting gesture information. In one example, a touch screen displays an on-screen keyboard. A user then draws a character on the keyboard over the key that represents the character. In this way, two types of information are provided that identify the character that the user intended to enter: the particular drawing gesture that the user provided, and the location on the keyboard at which the user drew that gesture. These two pieces of information may be used, in combination, to determine which character the user intended to enter, and may help to interpret the input accurately in the case where either the gesture or key information, individually, would have been ambiguous.
1. One or more device-readable storage media that store executable instructions to receive text input, wherein the executable instructions, when executed on a device, cause the device to perform acts comprising:
receiving a gesture drawn by a user on a touch screen on which an on-screen keyboard is being displayed at a time at which the gesture is drawn;
identifying a character represented by the gesture; said gesture comprising a shape of said character;
identifying a key over which the gesture is drawn;
determining that the user entered the character based on the gesture and also based on the key;
identifying one or more characters that correspond to the gesture, wherein each of the one or more characters is associated with a probability that it corresponds to the gesture;
identifying one or more keys over which the gesture is drawn, wherein each of the one or more keys is associated with a probability that it is the key that the user intended to indicate;
using a weighted average of probabilities associated with the characters and probabilities associated with the keys to determine which character the user entered; and
storing, communicating, or displaying the character.
2. The one or more device-readable media of claim 1 , wherein identifying the one or more keys over which the gesture is performed by identifying locations on the touch screen that are touched by the gesture.
3. The one or more device-readable storage media of claim 1 , wherein said acts further comprise:
identifying the one or more keys over which the gesture is drawn, wherein the one or more keys comprise said key; and
using the gesture to determine which one of the one or more keys the user indicated.
4. The one or more device-readable storage media of claim 1 , the one or more characters comprising said character, and where said acts further comprise:
using information on which of said one or more keys on the on-screen keyboard the gesture is drawn over to determine which one of the one or more characters the gesture represents.
5. The one or more device-readable storage media of claim 1 , wherein the device comprises a wireless telephone.
6. The one or more device-readable storage media of claim 1 , wherein the device comprises a tablet computer.
7. The one or more device-readable storage media of claim 1 , wherein the touch screen is part of the device.
8. The one or more device-readable storage media of claim 1 , said device comprising a dashboard-mounted interface of a motor vehicle.
9. A method of processing text input, the method comprising:
receiving a gesture drawn by a user on a touch screen on which an on-screen keyboard is being displayed at a time at which the gesture is drawn;
determining, based on one or more keys on the on-screen keyboard over which the gesture is drawn or that the gesture surrounds, and also based on one or more characters in an alphabet that correspond to the gesture, which character the user indicated on the touch screen, the gesture comprising a shape of said character; and
storing, communicating, or displaying the character,
wherein each of the one or more characters is associated with a probability that it corresponds to the gesture, wherein each of the one or more keys is associated with a probability that it is a key that the user intended to indicate, and wherein the method further comprises:
using a weighted average of probabilities associated with the characters and probabilities associated with the keys to determine which character the user entered.
10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
identifying the one or more keys on the on-screen keyboard over which the gesture is drawn by identifying locations on the touch screen that are touched by the gesture.
11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
using the gesture to determine which one of the one or more keys the user indicated.
12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
using information on which one or more keys on the on-screen keyboard the gesture is drawn over to determine which one of the one or more characters the gesture represents.
13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the method is performed by a device that comprises a dashboard-mounted interface of a motor vehicle, or is performed bya device that has a dashboard-mounted display and that provides a keypad in a steering wheel.
14. The method of claim 9 , said method being performed by a device that Comprises a wireless telephone
15. A device for receiving text input, the device comprising:
a processor;
a memory;
a touch screen; and
a component that is stored in said memory and that executes on said processor, wherein the component displays an on-screen keyboard on said touch screen, receives a gesture drawn by a user on said touch screen, identifies a character represented by the gesture, identifies a key over which the gesture is drawn, determines that the user entered the character based on the gesture and also based on the key, and either stores the character in the memory, communicates the character over a network, or displays the character on said touch screen said gesture comprising a shape of said character, wherein the component identifies one or more characters that correspond to the gesture, wherein each of the one or more characters is associated with a probability that it corresponds to the gesture, wherein the component identifies one or more keys over which the gesture is drawn, wherein each of the one or more keys is associated with a probability that it is the key that the user intended to indicate, and wherein the component uses a weighted average of probabilities associated with the characters and probabilities associated with the keys to determine which character the user entered.
16. The device of claim 15 , wherein the component identifies said one or more keys over which the gesture is performed by identifying locations on the touch screen that are touched by the gesture.
17. The device of claim 15 , wherein the one or more keys comprise said key, and wherein the component uses the gesture to determine which one of the one or more keys the user indicated.
18. The device of claim 15 , wherein the one or more characters comprise said character, and wherein the component uses information on which of the one or more keys on the on-screen keyboard the gesture is drawn over to determine which one of the one or more characters the gesture represents.
19. The device of claim 15 , wherein the device comprises a wireless telephone.
20. The device of claim 15 , said device comprising a tablet computer.