U.S. patent application number 11/455012 was filed with the patent office on 2007-04-05 for data entry system.
Invention is credited to Firooz Ghassabian.
Application Number | 20070079239 11/455012 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38563990 |
Filed Date | 2007-04-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070079239 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ghassabian; Firooz |
April 5, 2007 |
Data entry system
Abstract
A data entry system includes a plurality of keys each of which
has two or more symbols associated with each key and a means for
receiving a second specific input from a user. A third correction
key is provided, where a user enters a desired input by pressing
one or more of the plurality of keys corresponding to the symbols
required for the desired input and further provides a second
specific input also relating to at least a portion of the desired
input, such that the system produces a response to the desired
input by predicting the desired input based on the symbols pressed
by the user and based on the second specific input. If the produced
response is different than the desired input, the user may press
the correction key to scroll through additional less frequent
responses from the system also matching the symbols pressed and the
second specific input.
Inventors: |
Ghassabian; Firooz; (Great
Neck, NY) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SOFER & HAROUN LLP.
317 MADISON AVENUE, SUITE 910
NEW YORK
NY
10017
US
|
Family ID: |
38563990 |
Appl. No.: |
11/455012 |
Filed: |
June 16, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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60691107 |
Jun 16, 2005 |
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60693176 |
Jun 23, 2005 |
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60695840 |
Jun 29, 2005 |
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60695841 |
Jun 30, 2005 |
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60697394 |
Jul 6, 2005 |
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60704243 |
Jul 29, 2005 |
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60704531 |
Aug 1, 2005 |
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60710352 |
Aug 22, 2005 |
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60718949 |
Sep 20, 2005 |
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60724368 |
Oct 6, 2005 |
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60727158 |
Oct 14, 2005 |
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60732829 |
Nov 1, 2005 |
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60737813 |
Nov 17, 2005 |
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60741556 |
Nov 30, 2005 |
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60786835 |
Mar 28, 2006 |
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60797405 |
May 2, 2006 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
715/707 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 3/04886 20130101;
G06F 3/038 20130101; G06F 2203/0381 20130101; G06F 3/0236 20130101;
G06F 3/0237 20130101; G06F 3/014 20130101; G06F 3/04883
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
715/707 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/00 20060101
G06F017/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 27, 2000 |
WO |
PCT/US00/29647 |
Jul 12, 2002 |
WO |
PCT/US02/22385 |
Apr 19, 2004 |
WO |
PCT/US04/12082 |
Jun 3, 2005 |
WO |
PCT/US05/19582 |
Claims
1. A data entry system comprising: a plurality of input receiving
means for at least entering arbitrary characters, wherein each said
receiving means is assigned more than one character, such that a
user uses said input receiving means to enter a desired input; and
a second input receiving means for receiving a second input,
wherein said second input is a precise character or characters from
said desired input; wherein said system provides a predictive
output based on input from at least said plurality of input
receiving means, wherein if said predictive output is different
from said desired input and said first letter of said desired input
is different than said first letter of said predictive output, said
user may enter a predefined correction signal to provide a first
character of said desired input, such that said system may provide
a second predictive output is based on the previously provided
input from the user and said correction signal.
2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said correction signal
is provided through one of the group consisting of speech,
handwriting, and a key press.
3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein if said predictive
output is different from said desired input and said first letter
of said desired input is the same as said first letter of said
predictive output, said user may enter a predefined correction
signal to provide scroll through additional less frequently
occurring choices from said system also having the same first
letter as the predictive output
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is related to prior PCT Patent Application
Nos. PCT/US00/29647, filed on Oct. 27, 2000; PCT/US02/22385, filed
on Jul. 12, 2001; PCT/US04/12082, filed on Apr. 19, 2004; and
PCT/US05/19582, filed on Jun. 3, 2005 the entirety of which are
incorporated herein by reference.
[0002] Further, the present invention is related to and claims the
benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.
60/691,107, filed on Jun. 16, 2005; in U.S. Provisional Patent
Application No. 60/693,176, filed on Jun. 23, 2005, in U.S.
Provisional Patent Application No. 60/695,840, filed on Jun. 29,
2005; in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/695,841, filed
on Jun. 30, 2005; in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.
60/697,394, filed on Jul. 6, 2005; in U.S. Provisional Patent
Application No. 60/704,243, filed on Jul. 29, 2005; in U.S.
Provisional Patent Application No. 60/704,531, filed on Aug. 1,
2005; in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/710,352, filed
on Aug. 22, 2005; in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.
60/718,949, filed on Sep. 20, 2005; in the U.S. Provisional Patent
Application No. 60/724,368, filed on Oct. 6, 2005; in the U.S.
Provisional Patent Application No. 60/727,158, filed on Oct. 14,
2005; in the U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/732,829,
filed on Nov. 1, 2005; in the U.S. Provisional Patent Application
No. 60/737,813, filed on Nov. 17, 2005; in the U.S. Provisional
Patent Application No. 60/741,556, filed on Nov. 30, 2005; in the
U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/786,835, filed on Mar.
28, 2006; and in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/797,405
filed on May 2, 2005, the entirety of which are incorporated by
reference herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The present invention is related to data entry. More
particularly, the present invention is directed to a data entry
system with features for entering data using an improved method of
prediction and key press/glide voice interaction.
BACKGROUND
[0004] Typical systems and methods for electronically entering
characters include the use of standard keyboards such a QWERTY
keyboard and the like. However, as modem electronic devices have
become smaller, new methods have been developed in order to enter
desired characters.
[0005] On such method is to use a multi-press system on a standard
telephonic numeric keypad, whereby multiple alphanumeric characters
are assigned to the same key. One drawback with such a system is
that it requires multiple pressing of single keys in order to enter
certain characters, thereby increasing the overall number of key
presses, slowing the character entry process.
[0006] A second method to accommodate the entering of characters on
the ever smaller devices has been to simply miniaturize the
standard QWERTY keypad onto the devices. However, such miniaturized
keypads are often clumsy and do not afford sufficient space between
the keys, causing multiple key presses when only a single press is
desired.
[0007] Yet another attempt to accommodate the entering of
characters on smaller electronic devices, is the use of voice
recognition software. Such methods have been in use for some time,
but suffer from a number of drawbacks. Most notably, voice
recognition software suffers from the inability to distinguish
homonyms, and often requires significant advance input for the
system to recognize a particular speaker, their mannerisms and
speech habits. Also, voice good deal of processing, not
particularly suitable for the limited energy and processing
capabilities of smaller electronic devices, such a mobile phones
and text pagers.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY
[0008] As such it is an object of the present invention to provide
an improvement over the previously disclosed data entry systems by
providing additional enhanced features for predicting and
disambiguation using various input means including improved
keypads, prediction and voice technologies, among other devices.
Furthermore, it is an object of the preset invention to provide an
improved data entry prediction and key press/glide with voice
methods. Even further, it is object of the present invention to
improve upon the correction capabilities in such data entry
systems.
[0009] To this end, the present invention, among other embodiments
is drawn to a data entry system having a plurality of input
receiving means for at least entering arbitrary characters, where
each receiving means is assigned more than one character, such that
a user uses the input receiving means to enter a desired input.
[0010] A second input receiving means for receiving a second input,
where the second input is a precise character or characters from
the desired input; wherein the system provides a predictive output
based on input from at least said plurality of input receiving
means. If the predictive output is different from the desired input
and the first letter of the desired input is different than the
first letter of the predictive output, the user may enter a
predefined correction signal to provide a first character of the
desired input, such that the system may provide a second predictive
output is based on the previously provided input from the user and
the correction signal.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] In the drawings, in which like reference characters denote
similar elements throughout the several views:
[0012] FIGS. 1a through 1c show exemplary keypads having different
numbers of keys that may be used with the data entry system, in
accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates four keys of an exemplary keypad and a
corresponding database of words used with the data entry system, in
accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
[0014] FIG. 3 shows a number of words proposed on the screen of an
electronic device, in accordance with one embodiment of the
invention;
[0015] FIG. 4 shows an exemplary keypad that may be used with the
data entry system, in accordance with one embodiment of the
invention;
[0016] FIG. 5 shows an exemplary keypad that may be used with the
data entry system, in accordance with one embodiment of the
invention;
[0017] FIGS. 6a to 6b show exemplary assignment of letters to four
keys of a keypad that may be used with the data entry systems, in
accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
[0018] FIG. 7 shows a keyboard having unambiguous letter keys to
demonstrate a method of a predictive data entry system using this
type of keyboard;
[0019] FIG. 8 shows an exemplary keypad that may be used with the
data entry system, in accordance with one embodiment of the
invention;
[0020] FIG. 9 shows an exemplary keypad and the screen of the
corresponding device, in accordance with one embodiment of the
invention;
[0021] FIG. 10 shows four keys of an exemplary keypad and a portion
of a corresponding database of words used with the data entry
system, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
[0022] FIG. 11a shows four keys of an exemplary split keypad on an
electronic device, and a corresponding database of words used with
the data entry system, in accordance with one embodiment of the
invention;
[0023] FIG. 11b shows four keys of an exemplary split keypad on an
electronic device, and a corresponding database of words used with
the data entry system using handwriting and key presses, in
accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
[0024] FIG. 12 shows an exemplary media player using the data entry
system of the invention for content search, in accordance with one
embodiment of the invention;
[0025] FIG. 13 shows an exemplary telephone using the data entry
system, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;.
[0026] FIG. 14 shows four keys of an exemplary keypad and a
corresponding database of words used with the data entry system, in
accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
[0027] FIG. 15 shows four keys of an exemplary keypad and a portion
of a corresponding database of words used with the data entry
system, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
[0028] FIGS. 16a through 16b show exemplary keypads having touch
sensitive keys that may be used with the data entry system, in
accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
[0029] FIG. 17 shows an exemplary keypad to be used with the data
entry system, where the letters of a QWERTY keyboard are assigned
to six of the keys of the keypad, in accordance with one embodiment
of the invention;
[0030] FIG. 18 shows an electronic device having ambiguous keys and
unambiguous keys to be used with the data entry system, in
accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
[0031] FIG. 19a shows four keys of an exemplary keypad a
corresponding database of words used with the data entry system,
and a method of output, in accordance with one embodiment of the
invention;
[0032] FIG. 19b shows a database of words used with the data entry
system and an output presented to the user, in accordance with one
embodiment of the invention;
[0033] FIGS. 19c through 19d show the outputs presented to the
user, in accordance with embodiment of the invention;
[0034] FIGS. 20 through 20a show an exemplary media player having a
circular sensitive keypad used with the data entry system, in
accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
[0035] FIG. 21 shows an exemplary extendable electronic device
using the data entry system, in accordance with one embodiment of
the invention;
[0036] FIGS. 22a through 22b show exemplary telecommunication
devices using the data entry system, in accordance with one
embodiment of the invention;
[0037] FIG. 23 shows an exemplary keypad of the invention that may
be used with the data entry systems, in accordance with one
embodiment of the invention;
[0038] FIG. 23a shows an exemplary keypad from FIG. having oval
keys and different key configuration, where the keys of the keypad
are split into two groups on an electronic device for use with the
data entry system, in accordance with one embodiment of the
invention; and FIG. 24a shows a user's fingers interacting with
electronic devices duplicating the keys and key interactions of a
keypad used with the data entry system, in accordance with one
embodiment of the invention.
[0039] FIG. 24b shows user's fingers wearing finger caps, providing
interactions duplicating the keys and key interactions of a keypad
used with the data entry system, in accordance with one embodiment
of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0040] A data entry system according to the present invention
discloses a system for entering at least arbitrary characters/text,
using a (e.g. keypad having) reduced number of (e.g. hard, soft,
virtually duplicated, etc.) keys. The data entry system may use a
number of symbols comprising at least the letters of the alphabet
of at least one language and wherein the symbols may be
distributively assigned to the keys such that at least two of the
letters may be assigned to at least one key.
[0041] In this systems an (e.g. predefined) interaction such as a
pressing action on a key may, ambiguously, correspond to any of the
symbols/letters assigned to the key (e.g. in this patent
application, the key may be called "ambiguous" and the interaction
may be called "ambiguous" interaction). As described before, for
example, in order to enter one of the symbols (e.g. such as a
letter) assigned to a key, the user may provide a predefined
interaction with the key such as a pressing action on the key and
provide a speech information corresponding to the symbol (e.g. such
as speaking (e.g. the appellation of) the letter) for selecting the
symbol (e.g. letter) among the symbols (e.g. letters) that are
assigned to (the interaction with) the key, and wherein the speech
information may be detected and analyzed based on at least one of,
the user's voice and/or the user's lips movements.
[0042] It must be noted that the number of symbols may includes
substantially all of the elementary symbols, such as alphanumeric
characters, punctuation marks, and commands for either the input or
editing of a text or the manipulation of a computer. For example,
in order to enter a punctuation mark character, the user may press
on a corresponding key and speak the character. Other symbols such
as macros, portion-of-a-words, etc, may also be distributively
assigned to the reduced number of keys.
[0043] The absence of speech may also be considered as the speech
information, and wherein at least one of the symbols assigned to a
key may be entered by providing the predefined interaction with the
key in the absence of a speech, the absence of speech being
detected by the system. For example, in order to enter a predefined
punctuation mark character assigned to a key, the user may use a
predefined pressing action of the key corresponding to the
character without speaking.
[0044] According to one method, the reduced number of keys may
duplicate a telephone-type keypad. The letter assignment may
resemble to the letter assignment of the telephone-type keypad.
According to another method, letters of the alphabet may be
assigned to four keys of the reduced number of keys.
[0045] According to one method symbols such as letters having
ambiguously resembling predefined speech and that are hard to
distinguish from each other through their corresponding speech may
separately from each other being assigned to different keys.
[0046] Also other related input technologies such the entry of
at-least-a-portion-of-a-word (e.g. portion-by-portion data entry
system using press/glide action on one or more corresponding keys
combined with the corresponding speech information (e.g. the
absence of speech may also be predefined to be considered as a
speech information)) have been described in detail. Other data
entry methods herein, such as full (e.g. hard, soft/on-screen) PC
keyboards and/or handwriting recognition systems, may be
combined/used with the (e.g. press and speak) data entry systems of
the invention to input a text/data.
[0047] The data entry systems (e.g. providing precise characters)
may be combined with the principles of a word predictive system
(e.g. based on pressing actions on ambiguous keys corresponding to
the characters/letters of a word and using a database of, words and
corresponding key presses information of each word. The principals
of word predictive systems is known be people skilled in the art)
to provide a highly accurate data/text entry system using (e.g.
very) few keys (e.g. wherein obviously at least some of the keys
are ambiguous keys), (e.g. and minimizing user's interactions such
minimizing user's speech or user's interaction for selecting a word
among candidate words). By using the press-and-speak data entry
system of the invention the user may provide at least one precise
character of a word and press the (ambiguous) keys corresponding to
the remaining characters of the word to enter the word. By
considering the at least one precise character of the word, and
considering the key presses corresponding to the remaining
characters of the word, the system more accurately may predict the
corresponding word.
[0048] The press/glide and speech information (e.g. with/without
speaking) data entry systems of the invention may be combined with
other data entry systems such as a word predictive system based on
key-presses provided on a keypad (having ambiguous keys). The
principles of the word predictive systems based on key presses
(e.g. only), are known by people skilled in the art. A word of a
language may be entered by using the press/glide and speak data
entry systems of the invention for entering precisely at least one
of the (e.g. preferably, the beginning) letters (e.g. or characters
(a word may include characters other than letters, too)) of the
word and providing key presses only (without speaking)
corresponding to other letters (e.g. or characters) of the word.
For example, for entering the word "ball", by using a telephone
keypad, a user may enter a beginning letter (e.g. "b") of the word
by pressing a key corresponding to the letter and providing a
speech corresponding to the letter, and (e.g. then) press the keys
corresponding to other letters (e.g. in this example, chain of
characters "all") of the word without speaking. In this example,
providing a sequence of key presses only (e.g. without speaking)
for (e.g. corresponding to) all of the letters (including the
letter "b") of the word "ball" may also correspond to the word
"call". But because in the above example, the beginning letter "b"
is precisely entered, the system does not consider the word "call).
According to another example, for entering the word "home" by using
the same keypad, the user may first press the keys corresponding to
the beginning letters "ho" without speaking. He then may press the
key corresponding to the next letter "m" and speak the letter (e.g.
precisely entering the letter). Then the user may press the key
corresponding to the last letter "e" without speaking. The sequence
of key presses may also correspond to the word "gone", but because
the system has precisely recognized that the third letter of the
desired word is the letter "m", then the word "home" will be
selected/entered.
[0049] By (e.g. considering a first type of information consisting
of) providing precisely at least a (e.g. beginning) letter of a
word and (e.g. combined with considering at least a second type of
information consisting of) providing the remaining key presses
(e.g. key presses corresponding the remaining characters of the
word), in most cases the system may find the desired corresponding
word within its dictionary of words that match the combined
information. In this example, by precisely entering the letter "b",
the system selects the word "ball" without the need of further
user's interaction (e.g. such as pressing on a "Select" key to
scroll over different choices).
[0050] It must be noted that according to one method, the user may
provide the key presses corresponding to the letters of a word and
speak any of the letters during the key presses even if the user's
speech is not synchronized (e.g. is not provided simultaneously)
with the corresponding key press(es).
[0051] According to one embodiment of the invention, a user may
provide the key presses corresponding to the letters of a word and
speak the word.
[0052] The word predictive systems based on key press information
use at least a dictionary of words and a corresponding key presses
database.
[0053] According to one embodiment of the invention, during the
entry of a text, the user may enter a word (e.g. a word existing in
the dictionary, an out-of-dictionary word, a chain of characters
that does not exist in the dictionary of words, etc.) by providing
the key presses corresponding to the letters/characters of the word
and providing the speech information corresponding to the (e.g.
letters of) the word. On the other hand, if the user desires, he
may enter a word existing in the dictionary by entering (e.g.
providing) the corresponding key presses (e.g. providing key
presses only, corresponding to the letters of a word may correspond
to a large number of a words (e.g. choices) within the database of
the words of the system). For better accuracy and minimizing the
number of the choices for example, while pressing the beginning
(e.g. and/or middle, and/or last) key(s) (e.g. the key(s)
corresponding to the beginning and/or middle, and/or last
character(s)) of the word, the user may speak the beginning (e.g.
and/or middle, and/or last) letter(s) of the word (e.g. as
mentioned before, providing the key press and the speech
corresponding to at least one of the letters of a word, may enter,
precisely, the at least one letter. Therefore, by considering the
at least one precise letter and the key presses corresponding to
the remaining characters of the word the number of the choices
(e.g. candidate words) may dramatically be reduced. Throughout the
application, such systems may be referred to as a "combined data
entry system" or rather simply data entry system, such terms being
used interchangeably in the context of the present invention unless
specifically recited otherwise.
[0054] The basic premise of such combined data entry systems have
been described previously such as in the references incorporated
herein, filed by this inventor, the embodiments of the present
invention constitute systems and methods for enhancing such
combined data entry systems.
[0055] The press-and-speak data entry systems of the invention
permitting the entry of text by combining the at-least-a-portion-of
a word data entry methods (e.g. mentioned as portion-by-portion
data entry system of the invention) have been described in detail
in the references incorporated herein, filed by this inventor).
According to one embodiment of the word predictive data entry
systems of the invention, instead of entering a single character, a
user may enter a-portion-of-a-word by using a press/glide and
speech data entry system of the invention for entering precisely at
least a (e.g. beginning) portion of the word and provide key
presses only (e.g. without speaking) corresponding to other letters
of the word. For example, in order to enter the word "predefined",
the user may enter the portion "pre" by a pressing/gliding action
on corresponding key(s) of the keypad and speak the portion, and
then press on the keys corresponding to the remaining letters
"defined" of the word, without speaking. Obviously, during the key
pressing actions corresponding to the remaining characters of the
word, if desired the user may provide the speech corresponding to
at least some of the characters (e.g. speaking the letters)
corresponding the corresponding key presses to precisely enter the
at least some of the characters.
[0056] As mentioned before, by using the (e.g. the combined)
system, the user may enter a portion of a text based on key presses
only (e.g. without speaking). For example, the user may know in
advance, that the word that he is going to enter may be recognized
by the combined system based on its key presses only. In this case
the user may not provide any speech during the entry of the word.
For example, by using a telephone keypad, the word "array" may be
recognized based on the key presses corresponding to its letters
only (without the need of speaking any of the letters).
[0057] It is understood that the above-mentioned system may be used
with a predefined keypad such as a telephone-type keypad, or other
keypads such as the keypads described in the references
incorporated herein, filed by this inventor. The keypad may have
any predefined number of keys. FIGS. 1a to 1c, show three types of
keypads having respectively, at least, 12, 6, and 4 keys, as shown
and described in previous patent applications. FIG. 1a shows a
telephone-type keypad. FIG. 1b shows a keypad having at least six
keys wherein six of the keys represent at least the letters of the
alphabet of a language. On one hand, the letters are preferably
arranged on/assigned to the keys such that letters having
ambiguously resembling speech relating to each other are/preferably
assigned to different keys (e.g. described in detail previously).
On other hand, the letters are arranged such that the key press
(e.g. values) corresponding to the words of a (e.g. English)
dictionary of words database of the system provides (e.g.
corresponds to) minimized (e.g. reducing confusing) groups of words
having the same (e.g. sequence of) key presses (e.g. value). FIG.
1c shows a keypad having at least four keys wherein four of the
keys represent at least the letters of the alphabet of a language.
On one hand, the letters are preferably arranged on/assigned to the
keys such that letters having ambiguously resembling speech
relating to each other are/preferably assigned to different keys
(e.g. described in detail previously). On other hand, the letters
are/may-be arranged such that the key press (e.g. values)
corresponding to the words of a (e.g. English) dictionary of words
database of the system provides (e.g. corresponds to) minimized
(e.g. reducing confusing) groups of words having the same (e.g.
sequence of) key presses (e.g. value).
[0058] It is understood that using more keys to assign (e.g.
represent) smaller (e.g. fewer) number of letters of a language to
each of the keys, will minimize the number of selected word
candidates corresponding to the key presses (e.g. and speech, if
provided) information provided by a user for the entry of a
word.
[0059] According to one embodiment of the invention, after entering
the key presses corresponding to a word and providing speech
corresponding to at least one (e.g. beginning) character of the
word, an end-of-a-word signal may be provided. The signal may be
pressing the "Space" key, so that also to enter a space character
at the end of the word. According to another method, another
end-of-a-word signal may be provided such that to not include a
space character at the end of the word. For example, entering a
(e.g. predefined) PC keyboard command or function or a (e.g.
predefined) punctuation mark character, after the word may be
considered as an end-of-a-word signal.
[0060] According to another method, a user may enter a first
letter/portion of a word by using the press/glide and speak data
entry systems of the invention and provide the key presses
corresponding to the remaining characters of the word without
speaking, at the end of the key presses (without providing an
end-of-a-word signal), the user may proceed to the entry of the
next word by entering a first letter/portion of the second word by
using the press/glide and speak data entry systems of the
invention, the system may be predefined to understand that the
second speech corresponds to at least the beginning characters of
the next word, and therefore (e.g. key presses starting from) the
first key press corresponding to the speech may belong to the next
word. This may be considered as an end-of-a-word signal for the
first word. Then, according to one predefined method, the system
may enter a space character between the words (e.g. automatic
spacing procedure). According to another predefined method, the
system does not enter a space character between the words (e.g. to
attach the words to each other).
[0061] According to another method a at least a predefined laps of
time of pause between the entry of two words may be considered as
an end-of-a-word signal for the first word of the words.
[0062] As mentioned above, by using the word predictive system of
the invention for entering a word, after a user provides the key
presses information (e.g. and eventually additional information for
the entry of precise letter(s) such as, the speech information
corresponding to at least one of the letters of the word), if the
user's information, there may be at least one of at least the three
types of feedbacks from the system: [0063] 1--the system may relate
only one word to the user's information. The word may be inputted
as final result. [0064] 2--the system may relate a selection of at
least two words to the user's provided information. The system may
be predefined to present (e.g. highlight) to the user the word that
has the highest priority relating to other words within the
selection. If the word is the one that user intends to enter, then
according to one method, the user may proceed to the entry of the
next portion (e.g. word) of the text and the system automatically
enters the word. If the inputted word is not the one that user
desires to enter, then according to one method, the user may use a
selection/correction means such as a selection/correction key by
for example, pressing (e.g. and holding) the key and speaking at
least some of the (beginning) letters of the desired word such that
the system recognizes the word among the words of the selection. It
is understood that the user may not again enter the key presses
corresponding to the word while speaking the at least some of the
(beginning) letters of the desired word. For the correcting method,
the system may use the original key presses information and the
speech information for the correction procedure. At the end of
providing the correction speech information, the user may release
the correction key. Pressing (e.g. and holding) the key may inform
the system of the beginning (e.g. and ending) of the correcting
speech procedure. It is understood that to avoid an unnecessary
longer correction speech, the system may present the whole words of
the selection to the user so that the user stops speaking before
speaking the all of the letters of the selection, if not necessary.
It is understood that other means such as a double pressing action,
a gliding action, etc, may be used instead of the press (e.g.
and-holding) action. According to another method, instead of using
a correction/selection key, the user may point with a pointing
device such as a stylus a by using a mouse pointer, etc., on the
word, and provide the speech information. At the end of the
correcting procedure, the user may end the pointing procedure.
pointing (e.g. and holding) the pointing means in the pointing
situation may inform the system of the beginning (e.g. and ending)
of the correcting speech procedure. Instead of speaking the
letter(s) of the desired word among the candidate words, the user
may speak the word. According to another method of selection, if
the system relates/selects a selection of at least two words to the
user's information and (e.g. is predefined to be) presented (e.g.
highlighted) word to the user is not the one that user intends to
enter, then the user may use a means such as a (e.g.
multi-directional) key to navigate within the selected words to
select his desired word. Demonstrating and selecting methods using
a navigating/switching key for selecting a word among a number of
selected word is know by people skilled in the art (e.g. pop-up
lists, navigating up and down in the pop-up menu, etc.). [0065]
3--The system may not match any word to the user's information
provided for the entry of a desired word (e.g. an
out-of-dictionary-word), then, according to one method, the user
may use the correction means, by for example, pressing (e.g.
and-holding) the correction key, and speech the characters (e.g.
letters) of the word without providing the corresponding key
presses again. The system may use the original key presses
information and the speech information during the correction
procedure for entering the word. It is understood that if the user
desires, the word may (e.g. automatically, or manually) be added to
the dictionary.
[0066] Priorities (e.g. based on the frequency of use)
given/assigned to the words of a dictionary may be an important
issue for better acceptance of the combined data entry systems of
the invention by the user. The priorities may be assigned such that
to minimize the user's intervention for selecting a word among of a
group of words selected by the system relating to key presses (e.g.
and speech) information provided by the user. As an example, FIG. 2
shows a page of a dictionary of words database 12600. Column 12601
shows some of the words of the database. Column 12602 shows the
frequency of use values of the words relating to each other. The
frequency of use values may be predefined to be considered as the
priority values assigned to the words. Column 12603 shows the key
press values assigned to the words based on the key values (e.g.
1,2,3,4) assigned respectively to the keys 12605, 12606, 12607,
12608, of the keypad 12609.
[0067] According to one method, for example, in order to enter the
word "doing", the user may press the keys 12606, 12608, 12606,
12606, 12608, (e.g. key press value 24224) without speaking. In
this example, a group of four words 12604 corresponding to the key
presses may be selected by the system. The system may automatically
enter the word (e.g. "doing") having the highest priority, unless
for example: [0068] If the user intended to enter another word such
as the word "coins" according to one method, the user may use a
correction/selection means such as the ones described earlier. For
example, the user may press and hold a selection/correction key and
speak the letter "c". The system may understand that the user
intends to enter a word of the selection that begins with the
letter "c". The word is the word "coins". According to another
method, the user may navigate within a pop-up list provided by the
system and comprising the four words to select the word "coins".
Still according to another method, the system may first show the
word "doing" having the highest priority. The user may press a
predefined correction/selection key. The system may show the word
"dying" having the second highest priority among the four words.
The user may again press the predefined correction/selection key.
The system may show the word "pupil" having the third highest
priority among the four words. And finally, the user may again
press the predefined correction/selection key. The system may show
the word "coins" having the fourth highest priority among the four
words. The user may confirm the word by for example, proceeding to
the entry of the next word. [0069] If the user intended to enter
the word "dying", the user may use a correction/selection means
such as the ones described earlier. For example, the user may
press-and-hold selection/correction key and speak at least the
letters "dy" (because two words, "doing" and "dying" start with the
same letter "d", speaking more than one letter may be necessary).
The system may understand that the user intends to enter a word of
the selection starting with the letter "dy". The word is the word
"coins". According to another method, for example, in order to
enter the word "coins", the user may press the keys 12606, 12608,
12606, 12606, 12608, (e.g. key press value 24224) and speak at
least the letter "c". Only one word (e.g. "coins") within the
database may correspond to the key presses and speech. The system
may automatically enter the word (e.g. "coins"). According to one
method, for example, in order to enter the word "clive", the user
may press the keys 12606, 12608, 12606, 12608, 12607, (e.g. key
press value 24243) and speak the letter "c". Two words (e.g.
"cycle", and "clive") within the database may correspond to the key
presses and speech. The system may automatically enter the word
(e.g. "cycle") having the highest priority among the two words. The
user may use a switching method as mentioned to scroll into the
next word. The system, the, shows the second word corresponding to
the key press and speech information which is the word "clive"
(e.g. although the word "noise" has the highest priority
corresponding to the key presses, the word does not start with the
letter "c" as was pronounced by the user. Therefore, the system
ignores it.). Below is an exemplary resumes one of the
switching/navigating selection embodiments: [0070] Providing key
presses of a word without speaking selects all of the corresponding
words: [0071] highest priority word regardless of the beginning
letter(s) [0072] next highest priority word regardless of the
beginning letter(s) [0073] so on [0074] Providing key presses and
speaking at least one (e.g. beginning) letter of a word selects a
group of the corresponding words starting with the letter(s) [0075]
highest priority word within the group [0076] next highest priority
within the group [0077] so on
[0078] According to one embodiment of the invention, a first word
among a group of words having the same key presses (e.g. same key
press value) may be predefined to be selected by providing
corresponding key presses without speech. If a user desires to
enter another word within the group having the same key presses
value and having the same beginning letter of the first word and
having the second highest priority (e.g. lower than the first word,
and higher than the other words within the group having the
characteristics), the user may provide the key presses and speak
the (e.g. at least) beginning letter. For example, to enter the
word "doing", the user may provide the corresponding key presses
without speaking. Accordingly, in order to enter the word "dying",
the user may provide the corresponding key presses and speak the
letter "d". According to one embodiment of the invention, if a word
having the highest priority is assigned to providing the
corresponding key presses without providing a speech information,
and the user provides the key presses and erroneously says at least
a (beginning) letter of the word and the systems selects another
word corresponding to the information (e.g. key presses and speech)
provided by the user, then, the system may also include the word
corresponding the key presses only in its proposed selection, so
that the user may be able to select the word if desired.
[0079] After getting familiar with the system, the user may
remember a number of words that may be entered based on their
corresponding key presses only (e.g. without speech). The user may
assign the words to the (e.g. key) interaction only, so that he may
enter a word having the same key press value and starting with the
same letter to an interaction consisting of providing the key
presses and speaking the (beginning) letter(s) of the word (e.g.
"doing" without speech, "dying" with at least the speech of the
letter "d")
[0080] According to one embodiment of the invention, the user may
add his desired words to the database of words of the system. He
also may change priorities of words (e.g. based on the frequency of
use by the user).
[0081] The dictionary of words of the system and the priorities of
word within it, may also be adapted to the needs of the market
segments (e.g. medical, insurance, etc.). The system may also
"learn" the words that a user uses and assign priority degrees to
the words accordingly.
[0082] During data such as text entry the user may consider some
parameters so that to minimize some user interactions such as
speaking, correction/selection procedures, etc. For example, the
user may remember that many of common words, many of long words,
etc., may usually be entered based on their key presses alone.
[0083] As mentioned in previous patent applications, in the
combined (e.g. including the predictive) data entry systems of the
invention, for reasons such as ease of use, the punctuation marks
or commands represented-by/assigned-to the keys that also represent
the letters, may be entered by a different predefined interactions
relative to the interaction used for the entry of the letters. For
example, a punctuation mark or command may be assigned to pressing
two keys, preferably simultaneously (e.g. pressing-and-holding a
"shift" key, and pressing the key corresponding to the punctuation
mark or command). They may also be assigned to another type of
interaction such as a gliding action or a longer single-pressing
action (e.g. shorter pressing actions may be used for the entry of
letters or other characters included within a word) on a
corresponding key. These matters have already been described in
detail in the references incorporated herein, filed by this
inventor.
[0084] According to another method, after entering a word (e.g. by
providing an end-of-a-word signal), the user may press a key
representing some of the letters of a language and at least a
symbol such as a punctuation mark/command, without speaking to
enter a predefined punctuation mark or a command assigned to the
pressing action in the absence of the speech. These matters have
already been described in detail in the references incorporated
herein, filed by this inventor.
[0085] Based on the correction/selection principles as described,
instead of correcting/selecting the words immediately after their
entry, a user may proceed to correcting/selecting them later (for
example, at the end of entering an entire document, or after taking
notes during a meeting and editing/correcting them later).
[0086] According to one embodiment of the invention, the system
memorizes at least one of, the key presses and their corresponding
speech (e.g. the system may also be designed such that to remember
the precise letter(s) and ambiguous key presses), provided by the
user for the entry of a word. As shown in FIG. 3, if the user
desires to change a word (e.g. "codes") proposed by the system
based on user's information, by his desired word, he may first
visualize the text 12701 on the screen of a corresponding device
12700, then, point 12705 to the undesired word "codes" 12702 (e.g.
by for example, using the mouse, or stylus for pointing to or
selecting the word). The system may remember the key presses
information (e.g. and the speech information. Note that as
mentioned in previous applications, not speaking may be considered
as a speech information, by the system) previously provided by the
user and propose the other word options 12703, 12704 relating to
the user's information. The user may either select the desired word
"ducks" 12704 among the words proposed by the system by, for
example, using a means such as a directional/navigating key (e.g.
within a pop-up menu), using a pointer such as the mouse or the
stylus, etc., or he may speak at least some of the letters of the
desired word so that the system recognizes the word among the other
proposed/candidate words (e.g. in this case by referring to the
current example, speaking the letters "du" for distinguishing the
word "ducks" from the other word "docks" may be sufficient, so that
the user may not speak all of the letters of the word "ducks". The
system may recognize and print the word before the user ends the
corresponding speech) (e.g. also as described in this case, the
system may remember the key presses information and may use that,
so the user may not have to re-provide key presses for that word).
In this example, the user originally had entered only the key
presses, therefore the system had selected the word "codes" having
the highest priority relating to the key presses. After pointing to
the word, the user may speak at least the letters "du" so that the
system recognizes and selects the desired words "ducks" among other
proposed words (e.g. the word "docks" starts with "d" and the
letter "o" as its second letter.
[0087] The combined data entry systems of the invention requires
key presses corresponding to the words and may require small amount
of speech for the entry of the in-dictionary words. As mentioned,
for out-of-the-dictionary words the user may enter the words
character by character by for example pressing the keys and
speaking the characters.
[0088] According to one embodiment of the invention, for entering a
word (or more words) such as an out-of-the-dictionary word of a
document, the user may provide the key presses corresponding to the
word without speaking (or speaking the word, or speaking a few
letters of the word) and proceed to enter the other words of the
document. The system may either match the information corresponding
to the (out-of-dictionary) word to an existing word and provides an
undesired word, or the system may not be able to match a word of
the dictionary to the information. In this case instead of the
word, the system may print a chain of characters such as the values
of the keys (e.g. or for example a chain of predefined characters
such as "*" or "X" characters) that were being pressed (e.g. if the
user has also provided the speech corresponding to for example, one
or more letters of the out-of-dictionary word, then the system may
print the letters and the key press values or other predefined
characters relating to the other letters of the word). Later, the
user, may bring up the document and point (as described before) to
the erroneous/undesired word(s). Then the user may speak the
letters corresponding to the word without again providing the keys
presses corresponding to the word (e.g. the system may remembers
the key presses). If the user has forgotten the speech of the word,
he may listen to the speech of the word that he previously provided
during the entry of the original key presses corresponding to the
word. By pointing to the erroneous/undesired word, the system may
also play the audio corresponding to the word that was provided by
the user during the entry of the word. For example, in order to
enter the word "Cannes" (e.g. a French word) that may not be
included in a dictionary of words database of English language, the
user may press the corresponding keys and speak the word (e.g. as
pronounced in French language "kan"). The system may not find a
word corresponding to the key presses and the speech (e.g. the
speech may not correspond to the speech of (e.g. a word) an English
language having the key presses information). In this case the
system may memorize the speech information and the key presses
information and in the meantime provide a chain of characters
corresponding to the assigned values of the keys being presses for
the entry of the word (e.g. "212234"). Then for example, later, the
user may point to the chain of character, if necessary, the system
may provide the speech provided by the user to remind him what he
the during the entry of the word. Then user the user may speak the
word letter by letter (e.g. without providing the key presses
again). The system may consider the original key presses and the
recent speech of the user to provide the out-of-the-dictionary word
"Cannes".
[0089] The embodiments just described may be very useful in some
environments. For example, during a meeting or in a conference
room, a user may take/enter notes by providing the key presses
corresponding to the words that he enters, and when necessary, he
may provide a very short speech (e.g. speaking a letter, a
syllable, a (short) word) corresponding to a word (e.g. or speaks
the word) that he enters. Also for example, after the meeting the
user may bring back the document and proceed to correcting/editing
the notes, as described.
[0090] According to another method, the user may also enter
abbreviations for faster data entry. Still according to another
method, to provide a (random) chain of character corresponding to
word to be correctly entered later, the user may press one or more
keys (e.g. random or predefined, non corresponding keys), and speak
a word. Later, he may bring up the document, point to that chain of
characters, listen to his speech, retype correctly the
corresponding key presses and if necessary provide the speech of a
number of letters necessary for the correct entry of the word.
[0091] According to another embodiment, for entering a word such as
an out-of-dictionary word, the user may provide the corresponding
key presses only (e.g. without providing a speech). Later when the
user points to the word, he key remember (e.g. the speech) of the
word based on the key presses, and correct the word as
described.
[0092] It is understood that other methods of selection/correction
such as the navigating through a pop-up list may also be used for
the same purpose.
[0093] For saving memory, the system may comprise a means such as a
key so that the user memorizes the audio (e.g. his speech) only
during a period of time such as while being in a meeting or a
conference room. The user may also memorize the audio only during
the entry of the words-to-be-corrected/entered-later.
[0094] According to another method, the
words-to-be-corrected/entered-later may be entered by a handwriting
(e.g. the words may be recognized by handwriting recognition
system, immediately or later. The user may enter them later by the
text entry and correction methods as described above).
[0095] Many methods and means may be used with the system to
enhance the ease of use of the combined (e.g. including the
predictive) data entry systems of the invention.
[0096] According to one embodiment of the invention, the dictionary
of words of the system may also comprise portion-of-a-words of
(e.g. the corresponding language), to be used with the data entry
systems (e.g. including the predictive) of the invention. Depending
on the architecture of the system, the portion-of-a-words may
either be included within the dictionary of words or they may
constitute a separate database.
[0097] Also, to remind the user that a word may be entered based on
its key presses only, after entering the word, the system may
highlight the word on the screen of the corresponding device by for
example, printing it bolded, printing it in another color, blinking
it, etc.
[0098] If a word does not exist within the database, but by
deleting a portion such as an ending portion of it, it may exist
within the database, then the user may delete the portion, and then
enter the deleted portion at the end of the word. For example, the
word "prescription" may be included within the database but the
word "prescriptions" may not. For example, after providing the
information corresponding to the word "prescriptions", if the
system does not select any words (e.g. but the user knows that the
word "prescription" exist within the database of the system), then
the user may use a "BkSp" key to the delete the last key-press
corresponding to the last letter "s". the system selects the word
"prescription", and the user may adds the letter "s" at the end of
the word.
[0099] Some of predefined single letters (e.g. "a", "e", "i", of
English language) may be assigned to different keys and may
predefinely be entered by an interaction such as pressing action on
their corresponding keys without providing a speech.
[0100] During the entry of a word, the user may enter a portion of
the word by using the portion-by-portion data entry systems of the
invention. For example, the user may start pressing the keys
corresponding to the (beginning) letters of a word without
speaking, and press key/glide a key corresponding to a middle or an
ending portion of the word and speak the portion (or vise versa,
etc.). This has some advantages. For example, the portion entered
precisely, may help the easier recognition of the entire word. It
also helps entering a word faster (e.g. less key presses). For
example, in order to enter the word "recognition", the user may
first press the keys corresponding to the letters "recogni" without
speaking, and then press the key corresponding to the letter "t"
(beginning letter of the portion "tion") and speak the portion.
[0101] As mentioned before, other data entry enhancements such as
using language models/rules, a word completion system, an automatic
correction system, etc, may also be used with the data entry
systems of the invention. Also as mentioned before, fingers, finger
caps, etc, may be used in replacement or in addition to the keys of
the data entry systems of the invention. Also instead of or in
addition to the user's voice, the movements of body members such as
the lips of the user may be considered. These matters have already
been described in detail in the references incorporated herein,
filed by this inventor.
[0102] According to one embodiment of the invention, other methods
of data entry such as multi-tap or handwriting may be used for
precisely entering at least one of the characters such as the
beginning letter(s) of a word. The information corresponding to the
rest of the word may be entered by providing (e.g. single) key
presses corresponding to the remaining characters of the word
without/with speech.
[0103] Using press/glide-and-speak and/or the handwriting input and
recognition system, and/or a full (e.g. pc) keyboard, for precisely
entering at least one of the characters of a word, and providing
(e.g. ambiguous) key press(es) (e.g. without speaking)
corresponding to at least one (e.g. preferably all) of the other
characters of the word, may provide a quick (e.g. handwriting alone
is slow) and accurate (e.g. word predictive system based on key
presses only, is frustrating and inaccurate and has other
limitations as known by people skilled in the art) and also may
require less speech or handwriting. The system may also require
small amount of memory and processing power/speed. For example, the
speech recognition system (e.g. combined with corresponding key
press(s)) may exclude speeches of words (e.g. generally, letter
entry may be sufficient for entering a word). Also the handwriting
recognition system may exclude the word level entry and may
generally work based on letter entry. This is because as mentioned,
the use of the predictive data entry system of the invention using
the precise letter(s) entry methods combined with (e.g. ambiguous)
key presses (e.g. of the reduced corresponding keypad) may
dramatically minimize the use of the speech and/or handwriting
system.
[0104] Providing key presses and speaking at least some of the
(e.g. beginning) letters of a word may permit the (e.g. combined
data entry) system to provide better accuracy and use a small
amount of memory and processing power, compared to providing key
presses and speaking the words of a language that may not be very
accurate and use a large amount of memory and processing power.
Therefore, at least for devices having limited memory and
processing power, it recommended to use the letter-by-letter level
approach that requires very small amount of vocabulary (e.g.
letters, numbers, some punctuation marks, some commands).
[0105] It must be noted that obviously, for selecting/pointing-to a
word for being corrected/changed, the pointing position may be
predefined to be, pointing on the word, or before the word, or
after the word, or etc. For example, a cursor may be placed after
the last character of the word or within the characters of the word
to point to the word.
[0106] According to one embodiment of the invention, if a word does
not exist in the dictionary but the word including or excluding a
prefix (e.g. "re") or a suffix (e.g. "tion") exists within the
systems database (of word), then, the system may propose the word
without or with the prefix or suffix. The user, the may add or
delete the other portion to/from the word. for example, if the user
tries to enter the word "understanding", and the system does not
find such a word, by recognizing that the word may comprise the
suffix "ing", the system may search for the word "understand" (e.g.
by not considering the last three key presses provided for the
word). if the system finds the word "understand", it may proposes
it to the user the user may accept the word by for example,
entering the remaining letters "ing" of the word. According to
another method (e.g. by analyzing the provided key presses), the
system may automatically add the prefix or suffix to the word.
[0107] As mentioned before, preferably, the keypad used with the
combined data entry systems of the invention may be such that to
maximize the ease of use and the accuracy of the system. Parameters
such as the number of key, the configuration of letters on the
keys, etc., may be differently considered with each keypad. FIG. 4
shows as an example, a keypad 12800 wherein four of the keys
12801-12804 correspond to substantially all of the letters of the
English alphabet (e.g. the letters are assigned in a distributive
manner to the four keys). The keypad may be designed such that to
be used with the combined (e.g. including the predictive) data
entry systems of the invention. For example, on one hand, letters
having ambiguously resembling speech such as the letters of groups
of letters such as, "m, l, n", and "p, b", and "d, e", and "j, k",
and "t, d", etc., may separately be assigned to different keys so
that to maximize the accuracy of the press/glide-and-speak data
entry systems of the invention, and on the other hand groups of
letters such as, "e, o, i, a", and "s, d, r", etc., may separately
from each other be assigned to different keys so that to minimize
the number of words having similar key presses when using the (e.g.
combined) word predictive systems of the invention. For example, by
doing so, words such as "drives, driver", or "forces, forced,
forcer", etc., may have different corresponding key presses. It is
understood that the methods just discussed may be applied with any
keypad having few keys such as a keypad having 12 key (e.g. a
keypad having a telephone-typed keypad key arrangement).
[0108] As mentioned before, when entering a word by the combined
(including predictive) data entry systems of the invention (e.g.
based on the key presses corresponding to the letters of a
corresponding word, without speaking or by providing the speech of
at least one (e.g. the beginning) letter of the word, as described
earlier), a user may preferably enter (e.g. precisely) at least one
of the beginning letters of the word by the press/glide-and-speak
data entry method of the invention, and press the keys
corresponding to the remaining letters of the word. According to
one embodiment of the invention, if the user desires to provide
other characters such, at least a word, at least a portion of a
word (e.g. a suffix), etc., attached at the end of the word, the
user may provide at least one of the beginning letters of the
word/portion by the press/glide-and-speak data entry method of the
invention, and for example, continue to press the keys
corresponding to the remaining letters of the word. This may permit
to create and enter conjoined words even if they not exist in the
dictionary of words database of the system. For example, by
considering this method and the words "friend" and "ship" existing
in the dictionary of words database of the system, in order to
enter the word "friendship" in two portions "friend-ship" (e.g. the
word friendship may not exist in the database of the system), the
user may first enter the word "friend" by the methods of the word
predictive data entry systems of the invention as described (e.g.
either providing key presses corresponding to the letters of the
word without speaking, or providing the key press corresponding to
at least the (e.g. beginning) letter (e.g. "f") of the word and
speaking the letter, and provide the key presses corresponding to
the remaining characters (e.g. "riend") of the word without
speaking). The user, then, may proceed to the entry of the next
word "ship" by providing the key press corresponding to at least
the (e.g. beginning) letter (e.g. "s") of the word and speaking the
letter, and provide the key presses corresponding to the remaining
characters (e.g. "hip") of the word without speaking. The key press
and speech corresponding to the first character of the second word
may inform the system of the beginning of the second word and the
end (e.g. considered as an end-of-a-word signal) of the previous
word.
[0109] As mentioned, the user may also enter at least one
portion-of-a-word such as a suffix at the end of a word by using
the same method. For example, in order to enter the word
"management" in two portions "manage-ment" (e.g. the word "manage"
and the suffix "ment", by considering that the word and the
portion-of-a-word exist in the dictionary of words database of the
system), the user may enter the word by the method just
described.
[0110] It must again be noted that in addition to the words, the
dictionary of words database of the system may also comprise
a-portion-of-a-words corresponding to at least one language. Even
words comprising from multiple portions or words such as the word
"workmanship" (e.g. "work-man-ship") including several shorter
words may be entered through the same method.
[0111] According to another method, a chain of characters (e.g. a
word of the database, an out-of-dictionary word, an arbitrary chain
of characters, etc.) may be entered/attached at the end of a word
by using, for example, the character-by-character
press/glide-and-speak data entry systems of the invention. For
example, by considering that the word "manage" exists in the
dictionary of words database of the system, in order to enter the
word "management" in two portions "manage-ment", the user may first
the enter the word "manage" as described before (e.g. either
providing key presses corresponding to the letters of the word
without speaking, or by, for example, providing the key press
corresponding to at least a (e.g. beginning) letter (e.g. "m") of
the word and speaking the letter and provide the key presses
corresponding to the remaining characters (e.g. "anage") of the
word without speaking). The user may enter the chain of characters
"ment" at the end of a word by using the character-by-character
press/glide-and-speak data entry systems of the invention.
[0112] According to one embodiment an end-of-the-word signal such
as pressing a predefined key may be necessary at the end of the
entry of a word so that when user proceeds to the entry of the next
word (e.g. to attach it to the first word), the screen does not
fluctuate.
[0113] The embodiments just described may permit to use a database
of words having significantly reduced number of words with the
combined data entry systems of the invention. For examples, words
ending with common suffixes (e.g. "ed", "s", "ing", "ment", "ture",
etc.) may not be include within the database. Also words being
composed of multiple shorter words (e.g. wherein the shorter words
existing in the database) may not be included within the
dictionary. The system may also include an auto-correction system
such that to for example, automatically correct a conjoined word.
For example, if the user enters the word "memorize", and adds the
portion "ing" at its end, the system may automatically rectify the
conjoined word "memorizing", to provide the word "memorizing".
[0114] As mentioned before, when a word is entered by using the
word predictive system of the combined data entry systems of the
invention, the system, for example, may propose a word that the
user did not intend to enter. Also, for example, the system may not
match the user's (e.g. key presses, and speech if there was any)
information with any of the words of the database (as mentioned
before, in this case the system may print a predefined or arbitrary
chain of characters such as predefined letters, corresponding to
the corresponding user's key presses, or the system may print
numeric values corresponding to the corresponding user's key
presses, etc.). According to one method, for example, if a user
desires to correct a non-desired word (e.g. or chain of characters)
or to select the desired word, after he points (e.g. as described
before) to the erroneous word (e.g. the erroneous word being
provided based on corresponding key presses initially entered), the
system may recognize the user's key presses provided for the entry
of the word, by considering the chain of characters (e.g.
Obviously, the system may easily relate a printed letter to its
corresponding key). For example, the user may point to the word and
(e.g. for example, if the word does not exist in the database, or
for the reason of convenience, etc.) speak at least some of the
letters corresponding to the word (e.g. Instead, he also may speak
the word). At the end of the speech, the user may provide an
end-of-the-speech signal such as removing the pointer from the word
(e.g. the user may also use other methods to inform the system of
the beginning and the end of the speech. For example, as described
before, the user may press-and-hold a predefined key to inform the
system of the beginning of the speech corresponding to the
correction/selection, and release the key when he finishes to speak
so that to inform the system of the end of the speech. The methods
of correction/selection of a word have already been described in
the references incorporated herein, filed by this inventor.
[0115] Methods of using punctuation mark characters and command in
the combined data entry systems of the invention may be considered
so as to maximize the ease of use of the combined systems by the
user. As described in the references incorporated herein, filed by
this inventor, each of the most special symbols such as punctuation
mark characters or numbers may be entered by interacting with its
corresponding key and providing a speech corresponding to the
special symbol. By doing so any such punctuation character or
command may be entered during the entry of text by the combined
data entry systems of the invention.
[0116] As mentioned in previous patent applications, in order to
make the data entry systems of the invention more user friendly,
there may be some special symbols (e.g. such as the character "."
provided at the end of a word) that may be entered by pressing the
corresponding keys without speaking. Some of the special symbols
may be assigned to the keys other than the keys that the letters
are assigned. But because the system, preferably, may use few keys,
some other of the special symbols may also be assigned to the keys
that represent the letters. A problem may occur when using the last
mentioned symbols within a word (e.g. such as a "?" at the end of a
word when entering the word through the word predictive systems of
the combined data entry systems of the invention. For example, a
user may try to enter the word "ready?" (e.g. including the
"question mark") by using the word predictive systems of the
combined data entry systems of the invention, by either providing
key presses corresponding to the letters of the word without
speaking, or by providing the key press corresponding to at least
the (e.g. beginning) letter (e.g. "r") of the word and speaking the
letter, and providing the key presses corresponding to the
remaining characters of the word including the special symbol (e.g.
"eady?") without speaking. The system may not know that the word
entered ends with a special symbol. Therefore the system may look
for the words having both, five and six characters. This may
provide many choices to be presented to the user. To resolve the
problem, hereunder, a method of entry of the special symbols (e.g.
including commands and functions) is described.
[0117] According to one embodiment of the invention, while using
the combined data entry system of the invention, the words,
letters, and other symbols such as special symbols may be mixedly
entered in a same chain of characters. The user may enter one or
more consecutive words, chain of letters, chain of special
characters, etc., by pressing the keys corresponding to the words,
chain of letters, chain of special characters and speaking at lest
the first letter of the words, chain of letters, chain of special
characters. If the first symbol of the chain of symbols is a
"non-spoken" symbol (e.g. being entered by pressing its
corresponding key without speaking) that is assigned to a key other
than the keys representing the letters, or if the first symbol of
the chain of symbols is a "non-spoken" symbol (e.g. provided by
pressing its corresponding key without speaking) that is assigned
to the same key that at least some of the letters are assigned to,
but is entered by a different interaction (e.g. a double pressing
action, pressing the key and another key simultaneously, etc.) with
the key than the key interaction (e.g. single pressing action)
required for the entry of a letter on the key, then the user may
enter the special character by providing the corresponding pressing
action without speaking at the beginning of the chain of special
characters. For example, by considering the keypad 12800, in order
to enter the URL http://www.textentry.com, the user may: [0118]
enter the chain of characters "http" by, for example, using the
character-by-character press-and-speak data entry method of the
invention (e.g. pressing the keys corresponding to the letters and
speaking the letters), then; [0119] the user may provide a
predefined interaction such as a double-pressing action on the key
12802 or another predefined interaction such as pressing the keys
12805 (e.g. also considered as a "Shift" key if, for example, is
pressed simultaneously with another keys, as described in previous
patent applications) and 12802 without speaking to enter the
special symbol ":" (e.g. the symbol may be predefined to be
assigned to the key interaction in the absence of a speech) and
continue to enter the special symbols "//" by providing two (e.g.
predefined) single pressing actions on the key 12803 without
speaking. Entering the first special character at the beginning of
a chain of special characters may inform the system that the
following characters entered are special characters, until a letter
is entered (e.g. until a key is pressed and a letter is spoken);
[0120] then, the user may enter the chain of characters "www" by
using the character-by-character press-and-speak data entry method
of the invention as described; [0121] The user then may enter the
symbol "." by for example, interacting (e.g. single pressing) with
the key 12806 without speaking or by for example saying "dot" (e.g.
the symbols may be assigned to, both, speaking and not speaking)
[0122] The user then may enter the chain of characters "textentry",
by for example, either using the character-by-character
press-and-speak data entry method of the invention or by entering
it in two portions (e.g. two words "text" and "entry" existing in
the dictionary of words database of the system). To do so, the user
may first press the key 12802 corresponding to the letter "t" and
say the letter and continue to press the keys corresponding to the
remaining letters "ext" of the word "text". Then the user may press
the key 12803 corresponding to the letter "e" and say the letter
and continue to press the keys corresponding to the remaining
letters "ntry" of the word "entry"; [0123] The user then may enter
the symbol "." by pressing on the key 12805 without speaking or by
for example saying "dot" (e.g. the symbols may be assigned to both,
speaking and not speaking); [0124] (e.g. Finally,) the user may
enter the chain of characters "com", by, for example, using the
character-by-character press-and-speak data entry method of the
invention
[0125] It must be noted that the chains of characters "http",
"www", and "com", could be entered by the word predictive system of
the combined data entry systems of the invention (e.g. if for
example the word existed in the dictionary of words database of the
invention). For that purpose the user could: [0126] enter the word
"http" by either providing key presses corresponding to the letters
of the word without speaking, or by providing, for example, the key
press corresponding to (e.g. at least) a (e.g. beginning) letter
(e.g. "h") of the word and speaking the letter, and provide the key
presses corresponding to the remaining characters (e.g. "ttp") of
the word; [0127] enter the word "www" by providing, for example,
the key press corresponding to (e.g. at least) a (e.g. beginning)
letter (e.g. "w") of the word and speaking the letter, and provide
the key presses corresponding to the remaining characters (e.g.
"ww") of the word; [0128] enter the word "com" by, for example,
providing the key press corresponding to(e.g. at least) a (e.g.
beginning) letter (e.g. "c") of the word and speaking the letter,
and provide the key presses corresponding to the remaining
characters (e.g. "om") of the word.
[0129] Note that, generally, each time the user switches between
the type of symbols to be entered, the first symbol is either
spoken, or if it is a non-spoken symbol it is entered through
either a key other that a key representing letters, or if the
non-spoken symbol is assigned to the same key that at least a
letter is assigned, the symbol is entered through a predefined
interaction (e.g. double press, pressing two keys simultaneously,
etc.) assigned to the key wherein the predefined interaction is
different from the interaction (e.g. single press) required for
entering a letter on the key. Also it must be noted that the word
at the beginning of a mixed chain of characters may be entered by
the word predictive system of the combined data entry systems of
the invention without providing the speech corresponding the first
letter of the word. On the other hand, if a chain of characters
starts with a special character at least the first character may
follow the methods described above.
[0130] According to another method, if the system uses a (e.g.
touch, pressure) sensitive surface for (e.g. key) interaction, then
for example, one of the interactions other than an interaction such
a single pressing action assigned to the letters on a key, may be a
gliding action on the key. Theses matters have already been
described in detail.
[0131] It is understood that any chain of characters such as the
above-mentioned mixed chain of characters may be entered by using
the character-by-character press-and-speak data entry systems of
the invention as described in the references incorporated herein,
filed by this inventor (e.g. permitting the use of non-spoken
punctuation mark characters and commands within a same key and a
same type of key interaction that the letters are assigned to).
According to one embodiment of the invention, a switching means
such as a mode key may be provided to switch between the
press/glide-and-speak data entry systems of the invention and the
combined data entry systems of the invention.
[0132] As mentioned before, a special symbol such as a space
character, a punctuation mark (e.g. ",", ".", "!", "?", etc.), a
function or a command (e.g. "Enter", "Tab", etc.) provided at the
end of providing the information for the entry of a word may be
predefined to be considered as an end-of-a-word signal for the
word. Also some portion-of-a-words (e.g. combination of characters
excluding or including special characters, such as punctuation
marks such as "'s", "n't", etc.) provided at the end of a word may
be considered as an end-of-a-word signal for the word. For example,
the word "doesn't", may be entered by first entering the word
"does", and at the end pressing the key corresponding to the
portion "n't" and speaking the predefine speech corresponding to
the portion. Obviously, such words that include a punctuation mark
character (e.g. "'", "-", "_"), may also be the words of the
dictionary database and be entered by for example, pressing the
keys corresponding to the characters (e.g. the punctuation mark) of
the word (e.g. with or without speech).
[0133] According to one embodiment of the combined (e.g. including
the word predictive) data entry systems of the invention, one of
the letters assigned to a predefined interaction with its
corresponding key may be entered by interacting with the key with
and/or without providing a corresponding speech. For example, as
shown in FIG. 4, each of the letters "a", and "I" having a meaning
in the English language may be assigned to different keys (e.g. or
different interactions with a same key) and entered by pressing its
corresponding key and speaking and/or not speaking the letter.
[0134] The advantages of the use of a keypad having few keys such
as four keys, have been described and demonstrated in the
references incorporated herein, filed by this inventor. The keypad
may be, for example, a virtual/soft (e.g. fixed, dynamic) keypad
used on the (e.g. touch) screen of an electronic device and being
used with the data entry systems of the invention such as the
combined data entry systems of the invention. In addition to, for
example, different types of tapping actions, other interactions
such as interactions deriving from a gliding action (e.g. single
glide, double-glide, tap-and-glide, etc.) on for example at least a
key of the keypad may be considered for assigning at least part of
the symbols of the data entry systems of the invention, so that on
one hand to better distinguish the symbols from each other, and on
the other hand to permit the use of very few keys for the complete
easy and quick data entry such as text entry. FIG. 5 shows as an
example, such a keypad 12900, having four keys. For example, in
order to enter a word (e.g. "driver") through the word-predictive
data entry systems of the invention and entering a "space"
character (e.g. immediately) after the word, a user may either
provide the key presses corresponding to the letters of the word
without speaking, or he may provide, for example, the key press
corresponding to (e.g. at least) the (e.g. beginning) letter (e.g.
"d") of the word and speak the letter, and provide the key presses
corresponding to the remaining characters (e.g. "river") of the
word. At the end of providing the key presses, the user may glide
on the key 12902 to enter a space character (e.g. immediately)
after the word (e.g. the "Space" character, may be assigned to a
gliding action on the key 12902 without speaking. It must be noted
that this is only as example, other symbol assignments to different
keys and different interactions with the keys, also other number of
keys, may be considered. For example, a letter on a key may
correspond to a gliding actions on the key (e.g. and be entered by
speaking it, or by not speaking if it is entered by a pressing
action without speech on the key during the entry of a word through
the word-predictive systems of the invention), and the "space"
character may correspond to a pressing action on the key (e.g. in
the absence of a speech). These matters have already been described
in detail in this patent application and the references
incorporated herein, filed by this inventor.
[0135] As mentioned before, the dictionary of words database of the
invention may comprise words (e.g. and portions of words) of more
than one language. According to another embodiment, after entering
at least a (beginning) character of a word by pressing on at least
a first key and speaking the at least one letter, and providing the
key presses corresponding to the remaining letters of the word, if
the system hesitates between two letters on the at least first key
having ambiguously resembling speech relating to each other, then
the system may present the words corresponding to the key presses
that, for example, begin with each of the letters.
[0136] Another parameter to consider when assigning the symbols
such as the characters to the keys of a keypad is the frequency of
use of each key by a user's hand so that to be harmonized when
using the fingers of two hands such as using two thumbs (e.g.
avoiding multiple consecutive interactions with the finger(s) of a
same hand). FIG. 6a to 6b show other examples of assignments of
letters to four keys of a keypad, that may be used with for
example, the combined data entry systems of the invention by
considering the above mentioned principles and the principles of
the combined data entry systems of the invention as described
before.
[0137] As mentioned before, according to one embodiment the
press/glide and speak data entry systems of the invention may be
used in conjunction-with but separately-from other data entry
systems. For example, the system may function beside/with another
data entry system based on key presses only (e.g. without providing
speech, such as a word-predictive system based on the key presses
without speaking) available with an electronic device, but
independently from the another system such that for example, when
providing information such as the key presses corresponding to a
portion of a text such as a word, if a corresponding speech is not
provided (e.g. if the corresponding electronic device does not
detect a speech) the information (e.g. key presses alone) may be
interpreted by the another system wherein the another system may
enter the portion of a text (e.g. the word) based on the principles
of the another data entry system.
[0138] On the other hand, as mentioned before, if associated with
(e.g. during) the entry of the key presses corresponding to a
portion of a text such as a word, the user provides a speech
corresponding to the portion of a text or to at least some of the
characters of the portion of a text (e.g. if the corresponding
electronic device detect the presence of the speech) the
information (e.g. key presses and speech) corresponding to the
portion of text/word may be interpreted/considered by the
press/glide-and-speak data entry systems of the invention wherein
the press/glide-and-speak data entry systems may enter the portion
of a text (e.g. the word) based on the principles of
press/glide-and-speak data entry systems of the invention (e.g.
including the word predictive systems of the invention as described
before).
[0139] According to another embodiment of the invention, even if a
word is entered by the other data entry system, the
correction/selection of a word entered may be provided by the
press/glide-and-speak systems of the invention as described before.
for example, the user may point to the erroneous word (e.g.
selecting it by using a mouse/arrow key, etc.) and (e.g. with or
without pressing the corresponding keys (e.g. the letters of the
erroneous/no-desired word may inform the system of the
corresponding key presses)) speak the letters corresponding to the
desired word.
[0140] One of the most confusing and frustrating issues of the
entry of a word by using a word predictive system based on the key
presses alone (e.g. without speaking) is the selection of a desired
word if the word proposed by the system is not the one that the
user intended to enter. It must be noted that based on the systems,
for example, if the desired word is one of the lowest frequently
used words among the words corresponding to the key presses
provided by the user, it may require several "select" key presses
and a lot of user's focus on the display until the word is selected
by the user. The key manipulations and permanent display focusing
may be reduced or eliminated by using the combined data entry
systems of the invention, (e.g. press/glide-and-speak and the word
predictive data entry systems based on at least considering some of
the key presses provided for the entry of the word) data entry and
corrections systems of the invention as described before.
[0141] As mentioned before, when using the combined data entry
systems of the invention, associated with (e.g. during) the entry
of the key presses corresponding to a portion of a text such as a
word, the user may provide a speech corresponding to the portion of
a text or to at least some of the characters of the portion of a
text. The system may detect the presence or the absence of the
speech. Based on the principles of the combined data entry systems
of the invention as described before, different systems of combined
data entry systems of the invention such as the ones described
hereafter may be considered, wherein each of the systems may have
its own advantages.
EXAMPLE 1
[0142] According to one embodiment of the invention: [0143] it is
predefined that only one word of the dictionary of the word
database of the system may correspond to a sequence of key presses
(e.g. corresponding to the characters of the word) provided by a
user without providing a corresponding speech, for entry of a word,
and; [0144] it is predefined that other words of a language
corresponding to the same sequence of key presses may not be
included within the database. If the user desires to enter one of
the other words, he may enter it as an out-of-dictionary-word as
described before, by for example, using the character by character
press-and-speak data entry systems of the invention. For example,
if the user knows in advance that the word does not exist in the
dictionary, then he may provide the key presses and the speech of
the corresponding letters (e.g. substantially simultaneously). If
the user for example, does not know in advance that the word does
not exist in the dictionary, and notices it after the entry of the
key presses without speaking, then, the user may for example speak
the letters of the word, or speak the word as described
earlier.
[0145] For example, by considering the keypad 13200 of FIG. 8, only
one word (e.g. "doing") within a dictionary of words database of
the system is predefined to correspond to the key presses 13202,
13204, 13202, 13202, 13204. If a user desires to enter another word
such as "coins" having the same key presses information, in
addition to the key presses the user may speak the letter of the
word or he may speak the word (e.g. as described before).
[0146] The system just described may permit to enter a word without
ambiguity. Each sequence of key strokes on the keys of a keypad
without speaking for entering a word may correspond to only one
word within the dictionary. The word may be a predefined word such
as a commonly used word, or a word decided by a user, or used a
predefined environment. The user may not be frustrated for choosing
another word by manipulating the keys of the keypad. If the word
entered is not the one that the user desired, (e.g. without
providing the corresponding key presses again) he may simply either
speaks the word or speak the letters of the word. This is a quick
and easy.
EXAMPLE 2
[0147] According to one embodiment of the invention: [0148] it is
predefined that only one word of the dictionary of the word
database of the system may correspond to a sequence of key presses
provided by a user without providing a corresponding speech, for
entry of a word, and; [0149] it is predefined that, at most, only
one word of the database of words may correspond to an information
provided by the user, the information including the same sequence
of key presses provided by the user and a speech corresponding to
the speech of at least one of the (e.g. beginning) characters of
the word provided by the user, and; [0150] it is predefined that
other words of the database of words of the system having the same
sequence of key presses may not be included within the database. If
the user desires to enter one of the other words, he may enter it
as an out-of-dictionary-word as described before.
[0151] For example, by considering the keypad 13200 of FIG. 8 only
one word, (e.g. "doing") within a dictionary of words database of
the system, is predefined to correspond to the key presses 13202,
13204, 13202, 13202, 13204 without speaking. If a user desires to
enter another word such as "coins" or "dying" or "pupil" having the
same key presses information, in addition to the key presses the
user may speak at least the a (e.g. beginning) letter of the word
or he may speak the word (e.g. as described before). As shown, each
of the words of the data base (e.g. "coins" or "dying" or "pupil")
having the same key press information and requiring a speech for
begins entered, begins with a different letter, so that when the
user provides a word and speaks for example, the first letter of
the word, the user knows that the system will provide only one word
corresponding to information he provided. Note that although the
word "doing" has the same key press information and begins with the
word "d," the word is assigned to the key pressing actions without
speaking.
[0152] The system just described may permit to enter a word without
ambiguity. Each sequence of key strokes on the keys of a keypad
without speaking for entering a word may correspond to only one
word within the dictionary. The word may be a predefined word such
as a commonly used word, or a word decided by a user, or used in a
predefined environment. On the other hand each sequence of the same
key strokes on the keys of the keypad combined with providing a
corresponding speech for entering a word may correspond to only one
word within the word dictionary database. The word may be a
predefined word such as the most commonly used word among the words
having the sequence of key presses and corresponding to the speech
information. If the word entered is not the one that the user
desired, (e.g. without providing the corresponding key presses
again) he may simply either speaks the word or speak at least more
letters or all of the letters of the word. This is a quick and
easy.
EXAMPLE 3
[0153] According to another embodiment of the invention: [0154] it
is predefined that only one word of the dictionary of the words
database of the system may correspond to a sequence of key presses
provided by a user without providing a corresponding speech, for
entry of a word, and; [0155] it is predefined that other words of
the database of words that correspond to the same sequence of key
presses (e.g. provided by the user), may be entered by providing
the key presses and providing a speech corresponding to the speech
of at least one of the (e.g. beginning) characters of the word
(e.g. or speaking the word) by the user.
[0156] The system just described may permit to enter a predefined
word without ambiguity.
[0157] Each sequence of key strokes on the keys of a keypad without
speaking for entering a word may correspond to only one word within
the dictionary. The word may be a predefined word such as a
commonly used word, or a word decided by a user, or used in a
predefined environment. On the other hand each sequence of the same
key strokes on the keys of the keypad combined with providing a
enough corresponding speech (e.g. at least as much as required for
distinguishing the word from the other words that correspond to the
same key presses and require corresponding speech for being
entered). If the word entered is not the one that the user desired,
(e.g. without providing the corresponding key presses again) he may
simply either speaks the word or speak at least more letters or all
of the letters of the word. This is a quick and easy.
[0158] For example, by considering the keypad 13200 of FIG. 8, only
one word (e.g. "noise") within a dictionary of words database of
the system may be predefined correspond to the key presses 13202,
13204, 13202, 13202, 13203 without speaking. If a user desires to
enter another word such as "cycles" or "clive" having the same key
presses information, in addition to the key presses the user may
speak at least one or more (e.g. beginning) letters of the word or
he may speak the word (e.g. as described before). As shown, each of
the words of the data base (e.g. "cycle" or "clive") having the
same key press information and requiring a speech for begins
entered, may begin with a same letter, so in order distinguish the
words from each other the user may speak for example, more that one
letter of a corresponding word such that to distinguish it from the
other words of the selection. It must be noted that the speech
corresponding to the letters (e.g. or word) may be provided at a
predefined laps of time relating to the time when at least one of
the key presses is provided. For example, the speech may be
provided substantially simultaneously with providing corresponding
key presses or it may be at most after a predefine laps of time
before or after the key presses. During the entry of the key
presses if the user does not provide enough speech information
(e.g. speaks only one letter "c" in this example) and the system
provides a non-desired word (e.g. "cycle") then in order to enter
the desired word (e.g. "clive) the user may proceed to a
correction/selection procedure as described earlier.
[0159] It must be noted that according to one method, preferably,
after the user enters at least a first character (e.g. letter) of a
word by for example pressing the corresponding key and speaking the
corresponding letter (e.g. or portion/word), and provides the
remaining key presses corresponding to the remaining characters of
the word without speaking, the system may try to find the candidate
words beginning with the letter and wherein the remaining
characters (e.g. letters) of the candidates correspond to the key
presses provided by the user without speaking. It must also be
noted that the speech corresponding to the letter (e.g. or word)
may be provided at at least a predefined time relating to the time
when at least one of the key presses is provided. For example, the
speech may be provided substantially simultaneously with a
corresponding key press or it may be at most after a predefine laps
of time before or after the key press.
[0160] As mentioned before, according to one embodiment of the
invention, interacting with a key other that a letter key, or
providing a mode of interaction with a letter key other than the
mode of interaction used to enter a letter on the key may be
considered as an end-of-the-word signal by the system. For example,
after providing the input information corresponding to the entry of
at least the beginning letters of a word and entering a
portion-of-a-word such as a suffix of a word by providing a gliding
action or a double pressing action on a key that corresponds to the
first letter of the portion-of-a-word, according to one method, the
system may consider the portion-of-a-word as a last portion of the
word and based on all of the information provided by the user
select at least one word corresponding to the all of the
information. According to another method, the system may consider
the portion-of-a-word as an attachment to the word corresponding to
preceding information provided by the user and after selecting at
least a word based on the preceding information, the system may
attach the portion-of-a-word to the end of the at least one word.
As mentioned before, according to one method, substantially all of
a-portion-of-a-words may be assigned to at least one type of
interaction with the key other than the interaction required for
the entry of a character such as a letter on (e.g. assigned to) the
key. It must be noted that as mentioned in the references
incorporated herein, filed by this inventor, according to one
method, each of at least substantially all of the
a-portion-of-words of the database may be assigned to the key
corresponding to the beginning letter of the
a-portion-of-a-word.
[0161] As mentioned before, correction procedures may be provided
substantially, immediately at the end of the entry of a word or
they may be provided at a later time. The user may save a text, and
later open it to visualize it on a screen of an electronic device,
point on a word that he desires to change (e.g. the pointing method
may be selecting the entire erroneous/non-desired word), and speak
at least one or more of the (e.g. beginning) letters of the word
required for the entry of the word. By providing a predefined
pointing signal such as selecting the entire word, the system may
understand that the user may desire to change the entire word.
Then, according to another method, in order to modify one (or more)
characters of a word, the user may point to the character (e.g.
such as pointing to a position immediately after the character) and
provide the correction.
[0162] It is understood that other methods of selection of a word
among candidates words such as pointing-to/selecting one of the
word may also be used separately or in conjunction with the
speaking of the (e.g. at least some of the characters word) the
word as described.
[0163] As mentioned before, the data entry systems of the invention
may user a keyboard such as an on-screen (e.g. QWERTY) keyboard on
a touch sensitive screen of an electronic device. As mentioned
before, when user types on the screen, he may tap (e.g. by mistake)
in an area (e.g. on a key) on the keyboard being closed to the key
that the user intended to press. The system may consider at least
some of the neighboring keys to the pressed area (e.g. key). This
may provide a set of keys each having at least one character such
as a letter to be considered with each user's pressing action
during the entry of a word. Each of the number of the keys selected
by each pressing action on the keyboard may relate to at least one
character such as a letter, such that to duplicate a key of a
keypad having several characters such as a letter. Then based on
the principle, the system may use the keypad and method with
different data entry systems of the invention such as the
press/glide-and-speak data entry systems of the invention or the
combined data entry systems of the invention. For example, as shown
in FIG. 7, by using an on-screen keyboard 13100, in order to enter
the word "have", the user may press on the zones near 13101-13104
near the corresponding keys of the word. For each of the impact
zones, the system may consider the letters on for example the keys
surrounding the zone. As an example, in this example, the system
may consider at least some of at least the letters "h, j, y, u")
for the impact zone 13101, the system may consider at least some of
at least the letters "a, s, z") for the impact zone 13102, the
system may consider at least some of at least the letters "f, g, v,
c, b") for the impact zone 13103, the system may consider at least
some of at least the letters "e, r, s, d, v") for the impact zone
13104. It is understood that the characters corresponding to the
pressing actions as described, may be used with the data entry
systems of the invention. For example, for better accuracy, while
pressing the keys, at least a speech corresponding to at least one
of the key presses may be provided so that to better recognize the
at least one letter. For example, the user may speak the letter "h"
while providing the key presses. The system may realize that the
word starts with the letter and by considering the letters
corresponding to for example, the remaining pressing actions
provided by the user, the system may provide the word "have". These
matters have already been described in detail. It is understood
that instead of a QWERTY keyboard, any other keyboard having any
number of keys any character assignment, etc. may be used.
[0164] It must be noted that although in many embodiments keys have
been shown and described as the means of input of an electronic
device, any other input means duplicating the keys and/or
interactions wth the keys, provided with an electronic device, such
user's fingers, finger caps, a stylus, or electronic device (e.g.
tilting) movements, etc., may be used for the same purpose. These
matters have already been described before.
[0165] Also according to another embodiment of the invention, after
selecting a word based on the user's input information, the system
may speak the word (e.g. text-to-speech system) so that the user
without looking at the screen may decide if he wants to change the
word or to confirm it. For example, after listening to the system,
if the user wants to confirm it he may proceed to the entry of a
new character/word, etc. Also for example, after listening to the
system, if the user wants to change the word he may for example
speak at least one of the letters of the word, or speak the word
(e.g. the corresponding key presses are already provided by the
user) etc . . . Changes or confirmation of a word have been
described before in detail.
[0166] As mentioned before, the speech information provided for the
data entry systems of the invention may be based on one of at least
one of the user's voice or lip movements. When using a lip reading
recognition system of the invention (e.g. wherein the letters of a
language are distributed on different keys), speaking isolated
characters such as letters with a pause between each character
spoken may significantly improve the recognition accuracy of the
characters. As mentioned in the references incorporated herein,
filed by this inventor, the characters having ambiguously
resembling speech relating to each other may be assigned to
different keys.
[0167] According to one embodiment of the invention, a lip reading
recognition system may be used with the combined data entry systems
of the invention (e.g. that includes the word predictive systems as
described). For example, as mentioned before, for entering a word,
a user may enter at least one character of its characters such as
at least its first character (e.g. letter) precisely by pressing
the corresponding key and speaking the letter. The user then may
provide the key press corresponding to the remaining letters of the
word. Speaking a letter corresponding to a word an d providing the
remaining key presses without speaking my provide a laps of time of
pause of speech after the speaking the letter. If a user provides
consecutive words, there may be (e.g. mostly) a pause between the
provided speech of the (e.g. first) letters of the consecutive
words. To recognize a (e.g. first) letter spoken, a lip reading
recognition system may be used. This may add more discretion to the
data entry systems of the invention.
[0168] If the system does not recognize/select the user's desired
word based on the information provided by the user through this
embodiment, then the user may proceed to a correction/selection
procedure as described earlier by for example, speaking the word
letter by letter or speaking the word. The speech provided for the
correction/selection procedure may preferably be recognized based
on the user's voice (e.g. Obviously, the speech recognition may
also be based on lip reading, specially when the user speaks one or
more letters discretely). This is because currently the voice
recognition systems are more sophisticated than lip reading systems
for recognizing complex speech (e.g. speech of a word, quicker
speech, speech of letters without pause). It is understood that in
case a sophisticated lip reading system exists, it may be used to
recognize the speech based on the user's lip movements.
[0169] It must be noted that if a user does not provided a pause
when providing a speech relating to a beginning letter of a word
(e.g. speaks more than one letter), the lip reading system may
consider only the beginning potion of user's speech (e.g. that
substantially corresponds to the first letter of the word).
[0170] As mentioned before, a word of the dictionary database may
also be entered by providing the corresponding key presses without
speaking. If the system uses a lip reading system to recognize
precisely a letter such as the first letter of a word, it may
happen that the system may not be able to recognize if a speech was
provided or not at the begging of the word by the user (e.g. may
not determine if the user's lips have been moved). In this case a
voice recognition system of the invention may also be used to see
if there was a speech. Therefore, when intending to speak a letter
of a word by providing lip movements only, it may be helpful if the
user also provides a speech (e.g. even very discretely, such that
the microphone detects that something was the by the user, so that
to inform the system to use the lip reading system for recognizing
the user's speech).
[0171] It is understood that for better accuracy of speech
recognition, both voice and lip reading recognitions may be used
(e.g. combined).
[0172] In case that characters such as letters having ambiguously
resembling speech relating to each other are assigned to a same key
(e.g. and to a same type of interaction with the key) of a keypad
(e.g. a telephone-type keypad), the word predictive data entry
system of the invention may consider the words having the same key
presses and beginning with any of the ambiguous characters. For
example, the speech (e.g. voice or lip movements) of the each of
the pair of the letters "d, e", or the pair of letters "j, k",
wherein each pair locating on a same key of a telephone-type
keypad, may be ambiguous by using a lip reading system or a even a
voice recognition system. For example, by using a telephone type
keypad used with the combined data entry systems of the invention,
in order to enter the word "keep", the user may press the key
corresponding to the letter `k` and speak the word. The user, then,
may continue to press the remaining keys without speaking. The
system may (e.g. be predefined to) consider also the words starting
with the letter "J" and having the same remaining key presses (e.g.
"jeep").
[0173] Different means such microphone and/or camera (e.g. being
implemented within the corresponding electronic device, or used as
a peripheral equipment/detachable equipment connected to the
electronic device) for the detecting the user's speech may be
considered. User's lip movements images detected and analyzed may
be 3D (e.g. three dimensional). As mentioned before, other parts of
user's face (e.g. such as teeth, chin, etc.) may also considered
when speaking. These matters have already been described in
detail.
[0174] With continuous reference to the touch sensitive keyboard of
FIG. 7 and its corresponding embodiments, preferably, the user may
precisely provide (e.g. precisely/unambiguously) at least one of
the (e.g. beginning) key presses corresponding to the (e.g.
beginning) letter(s) of a corresponding word (e.g. without
speaking), and may provide the key presses corresponding to the
remaining characters of the word ambiguously (e.g. through for
example ambiguous keys of a reduced keypad of the invention) as
described before in the embodiments. This may provide enough
information for the selection of the word (e.g. without the use of
speech). It is understood that also providing corresponding speech
information based on the principles of the data entry systems of
the invention may be considered. As mentioned before, the precise
character(s) may be entered by handwriting input and recognition
system.
[0175] As mentioned before, by using the word predictive data entry
system of the invention, a word may be entered by entering
precisely/unambiguously at least one of the letters of the word by
for example providing a predefined pressing/gliding action on the
key corresponding to the letter and providing the speech
information corresponding to the letter (e.g. speaking the letter),
and pressing/gliding on the keys corresponding to at least one of
(e.g. preferably all of) the remaining letters of the word.
Obviously, in any of embodiment of the (e.g. predictive) data entry
systems of the invention, the pressing/gliding action on
corresponding key and the corresponding speech, for entering the at
least one precise/unambiguous letter of the word may be replaced by
using another precise/unambiguous data (e.g. letter) entry system
such as handwriting input and recognition system, full (e.g. pc)
keyboard, etc. Also, in correction/selection procedures of the
invention, instead of using the user's speech, the user may provide
one or more required letters for selecting/correcting/entering a
word, by using the another precise/unambiguous data (e.g. letter)
entry system such as handwriting input and recognition system, full
(e.g. pc) keyboard, etc.
[0176] With continuous reference to the combined data entry systems
of the invention, the dictionary of (e.g. complete) words of at
least one language database and the dictionary of
a-portion-of-a-words database of at least one language used with
the system may be separate from each other. The system may be
predefined to be informed that providing key presses may correspond
to the entry of a word of the language, and providing for example a
gliding action may correspond to the entry of a a-portion-of-a-word
of the language. The system may search the word within the
corresponding dictionary database.
[0177] It is understood that a combined data entry system of the
invention may include any of the databases separately or it may
include both of them. These matters have already been described in
detail.
[0178] It must again be noted that although the "combined" data
entry systems of the invention may have been mentioned in various
forms in this and the references incorporated herein, filed by this
inventor, the system refers to the data entry systems of the
invention that combines the press/glide-and-speak data entry
systems of the invention, combined with the word predictive data
entry systems, based on providing at least some (e.g. preferably
all) of the key presses corresponding to the letters of a word for
the entry of a word without speaking or with speaking at least one
of the (e.g. beginning) character(s) (e.g. letter(s)) of the word.
These matters have already been described in detail.
[0179] Searching a word within a database of words based on the
(ambiguous) key presses (e.g. key press that may correspond to any
of several characters/letters assigned to the key) alone, provided
for example on a telephone keypad by a user is known since many
years. As mentioned, a sequence of key presses provided by the user
may correspond to one or more words of the database, wherein
usually the word having the highest frequency of use is proposed as
a first choice to the user. Different methods are being proposed
for accepting the word or selecting another word if the word is not
the one that the user intended to enter. According to the most
popular word predictive system (e.g. T9) used on a Nokia phone,
entering the word "pda" requires seven additional key presses
including an end-of-a-word signal such as a space character and a
lot of concentration on the display for verifying each next word
that the system proposes. Even if the user knows in advance that
the word "pda" is one of the lowest prioritized word in the
candidate words, he should follow the same steps to select it.
Worst is when after navigating between words, the user may
recognize that none of the words proposed by the system is his
intended word. At this point the user must switch to another method
such as the multi-tap system and provide generally multiple taps on
each key corresponding to each of the characters of the word for
entering the word, In real time situations a large portion of text
entered may comprise out-of-dictionary words (e.g. names,
addresses, URLs, numbers, punctuation marks, words of another
language, abbreviations, formulas, etc.). For that reason, word
predictive systems are not used for general data entry in computers
such as Tablet PCs or PDAs which really lack a compact quick and
easy data entry system. Even in mobile phones, most people still
use multi-tap system even it is slow, but the user enters a text
character by character and he knows that "what he gets is what he
types".
[0180] As mentioned before, the combined data entry systems of the
invention may extremely minimize and even eliminate additional
user's interaction after entering the information (e.g. key presses
corresponding to the letters of the word and a speech information
corresponding to a word, wherein the speech information may be
different type of information such speaking at least part of the
word such as speaking at least some of the letters of the word, or
speaking the word, or not providing a speech, wherein the speech
information is detected and analyzed by the system, These matters
have already been described in detail in the references
incorporated herein, filed by this inventor) corresponding to a
word in the dictionary (e.g. the system may eliminate additional
interaction with the keys for the entry of the desired word, and it
extremely minimizes and even eliminates the interaction with the
display unit because an experienced user may know in advance which
words need the corresponding speech and eventually the amount or
the type of the speech needed).
[0181] Another great advantage of the system is the ability of
entry of out-of-dictionary chain of characters such as words. As
mentioned before, for example, if after the entry of the
information provided by the user the system does not find a chain
of characters (e.g. word) within the dictionary database, the user
may enter the chain of characters by speaking the characters (e.g.
letters) corresponding to the chain of characters without pressing
additional keys. As mentioned before, the system may consider the
original key presses.
[0182] Another great advantage of the system is the ability of
entering any arbitrary chain of characters (e.g. proper names,
address, numbers, chain of characters including special characters
such as punctuation marks, etc.) quickly and easily by preferably,
at most one key press per character or simultaneously pressing two
keys. For example, if the user knows in advance that the chain of
characters (e.g. such as a word in another language or an URL) that
he is going to enter is an arbitrary chain of characters that does
not exist in the database, he may use a press/glide-and-speak data
entry system of the invention (e.g. to for example enter the chain
of characters character-by-character) (e.g. by using the character
by character data date entry system for example. pressing the keys
corresponding to the characters and providing the speech
information corresponding to the characters).
[0183] Using few keys such as at least four keys (e.g. wherein to
four keys of the keys substantially all of the letters of a
language are distributively assigned) with the word predictive data
entry data systems based on key presses alone will be cumbersome
and even impractical because of the large number of corresponding
words for a sequence of key presses. The combined data entry
systems of the invention permit the use of few keys and a quick and
easy data entry system. The advantage of using few keys (e.g.
wherein for example, four of them correspond to the letters of at
least one language, and wherein for example, the keys are split in
two groups each group located on one side of for example a tablet
PC) with the data entry systems of the invention have already been
described in detail.
[0184] Also, the data entry systems based on key presses alone
(e.g. without using the benefits of providing at least a minimum
amount of corresponding speech information) will be impractical if
the dictionary database includes the words of multiple languages
because of the large number of corresponding words for a sequence
of key presses. The combined data entry systems of the invention
permit the use of multiple languages (e,g, within a same database)
simultaneously, and a quick and easy data entry system.
[0185] Also as described before in detail, substantially all of the
special symbols such as a space character, digits, punctuation mark
characters, and commands (e.g. "Enter" function) may be entered
(e.g. within a chain of character such as a word or independently)
unambiguously by providing generally at most one pressing action on
a key or simultaneously pressing two keys. In addition to its main
purpose, an unambiguous special symbol at the end of the entry of
the information corresponding to a word may also inform the system
of an end-of-a-word. This may be another great advantage of the
combined data entry systems of the invention. After entering the
information corresponding to a word, the user may enter a desired
symbol such as at least one of the special characters. The special
character may be considered as an end-of-a-word-signal by the
system. In addition, the system may insert or execute the symbol
after the word. (e.g. it must be noted that some the special
characters may (e.g. also) used within a word, may be part of the
ambiguous characters assigned to a key.
[0186] According to one embodiment of the invention, when a user
enters a word by using the word predictive systems of the combined
data entry systems of the invention, the system may use a system
such as a text-to-speech system to provided the selected word to
the user. In most cases the word may the desired word, and the user
by for example, proceeding to the entry of a next character or a
next word may also inform the system of accepting the selected
word. If the selected word is not the word that user desired to
enter, then, the user may proceed to the selection/correction
procedures as described (e.g. by speaking the word or at least some
of the characters of the word). This embodiment may provide a
completely eye free quick data entry and correction system with no
additional key pressing actions.
[0187] As mentioned before, according to one embodiment of the
invention, the word predictive systems of the combined data entry
systems of the invention may use a dictionary of words database
wherein the words are arranged such that only one of the words may
correspond to a sequence of key presses provided by the user
without speaking. Different methods of organizing the database and
search within it may be considered such as for example the
following different methods: [0188] according to one method of
database arrangement, the system may comprise two different
databases of words: a first database of words wherein each of the
words may correspond to a different sequence of key presses
provided by the user in the absence of speech (e.g. each word
corresponds to a different key press sequence), and a second
database of words wherein each of the words may correspond to a
sequence of key presses provided by a user wherein the user also
provides a corresponding speech, as described before (e.g. at least
one word may correspond to a different key press sequence). If the
user provides a sequence of key presses and does not provide a
corresponding speech, the system may detect the absence of the
user's speech. Then, the system may search for a corresponding word
within the first database. There may be at most one corresponding
word within the first database. The word may be entered and it may
also be printed on a corresponding display displaying the text that
the user enters. If the word is the one that the user desires to
enter the user may proceed to the next task such as entering a next
word. If the word is not the word that the user desired to enter,
then, the user may proceed to a procedure of correction/selection
such as the ones described earlier. For faster data entry, the user
may not proceed to correction/selection procedure immediately after
entering the word. He may proceed to the next task such as the
entry of the next portion of the text (e.g. the next words), and so
on, and he may later proceed to the correction/selection procedures
as described earlier.
[0189] If the user provides a sequence of key presses and provides
a corresponding speech, the system may detect the user's speech,
and may search for corresponding words within the second database.
There may be one or more words within the second database
corresponding to the user's key presses and speech. For example,
when a user presses at least one key corresponding to at least the
at least one beginning character (e.g. letter) of a word and speaks
the at least one letter, and continues to press the keys
corresponding to at least some (e.g. preferably, all) of the
remaining characters of the word then according to one method of
search the system may recognize the at least one letter, and search
within the second dictionary of words database, the words that
begin with the at least one recognized letter and wherein the
remaining characters of the words correspond to the remaining key
presses provided by the user. According to another method of
search, the system may search within the second dictionary of words
database, the words that the characters of the words correspond to
the sequence of key presses provided by the user, and wherein their
beginning letter(s) correspond to the at least one recognized
letter. It is understood that these methods of search are described
as examples. Other methods of search may be considered by people
skilled in the art.
[0190] With continuous description of the current embodiment, there
may be one or more corresponding candidate words within the second
database. If there is only one corresponding word, then the system
may enter it. If there are more than one candidate words, then
according to one method, a predefined word among the candidates may
be entered. According to another method, one of the candidate words
having higher priority relating to the others may automatically be
entered (each of the words of the second database of words may have
a priority value based on for example, their frequency of use). The
word may also be printed on a corresponding display displaying the
text that the user enters. If the word is the one that the user
desires to enter he may proceed to the next task such as entering a
next word. If the selected word is not the word that the user
desires to enter, then, according to another method, the user may
provide more speech information such as speaking at least some of
the remaining letters of the word, the user may proceed to a
procedure of correction/selection such as the ones described
earlier. It is understood that if the user desires, according to
another method, the user may use a switching means such as a select
key so that to navigate within the candidate words (e.g. presented
to him one by one, for example, based on their frequency of use)
until he fined the desired word.
[0191] As mentioned before, for faster data entry (e.g. during a
meeting), the user may not proceed to correction/selection
procedure immediately after receiving an undesired word. He may
continue the next task such as the entry of the next portion of the
text (e.g. the next words), and so on, and he may later proceed to
the correction/selection procedures as described earlier.
[0192] It is understood that according to another method, the
system may comprise one database of words including the two
above-mentioned databases. [0193] According to another method of
database arrangement, the system may comprise one database of words
wherein each of the words has a priority value for example based on
its frequency of use. When a user provides the key presses
corresponding to a desired word without speaking, the system may
select a word corresponding to the key presses and having the
highest frequency of use relating to other words (e.g. if any)
corresponding to the same key presses. In this method, in addition
to the key presses, if a user provides a speech such as speaking
one or more beginning letters of the word, the system may select a
corresponding word based on the combined information and having the
highest priority relating to the other words that correspond to the
combined information. If the word is not the desired word, then the
user may proceed to the selection/correction methods as described
earlier.
[0194] According to another method, the system comprises one
database of words wherein each of the words of the database may
include or being related to, an additional information (e.g. a
flag) indicating their speech situation (e.g. requiring speech
(e.g. "1") or not (e.g. "0"). When providing a sequence of key
presses if the system does detect a speech it may consider only the
words that their speech indicator indicates that "no speech" is
required, and vise versa. According to one method, for each
sequence of key presses without providing a speech, at most one
word may exist within the database. The procedures of the entry and
selection/correction may resemble to those described earlier.
[0195] As mentioned before, the sequence of key presses provided by
the user may include an end-of-the-word signal such as one or more
of special symbols such as punctuation mark characters, numeric
characters, commends (e.g. "Tab", "Enter"), space character,
entering a character such as a letter at the end of the word and
speaking the character, etc. Because the symbols are generally
entered unambiguously, according to one method, the system may not
consider the key presses corresponding to the special symbols among
the sequence of key presses, for the searching purpose. After
entering the desired word, the system may enter the special
symbols. The user may proceed to the next task such as entering the
next word without additional key presses.
[0196] Also as mentioned before another type of an end-of-a-word
signal may be providing the key presses corresponding to the next
word and speaking the speech of the (e.g. beginning
portion/characters of) the next word. According to one method, the
system may automatically provide a space character between the
words.
[0197] Different correction/selection methods of the combined data
entry systems of the invention have already been described in
detail.
[0198] As mentioned before, in order to change an already entered
word, the user may (e.g. first) point to the word. Pointing to the
word for replacing the word by another word may be defined such
that to not interfere with a pointing action provided for another
purpose such inserting a letter after or within a word. For
example, the user may select a word by for example a double
clicking action a the word, or he may position the cursor after the
last character of a word including or excluding its special
character such as a space character or a punctuation mark, etc.
According to another method, the user may position on any location
within a word (at the beginning, inside, at the end),
press-and-hold a predefined key and provide the desired speech for
selecting/entering another chain of characters (e.g. a word).
[0199] In order to provide a minimum amount of speech necessary for
entering an unambiguous word, the user, preferably, may speak a
first letter of a word. If there are more than one words that match
the information (e.g. key presses and the speech), the user may
speak the next letter and so on until the system provides the
desired word. According to one method, each time the user speaks a
letter, the system may indicate the maximum of numbers of speech
(e.g. of next letter) required for an unambiguous entry of any of
the remaining words corresponding to the information (e.g. key
presses and speech) already provided by the user.
[0200] According to another method, to select a word within a
document, the user may for example speak the word, or speak at
least one of the beginning letters of the word, or press/glide and
speak at least one of the beginning letters/portion of the word, or
provide one or more pressing actions corresponding to one or more
(e.g. beginning) letters of the word without speaking, etc. The
system may compare the information provided by the user with the
words or the information corresponding to the words within the
document to find the desired word within the document. This may be
extremely fast and accurate without the need of using a navigating
means such as a mouse. For example, by referring to FIG. 9, and
considering the keypad 13300 in order to replace the word "doing"
by the word "coins", the user may say the word or may say some of
the beginning letters (e.g. "do") of the word. The system may
compare the speech with the beginning letters of the words within
the document to find the word "doing". The system may find more
than one word. The user may navigate between the words to reach to
the word that he desires to find. Also for example, by referring to
FIG. 9, and considering the keypad 13300 in order to replace the
word "doing" by the word "coins", the user may, for example, press
the keys 13304, 13303 corresponding to two of the beginning letters
(e.g. "do") of the word. The system may compare the key pressing
actions with the key presses corresponding to the beginning letters
of the words within the document to find the word "doing". The
system may find more than one word. The user may navigate between
the words to reach to the word that he desires to find.
[0201] According to one embodiment of the invention, during the
entry of a sequence of key presses (e.g. before providing
an-end-of-a-word signal) corresponding to a word (e.g. and
eventually, providing the speech of at least part of the word), the
system may propose the candidate words each time the user provides
a new key press. According to one method, when the user enters the
last key press, he may proceed to accepting or correction/selection
methods of the invention as described before. According to another
method, each time a new key press of the sequence is entered, the
system may also propose words having more characters than the key
presses entered until that moment. The user may select the word
without providing the remaining key presses corresponding to the
word (e.g. a word completion system).
[0202] During pressing the keys (e.g. and speech information, if
provided) corresponding to a word, a word completion system may
consider (e.g. and propose) the words beginning with the key
presses (e.g. and speech). The word having the highest priority may
be the one that is printed within the text that the user enters
(e.g. and the cursor may locate at the end of the proposes word).
if the user continues to enter a new key press (e.g. and speech)
and that key press (e.g. and speech) still corresponds to the next
letter of the word, then the word (e.g. and the cursor) may remain
in the same position. If the next key press (e.g. and speech) does
not correspond to the word but corresponds to another word (e.g. or
other words) having the same beginning (e.g. key press)
information, then the word having the highest priority among them
may be printed within the text that the user enters (e.g. and the
cursor may locate at the end of the proposes word). At any moment
during the key pressing actions (e.g. and speech, if the
proposed/printed word is the one that the user desires, he may
provides an end-of-a-word signal such as a special symbol as
described earlier and proceed to the next task.
[0203] It must be noted that although keys have been used to
describe different embodiments of the invention, as mentioned many
times before in different patent applications by this inventor, any
other input means (e.g. user's fingers interactions, motion
movements of an electronic device, etc.) may be used for the same
purpose (e.g. to duplicate the keys and/or key the key
interactions).
[0204] As described, the word predictive systems of the invention
permit a quick and easy word entry system. According to one
embodiment, there may be no priority assigned to any of the words.
For each sequence of pressing actions without providing a speech,
preferably there may be at most one corresponding word. Any of the
other words having the same the sequence of key presses may be
distinguished from each other by user's speech corresponding to at
least one of the (e.g. beginning) characters of the word or by
speaking the word. Even if each of the words have a priority degree
(e.g. value) relating to each other, by using this system any of
the words may be accessed (e.g. directly) and be entered
quickly.
[0205] As mentioned, other candidate words having the same (the)
sequence of key presses may be distinguished from each other by
(e.g. additionally to the key presses, also providing) the user's
speech corresponding to the word (as described earlier), or by
providing other traditional means or mixture of user's speech and
the other traditional means. For informing the user, the other
candidate words may be presented to the user in list, or one by
one, on a display unit. As mentioned according to another
embodiment the other candidate words may not be presented to the
user. If the user desires to enter one of the other words, he
simply provides the corresponding speech (e.g. as described)
without further interaction with the display unit.
[0206] As described before, the data entry systems of the invention
may be used in many applications such as call directories. As an
example, as described in a different PCT patent application, such
as PCT/US2002/22385 filed by this inventor, (e.g. text) information
provided through one or more appropriate embodiments of the data
entry systems of the invention may be used by a corresponding
application (e.g. having a database of words or phrases) to provide
(e.g. predefined) tasks. For example, the system may be used to:
[0207] generate phone calls; [0208] provide input to a call
directory; [0209] provide input to interactive call centers; [0210]
provide information to a system that provides predefined tasks
based on user's (e.g. text) input; [0211] etc.
[0212] According to one embodiment of the invention, as an example,
a method of entering data such as text within such application may
be considered. The method may include as an example, at least one
of at least the following steps: [0213] 1) the user may provide the
key presses corresponding to a text information such as a word,
without speaking; [0214] 2) if the system recognizes the text (e.g.
word) it may proceed to step 4. if not; [0215] 3) the system may
demand more information from the user such as: [0216] speaking the
text (e.g. word), or; [0217] speaking at least some of the letters
corresponding to the key presses provided by the user. The minimum
number of letters to be spoken to distinguish the text (e.g. word)
from other texts (e.g. words) having the same sequence of key
presses may dynamically be defined by the system. [0218] If more
than one text (e.g. word) within the database correspond to the
information provided by the user, the system may ask the user to
provide more information. For example, if the system is used to
provide a phone call based on the name of to-be-called entity such
as a person or a company, the system may for example ask the user
more information such as to enter at least a portion of the address
of the to-be-called entity such as its zip code, office/home
information, etc. [0219] 4) After successfully recognizing the
user's input, the system may accordingly proceed to the next
predefined task.
[0220] As an example, as mentioned before, the system may be used
with a call directory to for example provide a telephone call based
on at least an to-be-called name, or to automatically provide the
to-be-called telephone number to the caller, etc.
[0221] According to one embodiment of the invention, the user may
enter the to-be-called name by using a character by character data
entry system of the invention by for example pressing each of the
keys corresponding to the letters of that name and simultaneously
with each pressing action speaking the corresponding letter.
[0222] According to another embodiment of the invention, the user
may enter the to-be-called name by using a character by character
data entry systems of the invention by for example pressing the
keys corresponding to the letters of that name and (if needed or
required by the system) after that, he may speak at least one of
the letter of the name or he may speak the name. Providing the key
information and the speech information in different laps of time
may be useful in situations such as when using a touch toned
telephone. Pressing a key and speaking simultaneously when using a
touch toned telephone may combine the key tone and the
corresponding speech, therefore perturbing the recognition
system.
[0223] For example, if the user desires to call a company called
"TheCompany" by for example, using the telephone keypad, according
to one method, the user may first provide the key presses
corresponding to the letters of the name. If the key presses
sequence correspond to only one entry (e.g. name) in the database,
the system may proceed to the next predefined task or it may ask
for confirmation before proceeding to the next predefined task.
[0224] On the other hand, if for example, the user desires to call
a company called "TheMarkers", by for example, using the telephone
keypad the user may first provide the key presses corresponding to
the letters of the name. The key presses may correspond to more
than one entry in the database. For example, another entry in the
database may be another company's name called "TheMaskers". To
distinguish the names from each other, the system may ask the user
to provide a speech information such as speaking at least six
beginning letters (e.g. "themas") of the desired name so that to
define which name the user intends to enter. According to another
method, the system may ask the user to speak the name as the speech
information.
[0225] It must be noted that the processing of the information may
be executed locally (e.g. within the telephone) or the system may
be installed within a server (e.g. at the call directory promises)
and being processed remotely. In this case the key press and speech
information may be sent to the server for being processed and the
results or additional requests may be sent to the user by the
server.
[0226] According to one embodiment of the invention, the telephone
call may be directed internationally. For this purpose according to
one method, the system may include the databases of the
to-be-called called entities such as people or companies of at
least some countries so that to process the information locally and
direct the international call to the destination, while according
to another method, the system may use part of the information
provided by the user to direct at least part of the information
provided by the user to the server of the corresponding country's
phone directory for being processed there.
[0227] For example, a user may enter the text "Benjamin Ghassabian
NY USA". The system may direct the information such as "Benjamin
Ghassabian NY" to a corresponding telephone directory of the USA
for being processed there. According to another method, the system
may direct the information such as "Benjamin Ghassabian" to the
corresponding telephone directory of the state of NY in the USA for
being processed there. The order of the words in the text may be
predefined, or the system may be "intelligent" enough so that to
permit providing freely the order of the words within the text.
[0228] According to one embodiment of the invention, a predefined
signal such as pressing the "#" key before of after the entry of
the to-be-called entity may define the purpose (e.g. type) of the
key presses (e.g. and speech) provided by the user. For example,
pressing a predefined key such as the "#" key before a sequence of
key presses may inform the system that, for example, the key
presses provided after pressing the "#" key may correspond to
entering the name of a to-be-called party, and that after the entry
of the name the system may automatically call the other party.
Accordingly, for example, pressing a predefined key such as the "*"
key before (e.g. or after) a sequence of key presses may inform the
system that, for example, the key presses provided after pressing
the "*" key may correspond to entering the name of a to-be-called
party and that, for example, after the entry of that name the
system may provide the other party's phone number (e.g. or other
information such as his address, etc.) to the caller. Or vise
versa. Still, according to one embodiment of the invention, not
providing a predefined signal before or after a sequence of key
presses may inform the system that, for example, the key presses
provided by the user correspond to dialing a telephone number.
[0229] It must be noted that an entry within the database may
comprise more that one word (e.g. family name, first name, middle
name). According to one method, the user may enter the entry word
by word by accomplishing to enter each word by pressing the
corresponding keys of the word and if necessary providing the
corresponding speech to enter the word, before proceeding to the
entry of the next word, while according to another method the user
may first provide the key presses corresponding to all of the words
of the entry and then provide the speech information necessary for
entering each of the word.
[0230] The data entry systems of the invention may enhance or even
replace the interactive call centers based on voice alone. For
example, when a user calls a company, instead of listening to all
of the choices that the automatic voice system of the company
proposes to the user (which in most of cases it is time consuming
and confusing), by having the ability of entering an arbitrary text
through the data entry systems of the invention, the user may skip
at least some of the steps proposed by the call systems, and
directly enter the information that he desires to enter. For
example, after calling an automatic call center of a company, the
user may ask for a specific support by typing his desire using the
data entry systems of the invention. Also for example, if no one is
available, the user may enter his contact information such as his
name, and/or his address, and/or his telephone number, etc., so
that to be (e.g. later) contacted by the company.
[0231] It must be noted that embodiments, methods, and examples
provided in this patent application are used only for demonstrating
the concepts of use of the data entry systems of the invention in a
variety of applications. It is understood that other embodiments,
methods, and examples based on principles of the data entry systems
of the invention, their usage in different applications, etc. may
be considered by people skilled in the art.
[0232] It must be noted that the embodiment just described may
require less speech but they require more user's
focus-on/interaction-with the corresponding display. It is
understood that as mentioned in other embodiments before, if an
initially proposed word is not the word that the user intends to
enter, the user may point to that word (e.g. by selecting it in a
word processing window) and provide the speech corresponding to
(e.g. at least some of) the characters of the word or speaking the
word to minimize focusing on the display.
[0233] The functions of applications such as call directories,
calling centers, automatic answering centers, etc., are known by
people skilled in the art. Combining the applications with the data
entry systems of the invention provides faster interaction with the
systems to achieve a goal, and permits the entry of complex text
easily and quickly.
[0234] Different procedures of selection/correction of a
none-desired word proposed by the system have been described
earlier. Another method of minimizing the speech necessary for
replacing the none-desired word by another word is described
hereafter.
[0235] According to one embodiment on the invention, when using the
data entry (e.g. including the word predictive) systems of the
invention to enter a word, if the word selected by the system is
not the one that the user desired to enter, the user (e.g. after
pointing/selecting that none-desired word) may begin to speak the
characters corresponding to the word one-by-one. For example, after
speaking the first character of the word, if a selection of two or
more other words (e.g. other than the none-desired word) in the
database correspond to initial key presses provided by the user and
begin with the spoken character then the system may propose the
word within the selection that has the highest priority relating to
others words within the selection, to the user. If the proposed
word still is not what the user intended to enter the user may
speak the following character of the desired word. The system may
propose another word (e.g. within the selection) beginning with the
two spoken characters. If two or more words begin with the two
characters then the system may propose the one having the highest
priority to the user. According to one method, if the previous
proposed word also begins with the same two characters, the system
may ignore it even if the word has the highest priority among those
words corresponding to the two spoken characters. The fact that the
user proceeds to speaking the next character of the desired word
informs the system that the word proposed by the system is not what
the user desires to enter. If still the last proposed word is still
not the one the user intends to enter, the user may speak the next
letter of the desired word and so on.
[0236] As an example, FIG. 10 shows a keypad 13400 having at least
four keys, wherein four of the keys 13401-13404 of the keypad
represent the letters of the alphabet of a language. Values 1 to 4
are accordingly assigned to the corresponding keys 11401 to 13404,
respectively. A portion 13405 of a database of words of the system
corresponding to a sequence of key presses 13401, 13401, 13402,
13402 (e.g. value "1122") is also shown. In this example, if the
user presses the keys 13401, 13401, 13402, 13402, (e.g. key press
value "1122") without speaking, the system may be predefined to be
select the word corresponding to the key presses that has the
highest priority. In this example, the word is the word "what".
Immediately after providing the key presses, or later during a
correction/selection procedure by pointing to the proposed word
(e.g. "what"), the user may speak the letter "n" (e.g. without
providing key presses). The system may propose the word
corresponding to the initial key presses (13401, 13401, 13402,
13402) that starts with the letter "n" and that has the highest
priority relating to the other words that correspond to the same
key presses and that begin with the same letter "n". In this
example, the word is the word "next". If the word proposed still is
not the one that the user intends to enter, the user may speak the
following letter, "e", of the desired word (e.g. without providing
key presses). According to one method, the fact of speaking an
additional character informs the system to ignore the current
proposed word (e.g. "next") even if the additional spoken character
corresponds to the following character of the word (e.g. "next").
The system may propose the word having the same initial key presses
information and that two of its (e.g. beginning) letters matches
the corresponding user's speeches and that it has the highest
priority relating to the other words that have the same key presses
information and that two of their (e.g. beginning) letters match
the corresponding user's speeches, by excluding the word(s) already
proposed (e.g. "next"). In this example, the word is the word
"near". If the word "near" still is not the one that the user
intends to enter, the user may proceed to speaking the next
character of the desired word, and the systems behaves based on
principles described, and so on. In this example, by saying the
following letter "a", the system proposes the word "neat" which,
for example, is the one that the user intends to enter.
[0237] As mentioned before, the data entry systems of the invention
such as the predictive data entry systems of the invention may be
combined with other data entry systems such as handwriting input
and/or recognition systems, multi-tap system, etc.
[0238] For example, a word predictive method of the invention may
be combined with a handwriting recognition system so that the
handwriting input and recognition system being used either as an
additional recognition system or by replacing the speech
recognition systems of the invention. For example, a user may enter
a word by providing key presses corresponding to the word without
speaking. If the word is not the only word corresponding to the
sequence of key presses, the user may enter precisely at least some
of the (e.g. beginning) characters of the word by using the
handwriting recognition system, at a predefined laps of time such
as during the entry of the word or during the correction/selection
procedure as described before. For example, as shown in FIG. 11a,
by using the split keypad having at least four keys 13501 to 13504,
(e.g. conforming to for example one of the keypads already
described) of the Tablet PC 13500, and by considering a portion of
the database of word 13508 of the system, in order to enter the
word "has", the user may press the corresponding keys 13501, 13502,
13504 without speaking. The system may propose the none-desired
word "was" corresponding to the same sequence of key presses and
having the highest priority. Then, as shown in FIG. 1b, the user
may (e.g. at that point/moment, or later by pointing-to/selecting
13507 the word "was") change the none-desired word by, for example,
writing at least a number of (e.g. beginning) letters necessary to
distinguish the desired word "has" from the other words having the
same key presses sequence. In this example providing only one
letter "h" 13505 may be enough for replacing the word "was" by the
word "has". This is because the word "has" has the highest priority
value relating to other words corresponding to the same key presses
provided by the user and beginning with the letter "h", within the
database. Although this system is slower and may be more
frustrating, it may permit data entry and correction without using
user's speech. It is understood that according to one embodiment of
the invention, the handwriting input and recognition system may be
implemented together with the word predictive data entry systems of
the invention that also may use speech recognition systems, so that
the user according to for example, an environment (e.g. quiet) or
situation (e.g. need of quick and easy data entry) may accordingly
use any of the data entry systems with the word predictive data
entry systems (e.g. that use the keys of the keypad having few keys
such as few keys wherein to at least four of the few keys at least
the letters of at least a language are assigned) as described.
[0239] The example above demonstrates a word correction procedure
of the system. Obviously, as mentioned before, the user may enter
the hand-written letter(s) during the entry of the word. For
example, (e.g. if the user knows in advance that the words "was"
and "has" correspond to the same sequence of key presses, and that
the word "was" has higher priority) for the entry of the word
"has", the user may first write the letter "h", and then press the
keys corresponding to the remaining letters "as" of the word.
[0240] According to one embodiment of the invention: [0241]
pointing to a position relating to (e.g. within) a none-desired
text such as a non-desired word and providing a speech such as
speaking a desired word or speaking at least some of the characters
corresponding to the desired word without providing key presses
(e.g. the system may consider the initial key presses that was
provided by the user for the entry of the none-desired word), may
result in replacing the none-desired word by the desired word, and;
[0242] Pointing to a position relating to (e.g. within) a text such
as a word provided by the system, and providing a sequence of key
presses and providing the speech such as a speech corresponding to
the sequence of key presses or speaking at least some of the
characters corresponding to the sequence of key presses may result
of inserting the corresponding text (e.g. word) in the position
relating to (e.g. within) the provided word.
[0243] According to one embodiment of the invention, a navigating
method for pointing-to/selecting the words of a document (e.g. to
for example replace them by other words) may be considered. For
example, according to one method (e.g. four) arrows of the data
entry systems of the invention may be user to navigate on the words
of a document so that to point-to/select a word of the document.
According to another method, a forward means and/or backward means
(e.g. key) moving a selecting means forward and/or backward over
the words, (e.g. selecting word by word) may be used for the same
purpose.
[0244] According to one embodiment of the invention, during data
entry in an environment such as during taking notes in a meeting,
the user may decide to enter a portion of a text such as a word, a
long word(s), or out-of-dictionary chain of characters such as
out-of-dictionary words, or even (e.g. complex) phrases, functions,
etc. (e.g. hereafter, "hard-to-be-entered text", at a later time
such as after the meeting. For this purpose different methods may
be considered such as: [0245] According to one method, the user may
inform the system by for example providing a predefined signal such
as pressing a predefined key and speaking the "hard-to-be-entered
text" such as a word. The system may record the speech and may
provide one or more symbols in the corresponding position within
the document such that when the user points/selects to the position
(e.g. the one or more symbols), the systems may provides the
recorded speech to the user so that the user remembers what he had
the and accordingly enters the "hard-to-be-entered text" (e.g.
word) within the document, by for example: [0246] pressing the keys
corresponding to at least some of the (e.g. beginning) characters
of the "hard-to-be-entered text" (e.g. word) and speaking the
characters or the "hard-to-be-entered text" (e.g. word), or; [0247]
entering the word by using handwriting input & recognition
systems, or; [0248] etc.
[0249] For example, when a user is taking notes, an
out-of-dictionary word such as an person's name (e.g.
"Alexandrite") may be entered by pressing a predefined key such a
the key corresponding to the first letter of the word and speaking
the word. By not recognizing the word, the system may provide one
or more (e.g. predefined) symbols in the corresponding position
within the text, and memorize the speech also corresponding the
speech to the position (e.g. to the corresponding one or more (e.g.
predefined) symbols), so that when the user points-to/selects the
corresponding one or more (e.g. predefined) symbols, the system
provides the user's speech (e.g. recorded audio) to the user, so
that the user remembers what he the and accordingly such as as
described, enters the text. [0250] According to another method, as
described earlier, the user may provide a sequence of pressing
actions corresponding to at least some (e.g. preferably, all) of
the characters of the "hard-to-be-entered text" (e.g. word) and
speaks the text (e.g. word(s)). If the system does not recognize
the word it may record the speech and may provide a set of
characters such as a sequence of predefined characters such as
values of the keys that have been pressed by the user, in the
corresponding position within the document such that when the user
points/selects to the position (e.g. to the characters), the
systems provides the recorded speech to the user so that the user
remembers what he had the and he may accordingly enter the text by
for example: [0251] speaking the characters one by one without
re-typing the keys (e.g. as described before, by considering the
memorized chain of characters such as the values of the keys, the
system remembers the initial key presses), or; [0252] entering the
word by using handwriting input & recognition systems, or;
[0253] etc.
[0254] For example, when a user is taking notes, an
out-of-dictionary word such as a person's name (e.g. "Alexandrite")
may be entered by pressing the keys corresponding to the letters of
the word and speaking the word. By not recognizing the word, the
system may provide predefined symbols such as predefined values of
the key presses provided by the user in the corresponding position
within the text and memorize the speech also corresponding the
speech to the position (e.g. to the corresponding (e.g. predefined)
symbols), so that when the user points-to/selects the corresponding
(e.g. predefined) symbols, the system provides the user's speech
(e.g. recorded audio) to the user, so that the user remembers what
he had the and accordingly, enters the text, as described before.
[0255] Still according to another method, the user may enter the
"hard-to-be-entered text" (e.g. word) by his handwriting either
immediately digitized, or by graffiti as is and later either
converts it to digitized characters (e.g. print characters) or he
may keep them as is in the document.
[0256] For example, when a user is taking notes, an
out-of-dictionary word such as a person's name (e.g. "Alexandrite")
may be entered by for example, using a handwriting input (e.g. and
recognition) system. According to one method, the system may
provide the text as is in the corresponding position within the
document so that if desired, the user may later convert it to
digitized characters (e.g. printing characters). According to
another method, the system may immediately convert the text to
digitized characters (e.g. printing characters). [0257] Other input
methods (e.g. providing unambiguous characters) such as an
on-screen keyboard or other input methods such as those based on
principles of the data entry systems of the invention may also be
used to enter "hard-to-be-entered text" (e.g. word).
[0258] It must be noted that entire words of any portion of a text
may be entered by using the handwriting input and recognition
system. Switching to a typing procedure (e.g. pressing keys) may
inform the system of the end of the handwriting input procedure of
the portion of the text.
[0259] It must also be noted that recording the user's speech (e.g.
voice) of some of the portions of a text during a data entry may
require a small amount of memory but permits a lot of freedom and
flexibility to the user.
[0260] There are many methods of content search by using a standard
PC keyboard. The data entry systems of the invention permit to at
least duplicate the functionality of a PC keyboard, therefore they
permit to duplicate the content search methods.
[0261] The data entry systems of the invention may be used for a
general interactive procedure such as a content searching
procedure, interactive computing system such as interacting with a
PC, interactive TV, etc. For example, the system may be used with a
remote control of a Media Center PC for searching and playing
movies or songs, answering to questions asked by a sever of a TV
channel, interacting remotely with other users of the TV (e.g.
through TV messaging), etc.
[0262] According to one embodiment of the invention, in order to
search a content within a database of contents (e.g. the name of a
song within a database of names of songs, the name of a movie
within a database of names of movies, the name of a person or
company within a database of telephone directory, etc.), the user
may use a data entry system of the invention. The content may be
comprised of one or more chain of characters such as one or more
words. Each of the contents may be comprised of different fields
wherein each of the fields may include one or more chain of
characters. For example, FIG. 12 shows a portion 13600 of a
database of names of songs. For example, each record corresponding
to a song may include several fields such as the title of a song
13601, the singer 13602, the album 13603, etc. each of the fields
may include one or more words.
[0263] Because the data entry systems of the invention use a
keyboard having few keys wherein to at least one of the keys more
than one letter of an alphabet is assigned, different methods of
input for searching a content may be considered such the ones
described hereafter.
[0264] According to a first method, the user may enter all of the
characters of at least one of the fields by providing the key
presses corresponding to the characters and if necessary provide
the speech corresponding to the key presses (e.g. speaking the
characters corresponding to at least some of the key presses, or
speaking the desired word(s) that the key presses represent). The
speech may be provided simultaneously with the key pressing actions
or it may be provided after the key presses are entered (e.g. for
example, the speech may dynamically be required by the system after
processing the key presses) This method may usually require more
key presses for finding a content.
[0265] According to a second method, the user may enter part of the
characters of at least one of the fields by providing the key
presses corresponding to the characters and if necessary provide
the speech corresponding to the key presses (e.g. speaking the
characters corresponding to the key presses, or speaking the words
that the key presses are related to). The speech may be provided
simultaneously with the key pressing actions or it may be provided
after the key presses are entered (e.g. for example, the speech may
dynamically be required by the system after processing the key
presses) This method may usually require less key presses but more
speech, for searching a content.
[0266] For example, if a user desires to listen to a song on a
music player device that is related to a Media Center PC, the user
may for example, enter the at least some of the characters of the
title of the song through the data entry systems of the invention
by for example, pressing the keys corresponding to at least some of
the (e.g. preferably the beginning) characters of at least the
title of the song. Preferably, the user may also enter the at least
some of the characters of at least another fields such as the name
of the singer of the song through the data entry systems of the
invention by for example, pressing the keys corresponding to at
least some of the (e.g. preferably the beginning) characters of the
singer. Between the two sequence of key presses a delimiting signal
such as pressing a predefined key may be provided.
[0267] The system may search within the fields of the titles of the
songs of the database to find the titles that correspond to the key
pressing sequence (e.g. value) provided by the user corresponding
to the title of his desired song. The system may find one or more
titles corresponding to key presses provided by the user relating
to the desired title. If the system finds only one title that
matches to the user's corresponding key presses, then the system
may proceed to the next task such as selecting the song and sending
it to the user's playing apparatus for being played. According to
one embodiment the next task may be asking the user to confirm the
song that is selected by the user, etc.
[0268] If there are more that one titles that correspond to key
presses provided by the user relating to the desired title, then
the system selects the titles and searches within the singer fields
of the selection the name of the singer(s) that match to the
corresponding key presses provided by the user (e.g. the second
sequence of key presses). If the system finds only one song that
matches to the user's corresponding key presses, then the system
may proceed to the next task such as selecting the song and sending
it to the user's playing apparatus for being played. According to
one embodiment the next task may be asking the user to confirm the
song that is selected by the user, etc.
[0269] If there are more that one titles that correspond to key
presses provided by the user relating to the desired title and
singer, then the system may ask the user to provide more
information such as for example, speaking the characters
corresponding to at least some of the key presses provided by the
user for the entry of the title and/or the singer, providing key
presses (e.g. and speech) corresponding more characters of any of
the fields or other fields such as the name of the album, a portion
of the words of the song, etc.
[0270] It must be noted that although the example just described
refers to searching a song, the searching method may be applied to
any type of content. For example, a movie database may include
different fields such as movie title, at least one actor of the
movie, director of the movie etc. According to another example, a
calling directory database may include different fields such as the
surname of a person, the first name of the person, his address, zip
code, etc. Also the searching method that described above is only
an exemplary method that shows the efficiency of the data entry
systems of the invention such as the predictive data entry systems
of the invention combined with the press/glide and speak data entry
systems of the invention and their ability to be used in different
application. As mentioned, many types of content searches may be
considered by people skilled in the art. For example, according to
another method of search, based on the principles of the predictive
data entry systems of the invention, if a user provides a sequence
of key presses corresponding to for example the title of a movie
and the key presses correspond to the name of two or more movies of
the database then the system may ask for more information such as
asking to provide a number of (e.g. beginning, middle, or ending)
characters such as the letters of the title of the movie (e.g. as
described before). According to different systems, for example by
using user's speech or by (e.g. hand) writing the characters, the
user may enter the characters. If the information provided by the
user correspond to at least two movies, the system may ask for more
information such as at least a (e.g. beginning) portion of the name
of one of the actors of the movie, wherein the user may provide the
information by for example providing the same procedure used for
providing the title of the movie, etc.
[0271] It must be noted that as mentioned, the content search as
described may be used for a general purpose search and interaction,
and that although searching a movie was mentioned as an example,
the searching or interacting procedures may be applied with any
content such as searching songs, responding to question, asking
questions, entering text, etc.
[0272] An example is hereafter provided by referring to FIG. 12
wherein a remote control 13605 having a telephone type keypad
13607. The remote control may have a speaker 13608, a microphone
13604, a writing pad 13609, a display unit 13606, etc. The FIG. 12
also shows a portion of a database of songs 13600 as described
before.
[0273] According to one method of search, the user in order to
enter the name of the song "who" interpreted by Frank Sinatra, the
user may for example, respectively press the keys 136011, 13612,
13613 corresponding to the word "who". The user then may provide a
delimiting signal such as pressing the "#" key 13615, and presses
the key 13614 corresponding to the letter "F" (e.g. the beginning
character of the chain of characters "Frank Sinatra") corresponding
to the name of the singer. The system may compare the pressing
actions with then corresponding fields. In this example, there are
two entries (e.g. songs) that correspond to the key presses
provided by the user: [0274] "Who", interpreted by Frank Sinatra,
and; [0275] "Win", interpreted by David Bowie
[0276] The system may recognize that first letters of the two songs
are similar (e.g. the same letter "W"), therefore the system may
dynamically decide and ask the user to speaking at least two
beginning letters of the title so that to be able to recognize
which song the user desire to select. It is understood that instead
of the speech the system may ask for other information such as
speaking the second character or the last character of the song
title, pressing the key corresponding to the surname of the singer
(e.g. and speaking if needed), or other information as described
before.
[0277] Another example relating to a content search within a
telephone directory (e.g. for asking a telephone number or placing
a call) is demonstrated by considering the FIG. 13, wherein a
portion of an exemplary database of a telephone directory is shown.
For example, if a user desires to require the telephone number of
"Eve Miller" by using the keypad 13708 of the telephone 13709 by
calling an automatic telephone directory, the user may for example,
providing three key presses 13711, 13712, 13713, corresponding to
three beginning letters "mil" of the surname "Millet", follows by a
delimiting key press such as pressing the pound key 13714, and
providing two key presses 13715, 13716, corresponding to the two
beginning letters of the First name "Eva" of the person. As
described, based on the principles of the data entry systems of the
invention, the system may recognize that there are several entries
within the database that correspond to the key presses information,
such as: TABLE-US-00001 Milker Evelyn (212) 112 2222 Miller Eve
(212) 111 2221 Nikky Dudu (212) 333 2222
By analyzing the selection, the system may ask the user to enter
speak at least four beginning letters (e.g. or last two letters) of
the surname of the desired person.
[0278] It must be noted that as described before, the instead of
pressing the keys and waiting the user's instructions such as
providing required speech, the user may press the keys and provide
the corresponding speech (e.g. simultaneously, or immediately after
providing the corresponding pressing action) so that to enter the
chain of characters based on for example, the character by
character press/glide-and-speech data entry systems of the
invention.
[0279] It must be noted that according to one embodiment of the
invention, the selected entries of the database based on the
information (e.g. key presses and/or speech may be provided to the
user on the screen of a corresponding electronic device, so that
the user decides what additional information to provide for
selecting the desired entry.
[0280] If a field within an entry of the database includes more
than one word (e.g. a space between the words), the user may
provide the space character by for example pressing a predefined
key such as the "*" key a predefined number of times. It mist be
noted that the contents within the fields may correspond any symbol
such as numbers, etc. also it must be noted that searching
procedure may be dynamically executed after the entry of each
information such as each pressing (e.g. and speaking) action. Also,
according to one method, the (e,g. additional) information
required-by/provided-to the system may be speech alone (without a
corresponding key press) such as speaking the last character of a
word for which no key press has been provided.
[0281] It must also be noted that the content database such as the
list of the songs, movies, etc., and their corresponding
information such as the name of the singers, the name of the
actors, etc., may be available locally such as within the Media
Center PC of the user, or it may be available within a remote
location such as the server of the service provider such as a cable
TV or a satellite TV company, or a server of a company or person
accessible through the Internet, etc.
[0282] A credit card number usually has a predefined number of
digits. Each of the digits may be from 0-9. when a user purchases
an article through a telephone call, he may pay the article by
entering his credit card number through the keys of a touch tone
phone. There is only one tone per key in a touch tone phone. By
using the data entry systems of the invention that permits the
entry of any symbol (e.g. of a PC keyboard) through a telephone
(e.g. pressing a key and speaking the symbol), a type of credit
card number including at least alphanumerical characters may be
considered making it more secure and permitting the entry of the
number even through a touch tone telephone.
[0283] According to one embodiment of the invention, when using the
predictive data entry systems of the invention for entering text,
the words wherein their corresponding sequence of key presses may
correspond to more than one word within the word database of the
system may be highlighted (e.g. written in another color,
underlined, bolded, etc.). For example, (e.g. at a later time) if a
user desires to replace a none-desired word proposed by the system
by his desired word, to find the non-desired word, he may focus on
(e.g. search within) the highlighted words only.
[0284] As mentioned before, at least on a digitizer such as the
display of a Tablet PC, at least some of the special characters
such punctuation mark characters may be assigned to interactions
(e.g. with the soft/virtual keys of the corresponding keypad, or by
fingers and/or finger caps duplicating the keys and/or interactions
with the keys) that include gliding actions. These matters are
described in detail in this patent application and the references
incorporated herein, filed by this inventor. For example, a
predefined punctuation mark character may be assigned, to a gliding
action on its corresponding key combined with a predefined speech
information, and/or to pressing-and-holding a first predefined key
and pressing the corresponding key combined with a predefined
speech information.
[0285] As mentioned before, language rules may be used for
enhancing any of the data entry systems of the invention. For
example, by considering the portion of the database 13508 and the
keys 13501 to 13504 of the keypad of the FIG. 1a, when entering a
phrase such as "there is no way" by pressing the corresponding keys
without speaking, the system may enter another phrase "there is no
was " (e.g. "was" has higher priority that "has"). By using a
system that includes language rules, because the word "way" is the
only word among the words of the database corresponding to the key
presses provided for the entry of the word "was", that makes sense
within the phrase, the result provided by the system may
automatically be modified to "there is no way".
[0286] As mentioned before, a word of the database of words of the
system may be either an entire word or it may be a portion (e.g.
beginning, middle, ending) of an entire word. Also as mentioned
after each key (e.g. pressing) interaction (e.g. and the
corresponding speech if there has been any) information provided
during the entry of a word by using the predictive data entry
systems of the invention, the system may consider a corresponding
word that its beginning characters (e.g. or its entire characters)
correspond to the key (e.g. press) interaction (e.g. and the
corresponding speech, if any) information provided by the user
(e.g. until that moment).
[0287] According to different principals and/or methods of
presentation of a chain of characters corresponding to the key
presses (e.g. and the corresponding speech if there have been
provided) information during the entry of a word may be
considered.
[0288] According to one embodiment of the invention, after each key
press (e.g. and the corresponding speech if there is provided any)
information provided by the a user during the sequence of key
presses (e.g. and speech, if there is any) information provided by
the user for the entry of a word, the system may present to the
user the word having the highest priority among the entire words
wherein all of the characters of each of the words correspond to
the sequence of information provided by the user. If the system
does not find such a word then the system may present to the user
the word having the highest priority among the words wherein a
predefined portion (e.g. such as preferably the beginning
characters) of the words correspond to the sequence of information
provided by the user. By considering the keypad 13800, FIG. 14
shows as an example a table 13805 that demonstrates several (e.g.
beginning) steps of proposing the chains of characters
corresponding to the beginning portion of the sequence of
information (e.g. in this example, key presses only) provided by
the user during the entry of the word "information", according to
this method.
[0289] According to another embodiment of the invention, after each
key press (e.g. and the corresponding speech if there is provided
any) information provided by the user during the sequence of key
presses (e.g. and speech if there is provided any) information
provided by the user for the entry of a word, the system may
present to the user the word having the highest priority among the
words wherein at least a portion (e.g. such as at least the
beginning characters, or the entire characters) of the words
correspond to the sequence of information (e.g. key presses, and
the corresponding speech if any is provided) provided by the user.
By considering the keypad 13800, FIG. 14 shows as an example a
table 13806 that demonstrates several (e.g. beginning) steps of
proposing the chains of characters corresponding to the beginning
portion of the sequence of information (e.g. in this example, key
presses only) provided by the user during the entry of the word
"information", according to this method. According to this method,
at any moment if the user provides an end-of-the-word signal (e.g.
such as a space character) and wherein the proposed chain of
characters is a (e.g. beginning) portion of a word (e.g. having a
longer chain of characters) (e.g. in other words, the chain of
characters being an uncompleted word) then the system may consider
the words of the database wherein the (e.g. key presses, and speech
if any is provided) information provided by the user corresponds to
all of the characters of each of the words and may propose for
example the word having the highest priority among the words. In
the example of 13806, if after three key presses the user provides
an end-of-the-word signal (e.g. such as a space character) the
system may replace the chain of characters "int" (e.g. the
beginning characters of the word "into") by the word "put" (e.g.
having the highest frequency of use among the words that the
information provided by the user corresponds to all of the
characters of each of the words).
[0290] According to one embodiment of the invention, during
providing the sequence of information, if the user enters one or
more precise characters, then: [0291] according to one method, the
system may keep the other characters as is, and adds the precise
characters to the end of the other characters [0292] according to
another method, the system may combine the information provided for
the entry of the other characters and the one or more precise
characters and compares them with the words of the database to
provide a corresponding word. If there are no corresponding words,
then the system may keep the other characters as is, and may add
the precise characters to the end of the other characters.
[0293] It must be noted that the chain of characters may be entered
by any (e.g. or combination) of the data entry methods of the
invention such as character by character entry,
portion-of-a-word/word entry, predictive entry, etc. As mentioned
before in detail, each of character (e.g. by character) entry or
portion-of-a-word/word (e.g. portion-of-a-word/word) entry, may be
assigned to a different type of input signal such as providing a
different interaction with the corresponding key(s). For example,
according to one method, a character/letter entry may be provided
by a single-pressing action on the key corresponding to the
character and providing the corresponding speech, and a
portion-of-a-word entry may be provided by a gliding action on the
corresponding key (e.g. the key corresponding to the
portion-of-a-word) and providing the corresponding speech. Also for
example, according to another method, a portion-of-a-word entry may
the provided by pressing two keys (e.g. pressing a shift key and a
key corresponding to the portion-of-a-word) and providing the
corresponding speech. These matters have already been described in
detail. As an example, as shown in FIG. 14, by considering the
keypad 13800, in order to enter the word "revolutionize", the user
may first provide information including the key presses
corresponding to the beginning characters "revolu" (e.g. at least
some of the key presses may be provided without speaking the
corresponding speech) of the word "revolution" (e.g. without
speaking). He, then, may provide second information including a
gliding action on the key 13802 and providing the speech of the
portion "tion" (e.g. by saying "shen"). The system may combine the
first and second information and compare it with the words of the
database and output the word "revolution". Then the user may
provide third information including a gliding action on the key
13804 and the speech of the portion "ize". The system may combine
the, first, second, and third, information and compare it with the
words of the database. The system may not find a word corresponding
to the combined information. In this case the system may output the
chain of characters (e.g. the word) "revolution" as is, and may
attach the portion "ize" to the end of it to provide the chain of
characters/word "revolutionize". Integrating the portion by portion
data entry systems of the invention with the predictive data entry
systems of the invention may, accelerate the speed of the data
entry systems of the invention, require less key press and less
speech, minimize the spelling errors of the user, etc.
[0294] It must be noted that as described before in detail,
according to another embodiment of the invention, character by
character entry or portion-of-a-word/word entry, may be assigned to
a same input signal such as providing a same interaction with such
as providing a single-pressing action on the corresponding
key(s).
[0295] It must be noted that as described before in the references
incorporated herein, filed by this inventor, according to one
embodiment of the invention, a portion of a word may be entered by
providing the key presses corresponding more than one letter such
as all of the letters of the portion and speaking the portion. For
example, in order to enter the portion "tion", the user may press
the keys 13802, 13804, 13803, 13804, and say the portion (e.g. by
saying "shen").
[0296] According to one embodiment of the invention, during the
entry of the information provided by the user for the entry of a
word by using the predictive data entry of the invention, the
system may not print the chain of characters proposed by the system
until there is only a unique chain of characters corresponding to
the information that corresponds to at least one of the words of
the database. This may eliminate the screen fluctuations. According
to one method, until then, other predefined symbols such as for
example corresponding key numbers may be printed on the screen.
[0297] As mentioned before, the data entry systems of the invention
such as the predictive data entry systems of the invention may be
combined with other data entry systems such as handwriting input
and/or recognition systems, multi-tap system, on-screen (e.g.
QWERTY) keyboard, etc., to enter precisely at least one or more
characters of a word. The other data entry systems may be used by
any of the methods (e.g. embodiments) of the data entry and/or
replacement/correction system of the data entry systems of the
invention. For example, in the corresponding embodiments of the
invention, instead of entering one or more characters of a
word/portion-of-a-word, by a handwriting entry/recognition system
or by pressing a key corresponding to a letter and speaking the
letter, the user may enter the one or more characters of a word by
using a virtual (e.g. QWERTY) keyboard. These matters have already
been described in detail.
[0298] As mentioned before, according to one of the correction
methods of the invention, when a user points to a non-desired word
and provides a speech for replacing the word by a desired word, the
speech may be speaking one or more letters of the desired word.
[0299] According to one embodiment of the invention, when a user
points to a non-desired word and provides a speech for replacing
the word by a desired word, the speech may be, predefined to be one
of at least either speaking one (e.g. predefined as the first or
last or middle) letter of the word, or speaking all of the letters
of the desired word. This may significantly augment the accuracy of
the system. According to one method, the system may consider both
hypotheses and provide the best matched word accordingly. Because
in most cases providing the first letter of a word is enough for
correcting/replacing a non-desired word, the user as the first
attempt may, preferably, speak one (e.g. beginning) letter of the
desired word. If the system still provides another non-desired word
that corresponds to the user's speech, then, the user may provide
another correcting/replacing attempt by for example again pointing
to that undesired word and speaking all of the letters of the
desired word. It is understood that as described in detail
previously, according to another method any number of characters of
the desired words may be spoken for correcting/replacing a word
during the correcting/replacing procedure.
[0300] During the data (e.g. text) entry, typing (e.g. key
interaction) errors may occur. When using the productive data entry
systems of the dissection, this may result the system to either
consider erroneous word or to not find a corresponding word. The
user may use an erasing means such as a "back space" key to delete
the key (e.g. press) interaction (e.g. and the corresponding
speech, if there has been provided any). It must be noted that
according to one embodiment each "back space" action may delete the
last key (e.g. press) interaction (e.g. and the corresponding
speech, if there has been provided any) and the corresponding one
or more characters. The system may consider the words corresponding
to the remaining key presses (e.g. and speeches) information.
According to one method, the system may print the corresponding
characters of the candidate word. According to one method, the user
then may provide pressing action(s) (e.g. and if desired the
corresponding speech) corresponding to the remaining characters of
the word. By considering the remaining initial information and
additional information provided after the back space procedure, the
system may predict the corresponding word(s).
[0301] A special back space means such as a special back space
command assigned to a key for deleting more than one character has
been described in the references incorporated herein, filed by this
inventor. According to one embodiment of the invention, a special
back space command of the invention may be used with the predictive
data entry systems of the invention. According to one method
providing a special back space action (e.g. to providing a
corresponding interaction with such as a pressing action on the key
to which the special back space command is assigned) may erase the
last completed or uncompleted word (e.g. before the cursor) entered
by a user. Each additional special back space action may erase an
additional last completed or uncompleted word (e.g. before the
cursor).
[0302] According to another method providing a special back space
action may erase the last chain of characters (e.g. before the
cursor) corresponding to user's corresponding one utterance (e.g.
including key, and speech (if any was provided) information). Each
additional special back space action may erase one additional last
chain of characters (e.g. before the cursor) corresponding to
another user's utterance (e.g. including key, and speech (if any
was provided) information). A user's utterance (e.g. including key,
and speech (if any was provided) information) may correspond to
providing the information between two predefined laps of times. The
utterance may correspond to a letter, a chain of characters such as
a portion of a word, a complete word, or to a chain of characters
including at least one word and at least one portion of another
word, etc. the chain of characters may also include special
characters.
[0303] As mentioned before, according to one method of the
predictive data entry systems of the invention using a
word/portion-of-a-word data entry systems of the invention, an
interaction with a corresponding key (e.g. and providing a
corresponding speech) may provide/output the corresponding chain of
characters. According to one embodiment of the invention, (e.g.
when the cursor is located at the end of the chain of characters) a
single "back space" (e.g. a regular or a special "back space"
depending on user's and/or the system's designer definition) may
erase the chain of characters. According to one method, if there
are one or more special characters such as space character or
punctuation mark character after the chain of characters and the
cursor is located after the special characters, then the special
characters may also be erased.
[0304] Words of the dictionary database may comprise any special
characters such as punctuation mark characters. For example, by
considering FIG. 14, in order to enter the word "don't" (e.g.
existing in the database), the user may press the keys 13804,
13803, 13804, 13802 (e.g. containing the apostrophe character
13809), 13802, and provide a corresponding speech if
desired/needed.
[0305] According to one embodiment of the invention, pressing a
"shift" key before or during the entry of a word through the
predictive data entry systems of the invention may result in
capitalizing the corresponding (e.g. the first) letter of the word.
According to another method, the user may press (e.g. and hold) a
shift key and press a key corresponding to a (e.g. first) letter of
a desired word that is being entered through the predictive data
entry system of the invention and speak the letter. The user then
(e.g. may release the holding key) may provide the key presses
corresponding to the remaining characters of the word. The letter
may be capitalized within the word. According to another method,
instead of the pressing action, a gliding action on the
corresponding key (e.g. and the corresponding speech) may be
predefined to be provided for the same purpose. Obviously, when
providing the key interaction, if the user does not provide a
corresponding speech, the system may consider the key interaction
as an ambiguous key interaction and the corresponding letter within
the predicted word(s) may be capitalized.
[0306] According to one embodiment of the invention, one or more
characters within a word may be deleted or changed.
[0307] According to one method, the system may consider the key
interaction (e.g. and speech) information of the modified word and
compares it with the words of the database to provide a
corresponding word (e.g. as described in detail). According to
another method, the system may keep the new chain of characters
(e.g. word) as is.
[0308] It must be noted that although in many embodiments of the
invention keys are mentioned as input means for providing input
signals, obviously any other input means (e.g. finger interactions
on a touch screen, finger caps, etc.) may be used for inputting the
input signals.
[0309] According to one embodiment of the invention, (e.g. at any
moment) during the entry of the information corresponding to a word
a user may desire to replace one more of the beginning characters
(e.g. letters) of the corresponding chain of characters proposed by
the system (e.g. by other character(s) having the same
corresponding key interactions). Without providing key interactions
or by using a predefined means such as a predefined key, the user
may speak the one or more characters. According to one method, by
considering the modified characters and the information that was
provided for the rest of the chain of characters and based on
comparison with the database of the system, the system may consider
one (e.g. or more) new candidate chain of characters (e.g. word)
and propose it to the user.
[0310] According to one embodiment of the invention, for modifying
one (e.g. or more) character of a chain of characters such as a
word (e.g. by other character(s) having the same corresponding key
interactions), the user may place the cursor at a predefined
position relating to the character and provide the speech
corresponding to the desired character(s).
[0311] According to one embodiment of the invention, during the
correction/replacing procedure of the predictive data entry systems
of the invention, by using a predefined means such as a key the
user may inform the system that the speech (e.g. speaking one or
more letters) that he provides for the correction/replacing the
corresponding proposed word relates to a predefined zone of the
word such as the ending zone of the word.
[0312] According to another embodiment of the invention, during the
correction/replacing procedure of the predictive data entry systems
of the invention, by using a predefined means such as
selecting/pointing-to a portion (e.g. one or more letters) of the
word the user may inform the system that the speech (e.g. speaking
one or more letters) that he provides for the correction/replacing
the corresponding proposed word relates to the portion of the word.
The portion may be any portion of the word, and the (e.g.
selecting/pointing) means may be any means for selecting a portion
of the word or pointing to the portion the word. According to one
method, the user may point to a location within a chain (e.g.
proposed chain) of characters such as a completed or uncompleted
word (e.g. by positioning a cursor at the location) and the system
may be predefined to select all or some of the characters of the
chain of characters before and/or after (e.g. as designed) the
cursor. The user then may provide the desired speech corresponding
to the selected portion. According to one method, the system may
consider the modified characters and the key (e.g. presses)
interactions information of other characters of the chain of
characters (e.g. and the corresponding speech if any was provided
by the user) for modifying the entire chain of characters
accordingly (e.g. considering corresponding candidates and
proposing one of them as described in detail).
[0313] It is again noted that although in some paragraphs the
beginning of a word is mentioned for the corresponding information
provided by the user for the entry of precise character(s),
obviously any portion of a word and the corresponding user's
information may be considered for the entry of the word based on
the principles of the combined data entry systems of the
invention.
[0314] Also, it is again noted that although in some paragraphs
only key presses are mentioned as the information provided or
considered by the user, obviously based on the principles of the
data entry systems of the invention the information may include the
user's corresponding speech if there has been provided any.
[0315] The data entry systems of the invention (e.g.
such-as/including the predictive data entry systems of the
invention) may use several languages simultaneously. For example,
the speech of more than one language may be assigned to a symbol
such as a (e.g. Roman) letter, a word, a potion-of-a-word, etc., of
the data entry systems of the invention. As an example, to each of
the letters of the Roman alphabet that are assigned to the keys of
a keypad, the speech of the letter in two or more languages may be
assigned. For example, to each of the letters the speech of the
letter in two languages such as English and French may be assigned.
For example, the letter "z" may be pronounced "z iy" or "z eh d",
accordingly. The multi-lingual data entry system of the invention
may also include the (e.g. word) predictive data entry systems of
the invention and comprise a database of words including the words
(e.g. and a portion-of-a-words) of multiple languages or it may
comprise multiple databases of (e.g. words) (e.g. and a
portion-of-a-words) of multiple languages such as for example,
English, French, etc. In order to not considering other languages
by the system while entering data (e.g. such as text) in one of the
languages (e.g. for augmenting the accuracy of the data entry),
different embodiments may be considered.
[0316] According to one embodiment of the invention, a means such
as a key or user's (e.g. voice) command may be used to switch from
a language to another.
[0317] According to another embodiment of the invention switching
between languages may be done automatically by the system.
According to one method, when a user enters a symbol (e.g. such as
a letter, word, etc.), by interacting with a corresponding key and
providing the corresponding speech, the speech may be recognized by
the system as being a speech corresponding to one of the languages.
The system, then, may switch to the language and may not consider
the other languages until the user provides the speech of a symbol
in another language. For example, in order to enter the phrase "my
mother in English means ma mere in French", by using for example
the word predictive data entry systems of the invention, the user
may, first, enter the first part "my mother in English means" as
usual by one of the data entry systems of the invention. He then
may enter the word "ma" (e.g. a French word) by pressing the keys
corresponding to the word and providing the speech (e.g. in French)
corresponding to at least one of the letters of the word or by
speaking the word (e.g. depending on the data entry method) in
French. The system may recognize that the word is a French word and
behave correspondingly. For example, if the data entry method used
for entering the word is a (e.g. word) predictive data entry method
of the invention, the system may use the French database of words
of the invention for entering the word. The system may consider
that the user enters data in French until the user provides a
speech in another language. In this example, the user may enter the
following word "mere" (e.g. a French word) by pressing the
corresponding keys (e.g. may not need to provide a speech if the
user uses the predictive data entry method, and the system may use
the French database of words of the invention for entering the
word).
[0318] The user may, then, enter the last part "in French" by one
of the data entry systems of the invention. During providing the
key presses corresponding to the word "in", the user may inform the
system to automatically switch to the English mode by providing a
speech information in English language such as providing a speech
corresponding to at least one of the character of the word "in"
(e.g. saying the word, or saying at least one of the characters
such as "ay" of the word).
[0319] It is understood that other manual or automatic switching
methods may be considered. For example, based on a previous word of
a language entered/selected by the user, the system may consider
the following word as being a word of the language unless the user
provides an information (e.g. such as the ones just described) for
switching to another language.
[0320] According to one embodiment of the predictive data entry
systems of the invention, a symbol such as a character may be
considered by the system as being, either, as part-of-a-word of the
database (e.g. the symbol is considered as being part of the word
to be predicted by the word predicting procedure when its
corresponding key press is provided (e.g. predefined as with or
without speech) during a sequence of key presses for entering the
word), or it may be predefined to be considered as an out-of-a-word
symbol, or predefined as both.
[0321] A same symbol may be assigned to any predefined type of
interaction with, a first key or a second key, and being considered
as a part-of-a-word or an out-of-a-word symbol, respectively (e.g.
or vise versa).
[0322] A same symbol may be assigned a same key but to two
different types of information, wherein by providing a first type
of interaction with the key the system considers the symbol as
being a part-of-a-word symbol, and by providing a second type of
interaction with the key the system considers the symbol as being
an out-of-a-word symbol (e.g. or vise versa)
[0323] A same symbol may be assigned a same key and to a same type
of information but to two different predefined speech information,
wherein by providing the interaction with the key and providing a
first speech information the system considers the symbol as being a
part-of-a-word symbol, and wherein by providing the interaction
with the key and providing a second speech information the system
considers the symbol as being an out-of-a-word symbol (e.g. or vise
versa).
[0324] For example, the symbol "-", may be part of a word of the
database such as the word "semi-final", or it may be an
out-of-a-word character such as being used in a formula or as a
delimiter between two separate words (e.g. "single-double").
Predefined interaction such as predefined user's behavior (e.g.
type of key interaction, and/or speech information) may inform the
system of the nature of the symbol. For example, when entering the
word "semi-final" (e.g. a word within the database) the user may
press the corresponding keys without providing the speech
corresponding to the symbol "-" (e.g. in this example, not
providing a speech when for example, single-pressing the key the
character "-" may inform the system that the character
corresponding to the key press is part of the word to be predicted
by the system). On the other hand, for example, if the user speaks
the speech corresponding to the symbol "-", the system may consider
that as an out-of-the-word symbol and considers it as an
end-of-the-word-signal of the previous word. For example, in order
to enter the two words including the delimiter symbol
"single-double", the user may press the keys corresponding to the
word "single", then press the key corresponding to the delimiter
symbol and speak the symbol. The system understands that the spoken
symbol (e.g. punctuation mark) is not part of the previous word.
The system enters the word "single" and the delimiter "-", and
considers the next key presses (e.g. and the corresponding
speech(s)) as being part of the next word (e.g. "double", in this
example).
[0325] According to another example, when entering the word
"semi-final" (e.g. a word within the database) the user may press
the corresponding keys such that when the user presses the key
corresponding to the symbol "-", the user may provide the
predefined speech corresponding to said symbol (e.g. in this
example, providing a single-pressing action (e.g. with or without
speech) on the key corresponding to the character "-" may inform
the system that the character corresponding to said key pressing
action on said key is part of the word to be entered). Predefinely,
another pressing action on said key or another predefiend key (e.g.
predefinely, with or without providing a speech) to which the
character "-" is assigned, may inform the system that the character
provided by said interaction may not be considered by the (e.g.
predictive) system as being part of a word.
[0326] Based on principles as described, predefined by the
manufacturer or by the users, each of the symbols of the data entry
systems of the invention may be assigned to be, part of a word, or
out-of-a-word, or both, based on for example the type of
interaction provided by the user. As an additional example, a
portion-of-a-word of the invention such as the suffix "tion", may
be considered as part of a word and being assigned to a first type
of interaction such as a single or double pressing action on a
corresponding key and providing the speech corresponding to the
portion-of-a-word. Also for example, same portion-of-a-word of the
invention (e.g. the suffix "tion"), may be considered as an
out-of-a-word symbol and being assigned to a another type of
interaction such as a single or double gliding action on a
corresponding key and providing the speech corresponding to the
portion-of-a-word.
[0327] It must be noted that in some paragraphs of the applications
concerning the data entry systems of the invention such as the
predictive data entry systems of the invention, the term
end-of-a-word signal is used to describe an out-of-word
character.
[0328] Based on the principles described above, symbols such as
characters provided by other systems (e.g. and used with the word
predictive systems of the invention) such as the handwriting input
and recognition system, full keyboard, etc., may also predefinely
be either a part-of-a-word symbol, or an out-of-a-word symbol or,
or both
[0329] As mentioned before, in the predictive data entry system of
the invention, a symbol may be predefinely assigned to at least two
types of user's interaction wherein in one of the interactions the
symbol may be part of a word (e.g. being compared with the words of
the dictionary of words of the system) or it may be considered as
an out-of-a-word symbol. For example the letter "a" may be assigned
to a key and be inputted as being part of a word, by for example,
providing a corresponding pressing action on the corresponding key
without providing a speech. On the other hand, for example, the
same letter "a" may be considered as an out-of-a-word letter and be
entered by for example, providing a corresponding pressing action
on the corresponding key and speaking the letter.
[0330] As examples of the methods described, for example the letter
"a" may be assigned to a key and be inputted as being part of a
word, by for example, providing a predefined pressing action such
as a single pressing action on the corresponding key with[out] or
without providing a speech (e.g. speaking said letter may enter
said letter precisely, and not speaking said letter may inform the
system that said key pressing action is ambiguous and that may
correspond to any of the symbols including the letter "a", that are
assigned to said predefined interaction with said key). On the
other hand, for example, the same letter "a" may be considered as
an out-of-a-word letter and may be entered by for example,
providing another predefined interaction with the corresponding key
(e.g. gliding action, longer-time pressing action, pressing the key
strongly, pressing two keys such as a press-and-holding action on a
first key and pressing the corresponding key, etc.) with or without
speaking (e.g. according to one example, said letter may predefiney
be precisely entered by said interaction and speaking said letter.
According to another example, said letter may predefiney be the
only letter assigned to said key to be precisely entered by
providing said key interaction in the absence of speech. Although
in this examples entering a letter has been used to describe the
methods, preferably, the symbol to be assigned to a key for being
entered by providing said key interaction in the absence of speech
may be a symbol other than a letter, such as a punctuation mark
character or a command/function).
[0331] It is understood that the examples described may apply to
any kind of symbols of the data entry system of the invention such
as letters and punctuation mark characters.
[0332] As mentioned before, in the predictive data entry system of
the invention, an end-of-word signal may be used to inform the
system of the end of a sequence of key presses (e.g. and speech
information) corresponding to a word. For example, as mentioned,
according to one embodiment of the invention, the end-of-word
signal may be an out-of-word character or it may be a signal (e.g.
such as a predefined pressing action on a predefined key) without
providing any character. Also as mentioned, according to another
embodiment of the invention, the end-of-a-word signal may be a
character such as a letter that may be defined as being the
beginning character of a (e.g. next) word. These matters have been
already described in detail.
[0333] According to one embodiment of the invention, (e.g. in the
predictive data entry system of the invention) more than one shift
key may be considered to permit various types of information for
data entry. For example, a capital letter may be provided by
pressing (e.g. and holding) a first shift key and pressing another
key corresponding to the letter. According to different methods,
speaking the letter may inform the system that for example: [0334]
the letter may be capitalized and be predefined as an out-of-a-word
letter, or; [0335] the letter may be capitalized and may be
predefined to be considered as a beginning letter of a (e.g. next)
word, or; [0336] the letter may be capitalized and be considered as
part of the current word, or; [0337] etc. Also according to one
method, for example, not speaking the letter may inform the system
that the corresponding letter within the corresponding (e.g.
recognized) word may be capitalized.
[0338] Also for example, a second shift key may be considered to be
used with at least the portion-of-a-word data entry system of the
invention. For example, a portion-of-a-word may be provided by
pressing (e.g. and holding) the second shift key and pressing
another key corresponding to the portion-of-a-word and speaking a
predefined speech corresponding to the portion-of-a-word. Also for
example, pressing (e.g. and holding) the second shift key and
pressing another key without speaking may correspond to other type
of symbol such as the special character such as a punctuation mark
character or a function.
[0339] In devices having a sensitive surface such as touch screen,
other or additional input methods such as single or double gliding
actions (e.g. or a tapping plus a gliding action) (e.g. on a key)
(e.g. and the corresponding speech, if needed) may be provided for
the entry of corresponding data such as, for example, still more
variety of symbols. For example, instead of pressing (e.g. and
holding) a shift key and pressing another key corresponding to a
portion-of-a-word, a gliding action on a corresponding zone/key
corresponding to the portion and speaking a predefined speech
corresponding to the portion may be provided for the entry of the
portion.
[0340] As mentioned before, according to one embodiment of the
invention, the predictive data entry systems of the invention may
include the character data entry system of the invention and
portion-of-a-word data entry system of the invention. In some cases
(e.g. preferably, words having multiple syllables such as at least
three or four syllables) for less speech, a portion-of-a-word may
be entered by interacting with the corresponding key without
providing a speech. Based on the portion and the other portions or
characters of the word entered by the user, the system may
recognize the corresponding word.
[0341] According to one embodiment of the invention, based on the
principles of the predictive data entry systems of the invention, a
table of symbols wherein each symbol is predefined as being
part-of-a-word or being out-of-a-word, may be considered. Each of
the symbols may be assigned to at least one predefined type of
interaction with its corresponding key (e.g. interacting with such
as a press-and-holding action on a first key and providing a
predefined type of interaction with the corresponding key, may also
be considered as a type of interaction with the key) either in the
presence of a corresponding speech or in the absence of a speech
(e.g. or both). The table of symbols may be created or modified by
the manufacturer and/or by the user.
[0342] As mentioned before, according to one embodiment of the
invention, tapping on four different locations on a surface may
correspond to four keys used by the data entry systems of the
invention. According to one embodiment of the invention, tapping on
different locations on a surface may provide different
corresponding sounds or vibrations, etc. the system may recognize
each of the sounds and the corresponding predefined imaginary key
and use it by the data entry systems of the invention. This
principle may for example, be useful for data entry by tapping on
four different locations on the screen of a non touch sensitive
screen of a computer (e.g. combined with the corresponding speech
based on the principles of the data entry system of the invention).
According to another method, gliding on four different directions
on a surface to provide four different sounds (e.g. as described
before in different patent applications filed by this inventor such
as the PCT/US/01/49450 ("Stylus Computer" application) may also be
used for the same purpose. At least some of the inventions of the
PCT patent application may be combined/used with the combined data
entry systems of the invention. Some of the combinations are
described in detail this patent application.
[0343] As mentioned before, the data entry systems of the invention
may be combined with handwriting entry and recognition systems.
Also as mentioned before, for example, during the entry of a word
based on the predictive data entry systems of the invention,
instead of or in addition to using a key interaction and providing
a corresponding speech information for the entry of each of at
least one precise character such as a letter (e.g. or a portion of)
of a word, (e.g. for example, for being discrete) the
letter(s)/portion may be written (e.g. by the user) on the
corresponding input device such as for example, the sensitive input
surface of the electronic device. The information corresponding to
the other characters of the word may be pressing the corresponding
keys without speaking (e.g. based on the principles of the
predictive data entry systems of the invention). It is understood
that such data entry system may use any type of (e.g. reduced)
keyboards such as the ones described in the references incorporated
herein, filed by this inventor such as a dynamic keypad (e.g.
having at least four keys) of the invention.
[0344] (e.g. As described in the previous patent applications, a
dynamic keypad system duplicating (e.g. by finger, stylus, mouse,
etc.) the interactions (e.g. pressing action, gliding action, etc.)
with a (e.g. imaginary) predefined keypad model on a
none-predefined portion of a (touch-sensitive) surface. Procedure
of recognizing an interaction provided on a location on the surface
and relating the location to the corresponding key of the keypad
model, is based on recognizing the relationship between the
contacted location and other (e.g. the previous and/or the next)
different locations on the surface contacted by the user, relative
to the relationship between the locations of the keys of the
predefined keypad model relating to each other. These matters have
been described in detail in the patent applications.)
[0345] For example, by using a (e.g. dynamic) keypad (e.g. having
four keys) of the invention, the user may write a character of a
word (e.g. on for example the input panel of the handwriting
input/recognition system, or anywhere on the screen of a
corresponding data input surface), and use tapping/gliding
interactions (e.g. as described before), corresponding to/for the
entry of the other characters of the word. The system may easily
distinguish between the writing action and the tapping actions. In
this example dynamic keypad has been used to demonstrate the
principles of the embodiment of the invention. as mentioned, any
other keypad may be used with the embodiments of the invention.
[0346] According to one method, when writing and/or tapping actions
are permitted to use the same input surface (e.g. for example they
may use anywhere of a touch screen surface), writing/gliding
actions may correspond to handwriting input and tapping actions may
correspond to key pressing action). As an example, in order to
enter the word "book", the user may provide a first (e.g. precise)
information by writing the letter "b", (e.g. by the corresponding
stylus, or by his finger) on the touch screen of a tablet pc, and
then, provide a second (e.g. ambiguous) information by pressing the
(e.g. hard/soft/virtual/dynamic, etc.) key(s) corresponding to the
remaining characters "ook", of the corresponding keypad/keyboard
used with the system. As mentioned before, the user may write any
of one or more letters of a word, and provide the key presses
corresponding to the other letters of the word. According to
another example, the user may enter the word "book" by providing a
first (e.g. ambiguous) information by pressing the keys
corresponding to the beginning characters (e.g. "bo", in this
example) of the word, and then provide a second (e.g. precise)
information by writing the remaining letters, (e.g. "ok", in this
example) of the word on the surface of the electronic device.
Etc.
[0347] It must again be noted that any number of the systems,
methods, features, etc., of the data entry systems of the
inventions may be combined together to provide a specific data
entry system that may be used in a corresponding environment.
[0348] As mentioned before, each different type of input
information (e.g. for example, to provide information for the entry
of a word through the predictive data entry systems of the
invention) may be assigned to a different type of interaction with
the corresponding key. For example, entering an ambiguous letter in
lowercase may be assigned to a short single-pressing action on the
corresponding key without speaking, and entering the same letter in
uppercase, may be assigned to a longer-pressing action on the key
without speaking. Also for example, entering a precise letter in
lowercase may be assigned to a short single-pressing action on the
corresponding key and speaking the letter, and entering the same
precise letter in uppercase, may be assigned to a longer-pressing
action on the key and speaking the letter. Also for example,
entering a-portion-of-a-word may be assigned to a double-pressing
or a gliding action on the corresponding key (e.g. and providing
the corresponding speech). Also for example, entering one of at
least some of punctuation marks or functions or commands may be
assigned to press-and-holding a first (e.g. modifier/shift) key and
providing a pressing action on the corresponding key with/without
speaking. And so on.
[0349] It is understood that the interactions and assignments just
mentioned are used for demonstration only. Any (e.g. type of)
interaction, and assignment of (e.g. any type of) symbols to the
interaction may be considered based on principle described.
[0350] Different methods of correction of a non-desired word
proposed by the system corresponding to the predictive data entry
systems of the invention have been described before. Other methods
of correction may also be considered. For Example, when a
non-desired word is selected/pointed-to, according to one method if
the desired word begins with the same (beginning) letter as the
non-desired word, then the user may provide a predefined signal
such as pressing a predefined key without speaking. The system may
propose another word among the group of the words corresponding to
the same key presses as the non-desired word and that begins with
the same letter as the non-desired word and preferably has the next
highest priority among the words of the group of words that begin
with the letter. Also for example, if the desired word does not
begin with the same (beginning) letter as the non-desired word then
the user may provide a speech corresponding to (e.g. or write) the
beginning character of the desired word. The system may propose a
word among the group of words corresponding to the same key presses
as the non-desired word, and that begins with the letter that
corresponds to the user's speech (e.g. or written character) and
that preferably has the highest priority among the words of the
group of words that begin with the letter.
[0351] As an example corresponding to the above-mentioned method,
by considering the keypad 13900, FIG. 15 shows a table 13909
containing the words of a database of words of the system that
correspond to the sequence of key presses 13904, 13903, 13901 (e.g.
their key presses value is "431"). As described before, according
to one method, providing the sequence of key presses 13904, 13903,
13901, without speaking may correspond to the word "now" that has
the highest priority among those words. If the word is a
non-desired word that has been entered during a text, while the
word is selected/pointed-to, if the user for example presses a
predefined (e.g. correction) key without providing a speech, then
the system may propose the word "nvq" corresponding to the group of
words 13906 beginning with the letter "n", wherein the word has the
highest priority after the word "now" within the group. Also for
example, if the user provides a speech (e.g. along with pressing
the correction key) such as saying "d", the system may propose the
word "doe" that has the highest priority among the words of the
group of words 13905 that begin with the letter "d". An additional
pressing action on the correction key (e.g. without speaking) may
provide another word (e.g. "dye" in this example) of the group
13905, wherein the word has the highest priority after the word
"doe" within the group. Still another additional pressing action on
the correction key (e.g. without speaking) may provide another word
(e.g. "dow" in this example) of the group 13905, wherein the word
has the highest priority after the words "doe" and "dye" within the
group. And so on.
[0352] According to one method of correction, if the user proceeds
to correcting a non-desired word proposed by the system, and
presses for example the correction key and speaks the beginning
character of the desired word that has the same beginning character
as the non-desired word, then the system may propose a word among a
group of words that correspond to the same key presses as the
non-desired word and that begin with the character, wherein the
proposed word has the highest priority after the non-desired word
among the group of words.
[0353] According to another method of correction, if the user
proceeds to correcting a non-desired word proposed by the system,
and presses for example the correction key and speaks the beginning
character of the desired word that has the same beginning character
as the non-desired word, then the system may propose a word among a
group of words that correspond to the same key presses as the
non-desired word and that begin with the character, wherein the
proposed word has the highest priority among the group of words
(e.g. if the none-desired word has the highest priority among the
group of words, then the system may re-propose the word.
[0354] According of one method of correction, in some cases the
correction procedure may additionally provide a space character.
For example, if immediately after the entry to the information
(e.g. key presses, and if needed speech) corresponding to a word
and before entering an end-of-the-word signal such as a space
character, the user desires to correct the current proposed word,
he may provide a pre-defined signal such pressing a space key or a
correction key and speak the corresponding speech (e.g. speaking
the beginning letter of the desired word). The system may replace
the word accordingly and may provide a space character after the
word.
[0355] It is understood that the instead of the above-mentioned
correction method, the user may use any other correction methods
such as the ones described earlier such as speaking part or all of
the letters of the word.
[0356] According to one embodiment of the invention, the system may
automatically learn the user's texting habits of a user and provide
corresponding priorities to the words used by the user based on the
frequency of use to the words by the user.
[0357] As mentioned before, in order to enter a letter, the user
may press a key to which the letter is assigned and provide a
speech corresponding to the letter (e.g. speak the letter).
According to one embodiment, for example, if the letter is a
consonant, the speech may be pronouncing the phoneme of the
consonant followed by at least a vowel phoneme. According to one
method, the vowel phoneme may be at least any of the vowel phonemes
of a language. For example, letter "t" may be entered by pressing
the corresponding key and saying at least one of the following
combinations: [0358] "ta" (e.g. corresponding to the speech of the
beginning of the word "tap" [0359] "te" (e.g. corresponding to the
speech of the beginning of the word "test") [0360] "t e" (e.g.
corresponding to the speech of the beginning of the word "tee")
[0361] "to" (e.g. corresponding to the speech of the beginning of
the word "told) [0362] "tu" (e.g. corresponding to the speech of
the beginning of the word "tune") [0363] "t" (e.g. corresponding to
the speech of the beginning of the word "ride")
[0364] This method may be used with the combined (e.g. including
predictive) data entry systems of the invention. For example, in
order to enter the word "test", the user may press the key
corresponding to the letter "t", and say "teh" (corresponding to
the vowel of the corresponding (e.g. first) syllable of the word),
and press the keys corresponding to the remaining characters of the
word without speaking. Also for example, in order to enter the word
"told", the user may press the key corresponding to the letter "t",
and say "toh", and press the keys corresponding to the remaining
characters of the word without speaking. For some users this may be
more user friendly than saying the letter (e.g. saying "ti"). It is
understood that as mentioned before, the user may provide more than
the consonant and the following vowel. For example, the user may
pronounce the first consonant, the following vowel, and the
following consonant, of the corresponding word. Theses matters have
already been described in detail in the references incorporated
herein, filed by this inventor.
[0365] It must be noted that as described before, instead of user's
speech, other user interactions may be combined with user's key
interaction. Letter entry based on user's thinking is experimented
in the laboratories. For example, although it is not yet realized,
to enter a symbol such as a letter, the user may press the
corresponding letter and think about the letter. The symbols may be
distributed on the keys of the corresponding keypad such that to
augment the accuracy of the data entry.
[0366] As mentioned before, in addition to or in replacement of the
user's speech, other systems of inputting precise characters such
as a letter, may be used with the predictive data entry systems
(e.g. using few keys such as four keys to which substantially all
of the letters of a language are assigned) of the invention. Also
as mentioned, in additional to interacting with input means of the
system that provide input signals that correspond to ambiguous
characters (corresponding to a group of characters), the data entry
systems of the invention may use the provided other input signals
that correspond to providing precise characters, such as
interacting with a virtual or physical keyboard (e.g. using a
QWERTY type keyboard in addition to the ambiguous four keys of the
system), handwriting input and recognition methods (e.g. to input
precise characters), etc.
[0367] FIGS. 16a shows as an example, a multi-directional keypad
having four keys to which the letters of a language are assigned
(e.g. as shown on each key). For example, pressing in the center of
the keys may correspond to ambiguously entering one of the letters
assigned to the key. A sequence of such key presses corresponding
to a desired word may be considered by the predictive data entry
system to provide at least one corresponding word. On the other
hand, a pressing action on a character such as a letter (e.g.
letter zone) on a key may precisely input the character. For
example, by considering the keypad 14000 of FIG. 16a, the sequence
of the pressing actions (e.g. on the center) of the keys 14002,
14001, 14003, 14002, may correspond to the words "test", and
"best". The word "best" generally may have higher frequency of use.
Therefore the system may propose the word as the result of the
pressing actions. In this example, if the user desires to enter the
word "test", he may first press on the (e.g. zone of) the letter
"t" 14005 of the key 14002, and the press on the centers of the
keys 14001, 14003, 14002. The system understands that the word
corresponding to the sequence of key presses on the keys 14002,
14001, 14003, 14002, begins with the letter "t". Therefore in this
example, the word "test" may be proposed by the system.
[0368] FIG. 16b shows as an as example, a keypad 14010 having touch
sensitive keys to duplicates the functionalities of the
multi-directional keypad 14000 by touching on the corresponding
zones of the keys of the keypad 14010. In this example, according
to another method of input, pressing actions on any zone on a key
of the keypad 14010 may correspond to an ambiguous character on the
key, and a gliding action on a key toward or on for example, a
character (e.g. printed) on the key may correspond to the (e.g.
precise) character on the key.
[0369] Based on principles of symbol assignments to few keys, of
the data (e.g. combined) data entry systems of the invention, any
of the special characters such as numbers, punctuation mark
characters, commands, functions, etc., may be assigned to
predefined interactions with the keys (e.g. or additional keys)
with or without providing speech.
[0370] Single letters/characters may also have priorities relating
to each other in the predictive data entry system of the invention.
For example, (e.g. by considering the English language) letters
"a", and "i" may obviously have higher frequency-of-use/priority
relating to the other English letters. For example, by considering
the keypad 14000 of FIG. 16a, letters "m", "a", "s", and "i", may
have the highest priority relating to the other letters of their
respective corresponding keys 14001, 14002, 14003, 14004. A user
may benefit of the priority assignments to the letters to enter
some words based on providing key presses only that otherwise would
require some amount of speech. For example, by considering the
keypad 14000, if the user desires to enter the word "as" by
pressing (e.g. on the center of) the corresponding keys 14002,
14003, without speaking, the system may propose the word "to" that
corresponds to the same sequence of key presses but has higher
frequency of use/priority. In order to enter the word "as" without
speaking the user may press the key 14002 corresponding to the
letter "a", then provide an-end-of-the-word signal (e.g. by
pressing a corresponding key) that does not provide (any character
such as) a space character, and then press the key 14003
corresponding to the letter "s". In this example, letter "a" has
the highest priority among the letters assigned to the (e.g. single
pressing action on) the key 14002. The system proposes the letter.
By providing the end-of-the-word signal the system keeps the letter
and knows that the next key press for entering a word corresponds
to the entry of the next/another word. In this example, letter "s"
has the highest priority among the letters that are assigned to the
(e.g. single pressing action on) the key 14003. By pressing the key
14003 without speaking the system proposes the character "s" and
prints it immediately after the letter "a" to provide the word
"as".
[0371] Using handwriting input and recognition system with the
(e.g. predictive) data entry systems of the invention has already
been described (e.g. by interacting with the keypad of the system,
and writing precise characters on a surface to for example helping
the predictive system of the invention to more accurately predict
the words). According to one embodiment of the invention, the user
may write a character such as a letter on the (e.g.
sensitive/virtual) key/zone of the keypad of the system
corresponding to the letter. The handwriting recognition system may
match the user's written letter to one of the characters that are
assigned to the key/zone. Therefore, the processing time may be
reduced, and the accuracy of the recognition may be augmented.
[0372] The handwriting input may be performed by writing with a
means such as a stylus or user's finger on a surface. According to
one embodiment of the invention, when using the split version of
the keypad of the system (e.g. located on opposite sides of a
device having touch sensitive surface), the user may press the keys
with the corresponding thumbs and if needed write with his finger
(e.g. thumb, forefinger, etc.) on the surface to provide precise
characters that may be used with the (e.g. predictive) data entry
systems of the invention (e.g. entering a word through the
predictive data entry system by providing a first type of
information consisting of inputting precisely at least one of the
characters of the word by handwriting entry/recognition system and
providing at least a second type of information consisting of
providing the (e.g. ambiguous) key presses corresponding to at east
some of the remaining characters of the word, has been described in
detail before).
[0373] As mentioned before, the data entry systems of the invention
may be used with any application or devices. One of the popular
devices is iPOD music/media player. The device has a content search
means that consists of scrolling a menu by circular gliding actions
on a circular touch sensitive surface. When the list of contents is
long, the procedure becomes time consuming. The data entry systems
of the invention may either replace the searching (e.g. and
selecting) procedure, or it may help to make it faster. For
example, the user may enter one or more (e.g. beginning) characters
corresponding to the desired content (e.g. song, singer, or both,
etc.). The pop-up menu of the device may present to the user the
(e.g. reduced number of) contents accordingly, and the user may
search within the reduced list by using the (e.g. circular) content
search means of the device.
[0374] The use of the movements such as the body movements of the
user (e.g. such as the lips of the user to provide speech
corresponding to user's key presses) with the data entry systems of
the invention have been described before. The movements may be used
with the predictive data entry systems of the invention to reduce
the amount of speech by voice to be provided by the user.
[0375] According to one embodiment of the invention, a movement
sensing means may be used with (e.g. predictive) data entry systems
of the invention during the entry of a word or when providing the
correction procedure of the invention in to inform the system that
the user desires to switch to the next word in the list of words
corresponding to the user's (e.g. sequence of key press, and/or
speech) information. For example, the movement sensing means may
include a camera that detects the user's body movements such as his
lips movements. For example, by considering the keypad 14000 of
FIG. 16a, the sequence of the key pressing actions (e.g. on the
center) of the keys 14002, 14001, 14003, 14002, may correspond to
the words "test", and "best". The word "best" generally may have
higher frequency of use. Therefore the system may propose the word
as the result of the pressing actions. In this example, if the user
desires to enter the word "test", for example, while pressing the
corresponding keys, the user may provide (e.g. without providing
voice) lip movement actions (e.g. for example by saying the letter
"t", or "next", or etc.). The camera of the corresponding device
may detect the movements and the system may understands that the
user desires the next word in the list (e.g. having the second
highest priority/frequency of use) after the one (e.g. "best") that
the system would normally propose if the lip movements were not
provided by the user. This system is different than the lip reading
and recognizing system. In this embodiment the system does not have
to recognize what user says, it only detects if there was a
movement. It is understood that other user's interactions and
corresponding detecting means may be used for the same purpose. For
example, instead of a camera a heat sensing means may be used to
detect the user speaking. According to another embodiment the
detecting means of the movement provided by the user may be a
movement sensing means provided within the corresponding device
such as a cellphone. Instead of lip movements, the user may provide
a predefined movement with the device when providing the
corresponding sequence of key presses.
[0376] As mentioned before, in order to augment the accuracy of the
system, to some of the symbols having ambiguously resembling speech
relating to the other symbols (e.g. on a key) a different speech
may be assigned such that the symbols may be distinguishable from
the other symbols. For example, to better distinguish the speech of
the letter "m" (e.g. pronounced "em") from the speech of the letter
"n" (e.g. pronounced "en"), instead of or in addition to the
standard speech of the letter "m", another speech such as "ma" may
be assigned to the letter "m" so that to be distinguishable from
the speech of the letter "n".
[0377] As described before in detail, the data entry systems of the
invention may use a keypad having few keys such as a keypad having
at least six keys wherein to six of its keys substantially all of
the letters of a language are assigned. The assignment of the
letters to the keys may be such that to duplicate the order of a
QWERTY keyboard. For example, as shown in FIG. 17, a group of six
keys (e.g. 3 rows 14117-14119 by 2 columns 14111-14112) of a
reduced keyboard 14110 may be used to duplicate the QWERTY
arrangement of a PC keyboard 14100 (e.g. duplicating imaginary,
rows 14107-14109 by columns 14101-14102 comprising alphabetical
characters of the keyboards 14100). As an example, the upper left
key 14113 may contain the letters "QWERT", corresponding to the
letters situated on the keys of the left side 14101 of the upper
row 14107 of the PC keyboard 14100. The Other keys of the group of
six keys follow the same principles and contain the corresponding
letters situated on the keys of the corresponding row-and-side of
the PC keyboard 14100.
[0378] A skilled user of a QWERTY keyboard usually knows exactly
the location of each letter on the keyboard. A motor reflex permits
him to type quickly on a QWERTY keyboard. Duplicating a QWERTY
arrangement on six keys as described here-above, permits the user
to touch-type (fast typing) on a keyboard having reduced number of
keys. The user may, for example, use the thumbs of both hands (left
thumb for left column, right thumb for right column) for data
entry. This reminds typing on a PC keyboard permitting fast data
entry. As mentioned before, as an example, each of the columns of
keys may be situated on opposite sides of an electronic device and
be used with the data entry systems of the invention.
[0379] It is understood that the left side and right side
characters definition of a keyboard described in the example above
is shown only as an example. The definition may be reconsidered
according to user's habitudes. For example, the letter "G" may be
considered as belonging to the right side rather than left
side.
[0380] To augment the accuracy of the system, as mentioned before,
customized speech may be assigned to at least some of the letters
(e. g. on different keys or on a same key) having ambiguously
resembling speech relating to each other (e.g. letters "m" and "n"
of a telephone keypad or on the keypad 14110 of FIG. 17), so that
to distinguish them from each other. For example, to letter "m"
(e.g. appellation "em") another appellation (e.g. speech) such as
"ma" may be assigned so that to distinguish it from the letter "n"
(e.g. appellation "en").
[0381] With continuous reference to the example of FIG. 17, same
principle may be applied to distinguish other characters having
ambiguously resembling speech from each other such as "i, y", ",
f", "d, g", "j, k", "z, c", etc.
[0382] It is understood that the keypad, key configuration, symbols
such as letter assignment to the keys of the keypad, customized
appellation of the symbols, etc., have been described and shown as
examples. Other keypad, key configuration, symbols such as letter
assignment to the keys of the keypad, customized appellation of the
symbols, etc., may be considered by people skilled in the art. For
example, the keypad may be in alphabetical order and the symbol
such as letter assignment may be such that for example, to a letter
two or more customized speeches (e.g. in addition to its standard
speech) may be assigned.
[0383] Dialing by name has been described in the references
incorporated herein, filed by this inventor. Dialing by name may
cause ambiguity such as for example two different person may have
the same name. According to one embodiment of the invention, when
attempting to provide a call, a call forwarding/switching center,
an operator, service provider, etc., may (e.g. upon request) use a
database or acquire information on the fly, to provide information
about a to-be-called party to the user/caller. For example, when a
user performs a call based on a user's name the central may provide
information about the to-be-called party such as his/its address,
picture, a predefined phrase, a request of password, etc., so that
the user may assure that the system will call the right party. The
to-be-called party may be a person, a company, an organization,
etc. The information about the to-be-called parties may be provided
by themselves and/or by a third party, on the fly or through a
database used by the call forwarding center. For example, in
addition to his address, a person may provide his picture, his
preferred song, or other information to the call forwarding center
so that at least part of the information may be transmitted to a
caller calling the person, so that the caller may verify the
authenticity of the to-be-called party based on the information and
based on that confirm or cancel the call. It must be noted that the
information provided to the user may be vocal or it may be
displayed on the display of the user's electronic device (e.g.
telephone).
[0384] As mentioned before, when using the predictive data entry
systems of the invention using few keys and speech for entering a
word, instead of or in addition to using the speech. at least one
of the letters of the word may precisely be entered by using other
data entry means or methods such as a handwriting (and recognition)
system, or a keyboard (e.g. mechanical, virtual, etc.) wherein a
predefined pressing action on a key (e.g. in some cases more than
one key) of the keyboard (e.g. standard QWERTY keyboard) generally
corresponds to a single character or function. These matters have
already been described before. It is understood that as mentioned
previously, the other input means or methods may have different
forms. For example, the keyboard may be an on-screen keyboard
having a standard PC keyboard form, a circular form, split in two
half-circular portions or in two quarter circular portions on the
opposite sides of the (e.g. touch screen of) the device, etc.
[0385] As an another example, FIG. 18, shows an electronic device
14200 such a Tablet PC having a touch screen display. A predictive
data entry system of the invention using few keys (e.g. in this
example, mechanical keys split into two groups 14205 and 14206) is
integrated within the device. As an example and as described
before, to four of the keys 14201, 14202, 14203, 14204, (e.g.
duplicating, respectively, the keys 14211, 14212, 14213, 14214, of
the keypad model 14210) substantially all of the letters of a
language may be assigned such that each of the four keys
ambiguously represents any letter of the group of letters that are
assigned to the (e.g. corresponding) key (e.g. assignment of
letters of a language to few keys such as four keys and using the
keys with the predictive data entry systems of the invention has
already been described in detail). In this example, in addition to
the few mechanical keys, an on-screen keyboard (e.g. being split
into two portions 14207, 14208) providing precise letters (e.g. as
described above), is available with the (e.g. predictive) data
entry system of the invention. As and example, the on-screen
keyboard may be used to enter precisely one or more letters of a
word during the entry of the word through the predictive data entry
systems of the invention. For example, in order to enter the word
"day", the user may first press the key 14209 of the on-screen
keyboard to precisely enter the letter "d". The user may then press
the ambiguous keys 14202 and 14203 corresponding to the letters
"a", and "y". Based on the information provided, the system
provides the word "day", having the highest priority among the
words corresponding to the input information (e.g. in this example,
pressing the sequence of ambiguous keys 14204. 14202, 14203, may
correspond to the word "its" having higher priority than the word
"day").
[0386] In must be noted that the examples shown above are used for
demonstration purpose only. It is understood that as mentioned
previously, other input means (e.g. having different forms) may be
used to enter the precise characters (e.g. letters) or
functions.
[0387] As described in the references incorporated herein, filed by
this inventor, an external (e.g. mobile) keypad having few keys
(e.g. mechanical, virtual, etc.) and some of other components such
as microphone, camera, mouse, etc., may be manufactured to be used
with the data entry systems of the invention.
[0388] According to one embodiment of the invention, the external
keypad may be a detachable/attachable keypad designed such that
(e.g. when it is not in use) it may be attached to or accommodated
within a corresponding device. For example, the keypad may have a
flat shape so that to be attached to an exterior surface of a
corresponding device, or it may be designed to have a PCMCIA card
form such that to be slideable within the PCMCIA slot of the
device. The keypad may be connected, wirelessly or by wires, to the
corresponding device.
[0389] According to one embodiment the external keypad may contain
a battery that may be rechargeable so that when the keypad is
attached to (e.g. slided within the PCMCIA slot, hooked within be
USB port, etc.) its corresponding device, the battery may be
charged through the device.
[0390] It is understood that the keypad may have any other shape,
and may be attached by any other means to its corresponding device,
and may use any other means to be recharged. For example, the
keypad may have a credit card size.
[0391] As mentioned before, a word that at least a portion of it
exists in the dictionary of words of the system may be entered
through the combined data entry systems of the invention. According
to one embodiment of the invention, to enter the word, the user may
provide a predefined separating input signal (e.g. such as a
predefined interaction with one or more predefined key(s)) between
the entry of the input information (e.g. the key presses, and
speech if being provided) corresponding to two consecutive portions
of the word so that to inform the system of the
end-of-the-entry-of-the-previous-portion and/or the
beginning-of-the-entry-of-the-following-portion of the word. In
this case, during the process of the input (e.g. the key presses,
and probably speech if required/desired) information (e.g.
eventually, including the search procedure if the word predictive
system of the invention is used) corresponding to the following
portion of the word, the system may not consider the input
information (e.g. the key presses and speech) corresponding to the
portion(s) prior to the following portion of the word.
[0392] It is understood that a word may be combine one of more
portions wherein each of the portions being an entry (e.g. an item
such an word, a portion-of-a-word) of the dictionary of words of
the system and/or one or more portions that are not an entry (e.g.
are not included within) the dictionary of words of the system. It
must be noted that a word may arbitrarily being divided into
different portions by the user.
[0393] As an example for one of the possibilities of a compound
word just described, when entering a word (e.g. the word "pcboard"
that may be divided into two portions "pc" and "board") at the end
of the entry of a sequence of single characters (e.g. characters by
character data entry system of the invention for entering the
letters "p" and "c", in this example), the user may enter the
separating input signal so that to inform the system that when the
user enters a new portion (e.g. the portion/word "board", in this
example that may be entered by the predictive data entry system of
the invention) of the word, the system may not consider the
previous portion(s) (e.g. the sequence of single characters, in
this example) in the search procedure. It is understood that the
compound word (e.g. "handheld") may be comprised of at least two
consecutive portions (e.g. words/portions) (e.g. "hand" and "held")
that may be included within the dictionary of words of the system.
In this case, for example, both portions may be entered by the
predictive data entry system of the invention wherein at the end of
the entry of the first portion of the two portions the separating
input signal may be provided.
[0394] As described before, when using the predictive data entry
system of the invention to enter a word, according to a first
search-and-select procedure, during providing user's input
information (e.g. key presses, and speech if provided), for each
instance of input information (e.g. each consecutive key press, and
corresponding speech if provided) the system may provide (e.g. show
to the user) the word having the highest priority among the words
of the database of words of the system that the entire chain of
characters of each of the words correspond to the input information
provided until that instance. As an example, by considering the
keypad 14300 of FIG. 19a, if the user attempts to enter the word
"forget" (e.g. in this example, without providing speech), he may
press the keys 14302, 14303, 14302, 14303, 14301, 14302. Table
14309 shows, as example a database of words of the system. Table
14305 shows, as example, six words 14306 of the database of words
of the system corresponding to six instances of input information
consisting of providing consecutive key presses (e.g. 1.sup.st key
press, 1.sup.st and 2.sup.nd key presses, 1.sup.st and 2.sup.nd and
3.sup.rd key presses etc.) provided without speaking during the
entry of the word "forget". This method of searching, selecting,
and presenting a word, has already been described detail.
[0395] It must be noted that, as mentioned previously, according to
one method, at each instance of input information, if the word
predictive system of the invention does not find a word wherein all
of its characters correspond to the user's input information (e.g.
key presses, and speech if any is provided), then the system may
look for longer words of the database wherein their beginning
characters correspond to the input information and generally may
propose (e.g. at least) the corresponding beginning characters of
the word having the highest priority among the words that their
beginning characters correspond to the input information. If the
system does not find any longer word wherein its beginning
characters correspond to the input information, then, depending on
the predefined architecture of the system, it may for example add a
predefined character (e.g. for example, corresponding to the last
key press, and the speech if being provided) at the end of the last
chain of characters (e.g. or word) (e.g. corresponding to the
previous instance of the input information provided for the entry
of the word) proposed to the user.
[0396] Also, as mentioned previously, according to a second
search-and-select procedure, in order to reduce the fluctuation of
the display unit during providing user's input information (e.g.
key presses, and speech if any is provided), for each instance of
input information (e.g. each consecutive key press, and the speech
if any is provided) the system may provide (e.g. show to the user)
at least the (e.g. corresponding) beginning characters of the word
(e.g. if designed so, the system may also show the remaining
characters of the word. To separate the remaining characters from
the beginning characters, the system may print them distinctively
by for example, placing them after a cursor or printing them in
another color) having the highest priority among the words of the
database of the system that at least the beginning characters of
the words correspond to the (e.g. instance of) input information
(e.g. input information corresponding to the word, provided until
that moment). As an example, by considering the keypad 14300 of
FIG. 19a, if the user attempts to enter the word "forget" (e.g. in
this example, without providing speech), he may press the keys
14302, 14303, 14302, 14303, 14301, 14302. Table 14307 shows, as
example, six chains of characters 14308 corresponding to six
instances of input information consisting of providing consecutive
key presses (e.g. 1.sup.st key press, 1.sup.st and 2.sup.nd key
presses, 1.sup.st and 2.sup.nd and 3.sup.rd key presses etc.) (e.g.
in this example, without speaking) during the entry of the word
"forget" wherein each of the words has the highest priority (e.g.
highest frequency of use) among the words of the database of words
of the system that at least the beginning characters of the words
correspond to the same corresponding instance of input information
(e.g. in this examples sequence of key presses provided without
speaking) provided during the entry of the word "forget". According
to this procedure, as an example, when the user presses the first
key 14302, the system may display the letter "a" of the word "and"
having the highest frequency of use among the words of the database
of words 14309 of the system that begin with a letter corresponding
to the first key press provided by the user. The user, then, may
press the second key 14303. The system may propose the chain of
letters "to" corresponding to at least the beginning characters
(e.g. in this case, all of the characters) of the corresponding
word "to" having the highest frequency of use among the words of
the database of words 14309 of the system that begin with the
letters corresponding to the first and second key presses provided
by the user. The user, then, may press the second key 14302. The
system may propose the chain of letters "for" corresponding to at
least the beginning characters (e.g. in this case, all of the
characters) of the corresponding word "for" having the highest
frequency of use among the words of the database of words 14309 of
the system that begin with the letters corresponding to the first
and second and third key presses provided by the user. The user may
then press the fourth key 14302. The system may add the letter "g"
to the chain of letter "for" already displayed (e.g. the display
does not fluctuate) to provide the chain of letters "forg"
corresponding to the beginning characters of the word "forget"
having the highest frequency of use among the words of the database
of the database of words of the system that begin with the letters
corresponding to the key presses provided to the user. The user,
may then press the fifth key 14301. The system may add the letter
"e" to the chain of letter "forg" already displayed to provide the
chain of letters "forge" (e.g. the display does not fluctuate)
corresponding to the (e.g. beginning characters of the) word
"forget" having the highest frequency of use among the words of the
database of the database of words of the system that begin with the
letters corresponding to the key presses provided by the user. The
user, may then press the sixth key 14302. The system may add the
letter "t" to the chain of letter "forge" already displayed (e.g.
the display does not fluctuate) to provide the word "forget" having
the highest frequency of use among the words of the database of
words of system corresponding to the key presses provided to the
user.
[0397] As shown, by comparing the proposed chain of characters
14306, 14308, provided during the entry of the word "forget" by
each of the search-and-select procedures, it may be noticed that
the display unit may have less fluctuations when using the second
search-and-select procedure.
[0398] According to one embodiment of the invention, the first and
second procedures may be combined to provide an efficient third
procedure that may provide the search results of both procedures to
the user. At each instance of input information for entering a
word, showing both, the word with highest priority among the words
that all of their characters correspond to the input information
provided by the user until that moment and the word with highest
priority among the words that their beginning characters correspond
to the input information provided by the user until that moment,
may help the user to provide an easier, faster, and more accurate
data entry (e.g. as explained before, if the first procedure does
not find a corresponding word, it may print/propose the
corresponding beginning characters of the word proposed by the
second procedure).
[0399] As an example, FIG. 19b shows a database of words 14319 of
the invention. By considering the keypad 14309 of FIG. 19a, in
order to enter the word "informative" (e.g. in this example, by
providing key presses, without speaking), after pressing the keys
corresponding to the first four beginning characters of the word,
based on the first procedure (e.g. as shows in step 4), the system
may propose a first word (e.g. the word "into") 14311 by inserting
it in the line of text 14315 on the screen 14310, and preferably
simultaneously, based on the second procedure the system may also
propose a second word (e.g. the word "information") 14312 as an
alternative by for example printing it under the first word (e.g.
"into"). In addition to the cursor 14314 positioned at the end of
the first word 14311, a cursor 14313 may automatically be placed
within the corresponding position of the second word 14312. To
continue, the user may have different choices such as using one of
the following methods: [0400] 1) pressing the key corresponding to
the next character (e.g. "r") of the desired word (e.g.
"informative"). Or [0401] 2) providing a predefined input signal
such as a predefined pressing action on a predefined key to replace
the word "into" by the word "information" within the line of text
14315. Or [0402] 3) providing a predefined input signal such as a
predefined pressing action on a predefined key to replace the first
word (e.g. "into") having N characters that is proposed by the
first procedure, by N+1 beginning characters (e.g. "infor") of the
second word (e.g. "information") proposed by the second procedure.
This may permit to enter precise letters of at least the beginning
of the desired word without the need of pressing the keys
corresponding to the letters. Obviously, each additional the
predefined input signal (e.g. the pressing action on the predefined
key) may add a character same as the following character/letter of
the second word to the N+1 characters. Or [0403] 4) providing a
predefined input signal such as a predefined pressing action on a
predefined key to replace the first word (e.g. "into"), by the
longest chain of beginning characters (e.g. "informati") of the
second word (e.g. "information") proposed by the second procedure,
wherein the chain of characters is the beginning characters of all
of the words of the database of words of the invention that
correspond to the same sequence of key presses corresponding to the
chain of characters.
[0404] In this example, by for example using one of the
above-mentioned methods 3, or 4, the user may replace the word
"into" by the chain of characters "informati" (e.g. see step 5).
The user, then (e.g. see step 6), may, for example, press the key
14304 corresponding to the letter "v". Based on the word predictive
system of the invention, the system may add the letter "v" to the
end of the chain of characters "informati" to provide "informativ"
as the first choice, and, obviously may print the word
"informative" (e.g. in this example, the combined input signals
providing the beginning characters of the word proposed as the
first choice correspond to two words "informative" and
"informatively", wherein the word "informative" has higher
priority) as the second choice by the second procedure. The user,
then (see step 7), may press the key 14301 corresponding to the
letter "e". Based on the word predictive system of the invention,
the system may add the letter "e" to the first chain of characters
"informativ" to provide the word "informative" as the first
proposed word. At this step, the system may also provide the word
"informatively" (e.g. the combined input signals providing the word
"informative" as the first choice may correspond to the beginning
characters of only one word, "informatively"), by the second
procedure. The user may provide an end-of-the-word signal such as
providing a space character to terminate the entry of the desired
word, "informative".
[0405] It must again be noted that for better accuracy and having
still less display fluctuations, during the entry of a word the
user may also provide corresponding speech information based on the
principles of (e.g. press-and-speak) the data entry systems of the
invention. As an example, and for comparison purpose, FIG. 19c
shows the steps of the entry of the word "informative" by providing
input information (e.g. key presses) without speaking (e.g. such as
described above) and FIG. 19d shows the steps of the entry of the
same word, "informative", by providing input information (e.g. key
presses) wherein at the step 3 in addition to the key press
corresponding to the letter "f", the user speaks the letter. By
considering the input information, the system may provide the word
"udf" by the first procedure, and also propose the word
"information" by the second procedure at this step (e.g. in this
example, the word information is proposed at an earlier step by the
second procedure, comparing to the entry of the same word by the
example of FIG. 19c).
[0406] As mentioned before, when using the predictive data entry
systems of the invention, a user may modify a word during the entry
of an end-of-a-word signal such as a space character. For this
purpose, when for example, pressing the space key, the user may
speak at least one of the characters (e.g. such as a letter) of the
word. The at least one spoken character may be any of the
characters of the word. For example, in order to enter the words
"this way" by using the keypad 14300 of FIG. 19a, the user may
first press the keys 14302, 14301, 14304, 14303 (e.g. respectively,
corresponding to the letters of the word "this"), without speaking.
The system may not detect any speech during the entry (e.g.
providing the key presses corresponding to the letters) of the
word, therefore, the system may provide the word (e.g. "this")
having the highest priority among the words of the database,
corresponding to the key presses only (e.g. provided in the absence
of speech). At the end of the entry of the word, the user may press
the "Space" key without speaking to provide a space character after
the word. The user, then, may proceed to the entry of the word
"way" by, for example, pressing the keys corresponding to the (e.g.
chain of) letters "wa" without speaking, and presses the
corresponding to the letter "y" and speaks the letter. The key
presses and speech information provided by the user may correspond
to at least two words "may" and "way", of the database of word of
the system. The system may output the word "may" having the highest
priory among the words corresponding to the user's input
information (e.g. key presses and speech provided by the user for
entering the word). Different methods of correction have been
described in detail before. According to one method of the
invention, at the end of the entry of the word, if the word
proposed by the system is not the one desired by the user, while
(e.g. preferably) providing a predefined signal such as pressing
the "Space" key, the user may speak (e.g. at least) one of the
letters of the word as additional input information corresponding
to the word. By considering (e.g. preferably, all of) the input
information already provided, and the additional information, the
system may provide a new search process and provide a new result.
In this example, (e.g. preferably) while pressing the "Space" key,
the user may say the letter "w". By considering the information
already provided (e.g. resulting the word "may") and the speech of
the letter "w" (e.g. corresponding to the key 14301), the system
may (e.g. by replacing the letter "m" in the word "may") provide
the word "way" (e.g. in this example, the letter "w" may not
replace the letter "y", because the letter "y" was, already,
precisely been entered by pressing its corresponding key and
speaking the letter "y"). It is understood that in this example,
along with modification, the system may provide a space character
after the word. In another example, in order to enter the word
"no", if the user presses the keys 14304, 14303, without speaking,
the system may provide the word "is" corresponding to the input
information and having the highest corresponding priority. The user
may then press the "Space" key and say one of the letters (e.g.
"n") of the desired word, "no". The system may provide the word
"no" that corresponds to the combined (e.g. initial key presses,
and the additional speech) information provided by the user. Still
in another example, in order to with the word "ok", the user may
provide key presses 14303, 14303 without speaking. The system may
provide the word "so" having the highest priority. The user may
then press the "Space" key and for example say the letter "k". In
this example, the letter corresponds to two (e.g. both) key
presses. The system may consider words of the dictionary
corresponding to the key presses and that at least one of the
letters of each of the words (e.g. in the location corresponding to
the key press corresponding to the letter "k") contains the letter
"k", and provides the word having the highest priority. In this
example, the word "ok" may be provided.
[0407] It must be noted that the correction procedures of the
invention may be performed during (e.g. in the middle of) the entry
of a word. For example, if during (e.g. in the middle of) the entry
of a word, (e.g. predefinely, with/without providing a correction
signal) the user provides a speech information, the speech
information may correspond to a predefined key press information
provided for the entry of the word before providing the speech
information. I must be noted that according to one method, the
speech information may be predefined to correspond to a key press
that may be provided after providing the speech information.
[0408] Still it must again be noted that although in many cases key
presses without speaking may be enough for the entry of a desired
word, according to the principles of the word predictive data entry
systems of the invention, the screen of the device may propose
different words during providing the key presses. In order to
reduce or even sometimes eliminate the screen fluctuation (e.g.
specially, for long words), during the input of the key presses
corresponding to a word, the user may provide the speech
information corresponding to least some of the (e.g. preferably,
the beginning) characters/letters of the word so that to enter the
characters precisely. This may significantly reduce the screen
fluctuation. For example, by using the keypad 14300 of FIG. 19a,
during the entry of the words "for" by key presses only, the system
may propose the chains of characters "a", "to", "for". For example,
if during the first key pressing action, the user would also have
spoken the letter "f", the system would have proposed the chains of
characters "f", "fo", "for" (e.g. no screen fluctuation in this
example).
[0409] As mentioned before, during the entry of a word through the
word predictive data entry systems (e.g. of the invention), at an
instance of input information, (e.g. key pressing action, and
speech information if required), the system may propose a
word/chain-of-characters wherein its beginning characters are
different from the word/chain-of-characters proposed at the
preceding instance of input information corresponding to the word
that was provided by the user (e.g. display fluctuates). According
to one embodiment of the invention, if the user desires to keep the
preceding chain of characters and add additional character(s) to
the chain of characters to provide the desired word, he may provide
a predefined input signal after inputting information corresponding
to the preceding chain of characters. For example, by considering
the keypad 14300 of FIG. 19a, in order to enter the word "then", if
the user provides single pressing actions on the corresponding keys
without speaking, the system may provide the word "been" having
higher priority than the word "then". The first three key presses
provided by the user may provide the word "the". In order to inform
the system to keep the chain of letters (e.g. "the"), before
providing the input information corresponding to the next
character(s) (e.g. "n") the user may provided a predefined
interaction (e.g. such as a double pressing action or a gliding
action, etc.) on a predefined key. The user, then, may provide the
input information corresponding to the letter (e.g. presses the key
14304). The predictive system of the invention considers the chain
of characters "the" (e.g. and not the input information
corresponding to the chain of characters) and the input information
corresponding to the letter "n" (e.g. in this example, the
predictive system looks for a word having the highest priority
among the words beginning with the chain of letters "the" and
ending with a one of the letters "iucdnvj", and provides the word
"then"). The user, then, may provide an-end-of-a-word signal such
as a space character to terminate the entry of the word.
[0410] As mentioned before in detail, the input information
corresponding to a character of a word may also include information
regarding the preceding (e.g. and/or the following) characters of
the word. For example, a single pressing action on the key 14301
may inform the word predictive system that the system should
consider one of the letters "ehmqwz" in its predicting procedure
for the entry of the current word. On the other hand, also as an
example, another interaction (e.g. such as, a double pressing
action, a longer pressing action (e.g. press and holding action on
a key for a predefined laps of time), pressings simultaneously
another key and the key, etc.) on the key 14301 may inform the word
predictive system that, for example, the current input information
belongs to the following word (e.g. obviously, it also informs the
system that the entry of the previous word is ended). With
continuous reference to the previous embodiment and by considering
the principles just described, the input signal informing the
system to keep the preceding chain of characters ("e.g. "the") may
be provided during providing the input information corresponding to
the following character (e.g. the letter "n", in this example) of
the word (e.g. "then). For the same propose, according to another
method, a predefined speech input (e.g. saying "keep", "end", etc.)
may be provided during/along-with the key interaction corresponding
to the following character. For example, in addition to a single
pressing action on the key corresponding to the letter "n", the
user may also say "keep" to inform the system that it may consider
the chain of character "the" as the beginning characters of the
desired word combined with the additional information just inputted
(e.g. single pressing action on the key corresponding to the letter
"n").
[0411] It must be that including input signal corresponding to
previous or following characters within the input information
provided for the entry of a word, may be confusing for the user.
Therefore, the input signals may, preferably, be provided
separately (e.g. as described in detail).
[0412] FIG. 23 shows as an example, a keypad of the invention 14700
wherein symbols such as substantially, all of the symbols (e.g.
letters, punctuations marks, commands, functions) of a PC keyboard
are assigned to its keys. The keypad is created based on at least
some of principles of the predictive data entry systems of the
invention. For example, English letters are assigned to four of its
keys 14701, 14702, 14703, 14704, such that: [0413] letters having
ambiguously resembling speech, separately from each other, are
assigned to different keys. and/or; [0414] letters, separately from
each other, are assigned to different keys such that when entering
a word by using the word predictive methods of the invention based
on key presses (e.g. and speech if required/provided) preferably,
most frequently used words correspond to different sequence of key
presses such that (e.g. during the entry of a text) in most cases
the intended word may be entered by pressing/interacting-with the
keys corresponding to the letters/characters of the word, without
requiring additional input information (e.g. speech, handwriting,
etc., for entering precise characters). Also, preferably, the
assignment may be such that the number of words corresponding to a
same sequence of key presses being minimized. [0415] letters,
separately from each other, are assigned to different keys such
that when entering a text, user may interact with the four keys as
evenly as possible. and/or;
[0416] If the system also uses handwriting (e.g. in-addition-to or
by-replacing the speech information) for the entry of at least some
of the letters of a word, to augment the accuracy of handwriting,
the system may permit entering precise letter/character by
handwriting on a corresponding sensitive key to which the a letter
is assigned, in this case) letters having ambiguous writing graphs
may be assigned to different keys.
[0417] It must be noted that exemplary keypad 14700 and letter
assignments to the keys of the keypad based on at least one of the
principles as described are shown as an example, other letter
assignments to the keys of a keypad based on at least one of the
principles may be considered. For example, the keypad 13200 of FIG.
8 (e.g. partially shown. The keypad may have more keys as described
in many embodiments. Here only the keys to which letters of the
Roman/English alphabet are assigned, are shown) is also constituted
based on the principles described above.
[0418] Based on the principles of the predictive data entry systems
of the invention, by referring to one of the keys 14702 an example,
characters "abfrtx-_" 147021 (e.g. letters are in lowercase) may be
considered by the system as part of the elements that may
constitute a word through the word predictive systems of the
invention. The input information corresponding to any of the
characters may be providing a first predefined type of interaction
with (e.g. a single pressing action on) the key. Providing the
first predefined type of interaction (e.g. with the key) without
providing a corresponding speech may correspond to one of the
characters (e.g. letters), ambiguously, and providing the
predefined interaction (e.g. with the key) combined with providing
a (e.g. predefined speech corresponding to one of the characters
may provide the character (e.g. letter), precisely.
[0419] In this example, providing a second predefined type of
interaction with (e.g. a double pressing action on,
pressing-and-holding action for (at least) a predefined laps of
time on, etc.) the key 14702 may correspond to any of the ambiguous
letters, but in uppercase 147022, and providing the predefined
interaction combined with providing a speech corresponding to one
of the letters may provide the letter, precisely in uppercase.
[0420] With continuous reference to the keypad 14700, based on the
principles of the predictive data entry systems of the invention,
as an example, by referring to the key 14702, providing a third
predefined type of interaction with (e.g. a single gliding action
on, pressing a modifier key 14707 and preferably simultaneously
providing a single pressing action on, etc.) the key 14702 may
correspond to a character (e.g. in this example, the character "-"
147023) that may not be considered by the system as part of the
elements that may constitute a word (e.g. as mentioned previously,
an out-of-a-word character) through the word predictive systems of
the invention. Providing the third type of interaction (e.g.
predefined as with/without speech) may provide the corresponding
character, by the character by character data entry system of the
invention, without going through the (e.g. searching and selecting
methods of the) word predictive procedures of the invention.
[0421] In this example, providing a fourth predefined type of
interaction with (e.g. a double gliding action on, pressing a
modifier key 14707 and preferably simultaneously providing a double
pressing action on, pressing a modifier key 14707 and preferably
simultaneously providing a pressing-and-holding action for at least
a predefined laps of time on, etc.) the key 14702 may correspond to
a (e.g. another) character (e.g. in this example, the character "_"
147024) that may not be considered by the system as part of the
elements that may constitute a word through the word predictive
systems of the invention.
[0422] The principles corresponding to the key 14702 as described
may be applied to the keys of any keypad used with the combined
data entry systems of the invention, wherein the keypad has a
reduced number of keys and wherein each at least some of the keys
represent several letters of a language. in this example, the
principles corresponding to the key 14702 as described may also be
applied to the keys, 14701, 14703, 14704 (e.g. for the entry of the
corresponding characters).
[0423] Regarding the key 14706, in this example, providing the
first predefined type of interaction with (e.g. a single pressing
action on) the key 14706 may correspond to providing a space
character. Providing the second predefined type of interaction with
(e.g. a double pressing action on, etc.) the key may correspond to
(e.g. PC keyboard) "Enter" command.
[0424] Providing the third predefined type of interaction with
(e.g. a single gliding action on, pressing a modifier key 14707 and
preferably simultaneously providing a single pressing action on)
the key 17606 may correspond to keeping the proposed beginning
chain of character of the preceding instance of input information
the entry of a word through the predictive methods of the invention
(e.g. as described previously in detail). Providing the fourth
predefined type of interaction with (e.g. a double gliding action
on, pressing a modifier key 14707 and preferably simultaneously
providing a double pressing action on, pressing a modifier key
14707 and preferably simultaneously providing a
pressing-and-holding action for at least a predefined laps of time
on, etc.,) the key 14706 may correspond to "Tab" function.
[0425] The principles corresponding to the key 14706 as described
may also be applied to the key 14705. For example, providing the
first predefined type of interaction with the key 14705 without
speaking may correspond to providing the "BkSp" command. Also for
example, providing the third predefined type of interaction with
the key 14705 without speaking may correspond to "SupBk" (e.g.
Super/Special Back Space command, deleting more than one character,
as described in the references incorporated herein, filed by this
inventor).
[0426] Each of the keys 14707 and 14708 may at least function as at
least a modifier (e.g. "Shift") key.
[0427] Regarding to the key 14707, in this example, providing the
first predefined type of interaction with the key without speaking
may correspond to providing the "," character. To enter any of the
characters "( ) @ # ` $ &", the user may provide the predefined
first type of interaction with the key 14707 and speak the
character.
[0428] Providing the second predefined type of interaction with the
key 14707 without speaking may correspond to "Shift" function. To
enter any of the combined chain of characters "`s", "`d", "`m",
"`ll" (e.g. chain of characters including apostrophe character, as
described in detail before), the user may provide the second
predefined type of interaction with the key 14707 and provide a
speech information corresponding to the combined chain of
characters (e.g. according to another method of symbol assignment,
each of the chain of characters may be assigned to the key
representing the first letter of the chain of characters).
[0429] With continuous reference to the keypad 14700, based on the
principles of the predictive data entry systems of the invention,
as an example, by referring to the key 14707, providing the third
predefined type of interaction with the key 14707 without speaking
may correspond to "CapsLock" function. In this example, providing
the fourth predefined type of interaction with the key 14707
without speaking may correspond to a character/symbol (e.g. in this
example, the character "(").
[0430] The principles corresponding to the key 14706 as described
(e.g. key interactions, and the corresponding speech when provided)
described for the key 14707 may apply to the key 14708. For
example, providing the first predefined type of interaction with
the key 14708 without speaking may correspond to providing the "."
character. To enter any of the (e.g. arithmetic) characters "<
> 0-9 + - / * = % #", the user may provide the first predefined
type of interaction with the key 14707 and speak the character.
[0431] Providing the second predefined type of interaction with key
14708 without speaking may correspond to "EOW" function (e.g.
"end-of-a-word signal, usually used to provide compound words, as
described before). To enter any of the chain of digits (e.g. "00"
"000" "000,000", having corresponding respective speeches,
"hundred", "thousand, "million") the user may provide the second
predefined type of interaction with the key 14708 and provide a
speech information corresponding to the chain of digits.
[0432] With continuous reference to the keypad 14700, based on the
principles of the predictive data entry systems of the invention,
as an example, by referring to the key 14708, providing the third
predefined type of interaction (e.g. here, the modifier key being
used with the key 14708, may be the key 14707) with the key 14708
without speaking may correspond to "Correction" key (e.g.
"correction key indicator indicating the beginning of a
correction/selection procedure for correcting proposed words by the
predictive data entry systems of the invention, as described
before). In order to provide one of the F11 to F12 functions, the
user may provide the third predefined type of interaction and
provide a predefined speech information corresponding to the
function (e.g. for example saying the number of the function. In
this example, providing the fourth predefined type of interaction
(e.g. here, the modifier key being used with the key 14708, may be
the key 14707) with the key 14708 without speaking may correspond
to a character/symbol (e.g. in this example, the character ")". In
order to enter combined digit-and-letter chain of characters (e.g.
0.sup.th, 1.sup.st, 2.sup.nd, 3.sup.rd, 4.sup.th, . . . ,
9.sup.th), the user may provide the fourth predefined type of
interaction and provide a speech information corresponding to the
combined chain of characters (e.g. saying "zero", "first",
"second", "third", "fourth", . . . , "nineth", respectively).
[0433] It must be noted that the assignment of the symbols to the
keys and the different types of interactions are used as
demonstration only. Any of the symbols may be assigned to an (e.g.
a key) interaction different from the one it is assigned in this
example. Also other (e.g. key) interactions may be considered for
the keypad.
[0434] As may have been noticed, several predefined type of
interactions with each key of a keypad in the absence of a speech
or in the presence of corresponding speech may be used for the
entry of (e.g. different) corresponding symbols (e.g. letters,
chain of characters, punctuation mark characters, function, etc.).
By considering these principles and also considering other
parameters such as using different number of keys, etc., many type
of keypads may be provided to be used with the (e.g. predictive)
data entry systems of the invention. For example, at least one of
the PC keyboard functions (e.g. Ctrl, Alt, Del), may be assigned to
the key 14707 wherein any of the functions may be inputted by
providing the corresponding interaction (e.g. in this example,
providing the fourth predefined type of interaction with the key
14707 and providing the corresponding predefined speech information
assigned to the keyboard function).
[0435] As mentioned before, the data entry systems of the invention
may be used with a circular touch sensitive surface such as the one
used with the iPOD (e.g. audio, video, etc.) player to search
and/or select a content (e.g. a song, a movie, etc). In addition to
a gliding actions on the circular surface (e.g. for selecting a
content from a list), the circular surface may also respond to
tapping actions (e.g. on predefined positions on its surface) to
duplicate a keypad used with the data entry systems of the
invention for entering data such as text. FIG. 20 shows as an
example, a circular touch sensitive surface as described. The
circular surface may have several predefined zones wherein each
zone may correspond to a key of a predefined (e.g. an imaginary)
keypad of the system. In this example, the zones 14401 to 14406,
may duplicate at least some of the principles of a keypad of the
invention as described in the references incorporated herein, filed
by this inventor. For example, to four keys 14401, 14402, 14403,
14404, substantially, all of the letters of a language may be
distributively assigned.
[0436] According to one embodiment of the invention, the keypad may
be used with the combined data/text entry systems of the invention
such that the tapping actions on the zones may be used for entering
text, and (e.g. circular) gliding actions on the circular surface
may be used for selecting purpose. For example, in order to enter
the word "bull", according to one embodiment of the invention, the
user may press the corresponding keys 14402, 14404, 14403, 14403,
without providing speech (e.g. the predictive system of the
invention may be based on key presses only, or the user may not
desire to speak, etc.). The system may show to the user the list of
words 14412 corresponding to the input information (e.g. the
frequency of use figures are shown indicatively). The user may
then, provide a (e.g. circular) gliding action 14410/14411 on the
circular surface so that to navigate within the list to select the
desired word. For example, after choosing the desired word, the
user may provide a tapping action of the center zone 14407 of the
circular keypad so that to select/enter the word. According to
another example, in addition to the key presses, while pressing for
example the first key 14402, the user may speak the corresponding
letter, "b". In this case, the system may show the list 14413 (e.g.
the frequency of use figures are shown indicatively). The user may
then, provide a (e.g. circular) gliding action 14410/14411 on the
circular surface so that to navigate within the list to select the
desired word.
[0437] The procedure of data entry as described may be applied for
content search and selection. For example, by using the tapping
actions (e.g. and eventually, providing the corresponding speech)
the user may enter a textual content information corresponding to
the partial or full characters of a content (e.g. the content's
title), and after providing (e.g. by the system) the list of the
contents corresponding to user's input information (e.g. by for
example, printing them on the screen), the user may use gliding
actions on the surface to select his/her desired content.
[0438] It must be noted that the circular keypad showed in this
example is provided to an example only. It is understood that other
types of keypads may be considered by people skilled in the art.
For examples, as shown in FIG. 20a circular keypad 14410 having
eight predefined zones duplicating eight keys used with the data
entry systems of the invention may be considered.
[0439] As shown as example in FIG. 21, according to one embodiment
of the invention, an external keypad 14500 used with the data entry
systems of the invention may be manufactured such that to be split
to form at least in two portions 14501, 14502, wherein each of the
portions may be independently/separately attached (e.g. and each of
the portions preferably independently, and preferably wirelessly,
connected) to the corresponding electronic device 14509 to be used
with the data entry systems of the invention. The split portions
may be designed such that to be attachable to each other to form
the integrated keypad 14500 and be used as an external keypad with
the electronic device (e.g. and being used with the data entry
systems of the invention). In this example, (e.g. as an example) to
four of the keys (e.g. darker keys in the drawing) substantially
all of the letters of a language may be assigned. The integrated
keypad may comprise at least one microphone to be used with the
data entry system of the invention. For example, each portion of
the split keypad may comprise an integrated microphone such that
when the keypad is in split position on the sides of the electronic
device, the microphones 14503, 14504 are also distributed on the
sides of the electronic device to permit better capture of the
user's voice.
[0440] The telephone keypad has become a familiar dialing means for
telephones. Therefore the keypad may be included in most voice
communication devices. According of one embodiment of invention, a
voice and/or data communication device that may use the data entry
(e.g. including the predictive) systems of the invention, may
include, both, the telephone keypad (e.g. for dialing) and a (e.g.
split) keypad of the invention (e.g. for data/text entry). As
known, the telephone keypad occupies a substantial portion of the
surface of the corresponding side of the telephone, reducing the
surface assigned to the display unit on the side. In order to
overcome the problem, the keypad may be manufactured such that to
be extended out of the body of the device (e.g. preferably in the
direction of the axis of the longest dimension of the device, as
shown in FIG. 22b). FIG. 22a shows as an example, a voice and/or
data communication device 14600 including the (e.g. combined) data
entry systems of invention using a keypad split into two portions
14601, 14602. The device may also include a telephone-type keypad
(e.g. not shown, here it is in retracted position). When the
telephone keypad is in retracted position or the when user enters
data such as text by using the split keypad through the data entry
systems of the invention, the display unit 14608 may (e.g.
preferably, automatically be in landscape position to permit better
viewing of a text 14609 printed on the screen. The device may also
include a pointing 14613 and selecting 14614 means to duplicate the
computer mouse functions on the screen (e.g. with the data entry
systems of the invention). FIG. 22b shows the same device 14600
(e.g. the device of FIG. 22a) wherein its telephone keypad portion
14611 is extended out of the body of the device. When the keypad is
in extended position, the display unit 14608 of the device may
(e.g. preferably, automatically) change the orientation (e.g. to be
in portrait position) so that to be suited to the telephone keypad
in order to show the input such as a telephone number 14619
provided through the telephone keypad 14611.
[0441] It must again been noted that instead of or addition to a
voice recognition system, a lip reading system may be used with the
data entry systems of the invention to recognize the user's speech.
For example, the lip reading system may work accurately with the
predictive data entry systems of the invention because the systems
require less speech and mostly speech of isolated letters. This may
permit a still more discrete data entry procedure.
[0442] As mentioned and shown in the references incorporated
herein, filed by this inventor, keypads used with data entry
systems (e.g. including predictive data entry systems) of the
invention may have different key configuration (e.g. for different
type of use) and, obviously, the keys of the keypad may have
different shapes. Also as mentioned, for example, the keys may be
split into two groups and being positioned on opposite sides on a
surface of the corresponding electronic device. For example, the
keys 14701 to 14708, (e.g. and their functionality) of the keypad
14700 of FIG. 23, may be duplicated/manufactured such that, as
shown in FIG. 23a, the keys (in this example, 14711 to 14718,
respectively-to/duplicating the keys 14701 to 14708, of FIG. 23)
may be oval (e.g or round) shaped. The keys may be split in two
group of keys 147111, 147112, and being attached-to/integrated on
opposite sides on a surface of the corresponding electronic device
14719. The configuration of the keys of each group relating to each
other may duplicate the configuration of the keys of a directional
keypad (e.g. of an electronic gaming consol). In this example, in
each group, two of the keys (e.g. preferably, those to which the
letters are assigned) are positioned in a column position, wherein
a third key of the group is positioned on the right side of the two
keys, between them, and the fourth key of the group is positioned
on the right side of the two keys, between them Preferably, a
mobile data entry system may preferably allow the data entry when
user is in motion. Holding a mobile device requires using some of
the user's finger. Therefore ideally user's thumbs may be used for
data entry. The configuration of the keys as described here may
permit letter keys being under user's thumbs, so that during
writing a word, user's finger do not have to travel over the keys.
By using the user's thumbs, this configuration permits to enter the
letters of a text, quickly.
[0443] Using input means such as the on-screen keypads/keyboards
for data entry through the data entry systems of the invention has
been described in detail in the references incorporated herein,
filed by this inventor. Also, using other input means such as
user's fingers, finger caps, glove, stylus, etc., to duplicate the
keys and the interactions with the keys of a keypad (e.g. having
few keys such as eight keys, such as the keypad 14700 of FIG. 23)
used with the data entry systems of the invention has been
described in detail in different the references incorporated
herein, filed by this inventor (e.g. Obviously, the input means may
also be used with the predictive data entry systems of the
invention). For example, as shown in FIG. 24a and described before,
a dynamic keypad having at least four (e.g. to eight) keys (e.g.
wherein to four of the keys at least the letters of a language are
distributively assigned based on the principles as described in
this and the references incorporated herein, filed by this
inventor) may be provided by user's finger interactions on a
surface. The principles for defining the keys of a dynamic keypad
and interaction with them has been described in detail in the
references incorporated herein, (e.g. and briefly in this patent
application) filed by this inventor. As mentioned before, the
dynamic keypad may be used with the data entry systems (e.g.
including predictive data entry systems) of the invention. For
example, by finger interactions on a sensitive surface such as on
the (e.g. touch) screen 14800 of a Tablet PC, with at least one of
his fingers such as the pointer 14801 (e.g. or the stylus), as
described in detail before, the user may duplicate at least the
keys 14701 to 14704 of the keypad 14700 of FIG. 23 and the
interaction with the keys (e.g. single pressing action, double
pressing action, gliding action, etc.). Even pressing-and-holding a
key (e.g. shift key) and (e.g. simultaneously) pressing another key
may be provided. For example, the user may provide a
press-and-holding action by his thumb 14803 (e.g. situated on the
left side relative to his pointer finger 14801) on the screen and
simultaneously provide, for example, a corresponding interaction
with (e.g. single pressing action, double pressing action, etc.)
with his pointer finger 14801 on a desired key of the dynamic
keypad. To each of the combined interactions a corresponding group
of symbols of the invention may be assigned. Also, for example, the
user may provide a press-and-holding action by his forefinger 14802
(e.g. situated on the right side relative to his pointer finger
14801) on the screen and simultaneously provide, for example, a
corresponding interaction with (e.g. single pressing action, double
pressing action, etc.) with his pointer finger 14801 on a desired
key of the dynamic keypad. To each of the combined interactions a
corresponding group of symbols of the invention may be assigned).
It must be noted, that the system may respond differently for each
of press and holding interactions (e.g. situated at the left side,
or right side of the pressing actions on the dynamic keypad). It
must be noted that user's fingers duplicating a predefined keypad
shown and described here are used as an example. Obviously, based
on principles of the invention, the user may use different fingers
to provide the keypad or other keypads.
[0444] A means and method of input consisting of providing
interactions such as pressing (e.g. tapping) actions (e.g. and/or
gliding actions) by a portion (e.g. with the tip portion, flat
portion, etc.) of a finger wearing a finger cap having (e.g.
integrated) touch sensitive systems/surface wherein each finger may
duplicate one or more (e.g. preferably, two) keys of a keypad of
the invention and using them with the data entry systems of the
invention, has been described in detail (e.g. as described in
detail in the patent applications, for example, a single or double
tapping action with the tip portion of a finger/finger-cap may
duplicate/correspond-to respectively to a single or double pressing
action on a first predefined key of an predefined keypad model.
Also for example, a single or double tapping action with the flat
portion of a (e.g. the) finger/finger-cap may
duplicate/correspond-to respectively a single or double pressing
action on a second predefined key of the predefined keypad model
The means and methods of interaction may eliminate the use of a
touch sensitive panel such as the the touch screen of an electronic
device for user's input interaction). Obviously, the means and
method of input may be used with the data entry (e.g. including the
predictive) systems of the invention. Also as described in previous
patent applications and by considering the example of FIG. 24b, by
using four fingers 14811 to 14814 each wearing a finger cap of the
invention, a keypad of the invention such as the keypad 14700 of
FIG. 23 and the interaction with the keys of the keypad (single
pressing action, double pressing action, gliding action, etc.) may
be duplicated and be used with the predictive data entry systems of
the invention.
[0445] For example, providing an interaction such as a predefined
pressing action (e.g. such as single, or double, or longer, etc.,
pressing action) with the flat portion of finger cap 14811 may
correspond to interacting (e.g. providing the interaction) with key
14701 of the keypad 14700. Also for example, providing an
interaction such as a predefined pressing action with the tip
portion of finger cap 14811 may correspond to interacting (e.g.
providing the interaction) with key 14703 of the keypad 14700. Also
for example, providing an interaction such as a predefined pressing
action with the flat portion of finger cap 14812 may correspond to
interacting (e.g. providing the interaction) with key 14702 of the
keypad 14700. Also for example, providing an interaction such as a
predefined pressing action with the tip portion of finger cap 14812
may correspond to interacting (e.g. providing the interaction) with
key 14704 of the keypad 14700.
[0446] Also for example, providing an interaction such as a
predefined pressing action with the flat portion of finger cap
14813 may correspond to interacting (e.g. providing the
interaction) with key 14705 of the keypad 14700. Also for example,
providing an interaction such as a predefined pressing action with
the tip portion of finger cap 14813 may correspond to interacting
(e.g. providing the interaction) with key 14707 of the keypad
14700. Also, for example, providing an interaction such as a
predefined pressing action with the flat portion of finger cap
14814 may correspond to interacting (e.g. providing the
interaction) with key 14706 of the keypad 14700. Finally, for
example, providing an interaction such as a predefined pressing
action with the tip portion of finger cap 14814 may correspond to
interacting (e.g. providing the interaction) with key 14708 of the
keypad 14700.
[0447] Even pressing-and-holding a key (e.g. shift/modifier key)
and (e.g. simultaneously) pressing another key may be duplicated.
For example, the user may provide a press-and-hold action with the
flat portion of his finger (e.g. obviously, finger cap) 14813 on a
surface, and provide a desired pressing action with for example,
the tip portion of the finger cap 14811, without speaking, to
provide the character "/" (e.g. to duplicate the interaction
required for the entry of the character when using the keypad 14700
of FIG. 23).
[0448] A method of interaction based on interacting with different
portions of a user's finger (e.g. tip, flat) on a touch sensitive
to surface to provide a different input signal for each of the
different portions touching the sensitive surface (e.g. wherein the
system recognizes the portion based on the size of the contacted
area of the surface) to duplicate the keys of a keypad of the
invention having few key and used with the data entry systems of
the invention have been described in detail in the references
incorporated herein, filed by this inventor. The method of
interaction may be used with the predictive data entry systems of
the invention. Using the system of interaction may eliminate the
need of the finger caps of in above-mentioned embodiment. For
example, each of the fingers of a user (e.g. by using the tip and
flat portion for interacting with a touch sensitive surface) may
duplicate two keys of the corresponding keypad model of the system.
When user type a text (e.g. by using the principles of the
embodiment), based on the location of the contact impact of a
user's finger on the sensitive surface (e.g. for example, by
considering that during a sequence of data entry, typing/tapping
action with any portion of a different user's finger on a surface
is usually provided within a same different vertical zone on the
surface) relating to the location of the contact impact of the
other user's fingers (e.g. on different vertical zones) on the
surface, the system may recognize the finger, and by considering
the portion of the finger (e.g. tip or flat) by which the
interaction has been provided the system may relate the interaction
to the corresponding key of the predefined keypad of the
invention.
[0449] As mentioned before, a handwriting recognition system may be
used for the entry of one or more precise (e.g. unambiguous)
characters of a word wherein at least one of other characters of
the word being ambiguously entered (e.g. by for example,
pressing/gliding on a key to which several characters are assigned)
to enhance the recognition of the predictive data entry system. In
the examples above (e.g. such as those shown and described in FIGS.
20 to 24b, when using hard or soft keys, or when using finger,
finger cap, glove, etc, to duplicate key interactions, in addition
to tapping/gliding actions corresponding to key interactions, the
user may write characters such as letters on a/the corresponding
sensitive surface such as a touch screen. According to one method,
the system may be designed such that to distinguish between
handwriting actions, and tapping/gliding actions (e.g.
interacting-with/duplicating-interactions-with the keypad).
According to another method, tapping actions may correspond to key
interactions, and gliding actions may correspond to handwriting.
According to another method, tapping/gliding action on the (e.g.
soft) keys of the keypad of the system may correspond to key
interactions, and writing (e.g. tapping, gliding) on the
sensitive-surface/touch screen (e.g. on a zone out of the zone of)
the keypad may correspond to handwriting input (e.g. in the example
of media player of FIGS. 20 to 20a, the zone 14407 may be used for
handwriting.).
[0450] It is understood that examples provided are for
demonstration only. Other fingers, other fingers having finger
caps, different number of fingers or finger caps, stylus, glove,
etc., may be used with the combined (e.g. including predictive)
data entry systems of the invention.
[0451] It must be noted that, although, in different embodiments
different keypads such as a telephone-type keypad or a keypad
having at least four keys wherein to four of the keys at least
substantially all of the letters of a language are assigned, have
been used to demonstrate the principles of different embodiments of
the invention, obviously, any other kind of keypad having any
number of keys wherein at least some of the keys of the keypad are
ambiguous, any type of keys such as hard or soft keys, any
configurations of symbols assigned to any predefined type of
interaction with the keys of the keypad, etc., may be used with the
embodiments of the combined data entry systems of the
invention.
[0452] Although in many paragraphs describing the combined data
entry systems of the invention, "keys" have been used to describe
the embodiments, it is understood that other input means used by
predefined types of interactions to provide different predefined
input signals, may be considered to replace to duplicate/replace
the keys and key interactions in the embodiments of the invention.
For example, use's interactions such as finger or finger cap
interactions and corresponding interactions duplicating the keys
and key interactions as described in this and the references
incorporated herein, filed by this inventor, may be used in the
embodiments.
[0453] Note that in some paragraphs the term "pressing" have been
as an example of a type of interaction with a key, the interaction
may be any other type of interaction such as
touching/gliding/pointing-to, etc, with a key.
[0454] It must be noted that although in many paragraphs a keypad
(e.g. or few keys) have been used to demonstrate an embodiment of
the combined data entry systems of the invention, it is understood
that the keypad having some ambiguous keys (e.g. an ambiguous key
have been described before).
[0455] For not frequently repeating the principles of the data
entry systems of the invention, in many paragraphs of this
application there is mentioned that one or more symbol such as
character/word/portion-of-a-word/function, etc., may be assigned to
a key (e.g. or an input object other than a key). It is understood
that unless otherwise mentioned, the symbols, generally, are
intended to be assigned to a predefined simplest interaction with
the key which may be a single-pressing action on the key (as
explained in many embodiments of the invention).
[0456] Although in different embodiments of the invention, a voice
recognition system (e.g. having a microphone, may have been
mentioned to be used to perceive and recognize a user's speech, a
lip-reading system (e.g. having a camera), may be used instead-of
or in-addition-to the voice recognition system to perceive and
recognize the user's speech (or vise versa).
[0457] Also as mentioned before, some or all of the methods of the
data entry systems of the invention may use linguistically rules
text entry recognition systems such as the number of a syllable of
possibly-matched word, the number of words of a possibly-recognized
sentence, the position of a word within a phrase, etc. These
matters are known by the people skilled in the art.
[0458] It must be noted that in some paragraphs the term
"portion-by-portion" have been used for simplifying the term
"at-least-a-portion-of-a-word (e.g. by
at-least-a-portion-of-a-word".
[0459] Note that, although for simplifying reason, in many
paragraphs, the data entry systems of the invention is mentioned in
a phrase such as "data entry systems of the invention",
"pressing/gliding data entry systems of the invention",
"press/glide -and-speak data entry systems of the invention", etc.,
it is understood that as described in detail in many paragraphs,
such phrases refer to the principles of the data entry systems of
the invention considering the pressing/gliding actions combined
with user's speech information, wherein the speech information is
the presence of corresponding speech or in the absence of user's
speech (e.g. wherein the systems are generally used with the
combined data entry systems of the invention when during the entry
of a word at least one precise character of the word is entered
through the referred systems and wherein at least one of the key
presses provided for the entry of the word is ambiguous). These
matters have already been described in detail. Also, in many
paragraphs, the data entry systems of the invention combining the
press/glide-and speak data entry systems of the invention and the
word predictive data entry systems such as the ones of the
invention, may have been mentioned in a phrase such as "combined"
data entry systems of the invention".
[0460] Note that although in many embodiments of the data entry
systems of the invention a sensitive surface such as a
touch-sensitive pad or a touch screen have been used as examples,
it is understood that any other technology detecting and analyzing
a user's interaction with any surface may be used to define and/or
use the zone/keys of a soft (e.g. dynamic) keypad. For example, as
mentioned, the technology may be an optically detecting technology,
or an IR technology providing a virtual keypad (e.g. having few
keys/zones wherein for example, to 4 keys/zones of the keypad at
least substantially all of the letters of a language are assigned)
on a (normal) surface and detects the user's finger touching the
keys/zones of the keypad.
[0461] Also, it must be noted that according to one method, while
user enters a word by using the predictive system of the combined
data entry systems of the invention, the system may print the most
probable word corresponding to the input information provided by
the user until that moment (e.g. before providing an
end-of-a-word-signal). It is understood that the displayed word may
change each time a user presses an additional key corresponding to
the word.
[0462] For example, obviously, all or part of the principles of the
embodiments of this invention and other inventions of this inventor
and/or their features may be used separately or being combined
together. For example, at-least-one-word/at-least-part-of-a-word of
a text may be entered by combining different methods or embodiments
of the data entry systems of the invention. For example,
tapping/gliding actions on a sensitive surface as described in the
references incorporated herein, filed by this inventor (e.g. such
as tapping and/or gliding actions provided by user's finger, a pen,
a glove, etc., duplicating, for example, interactions with few keys
such as with at least four keys of a keypad wherein at least the
letters of a language are assigned to few predefined keys such as
four keys of the keys as described in detail in this application
and the references incorporated herein, filed by this inventor, the
glove of the data entry systems of the inventions also duplicating
the keys as described in the references incorporated herein, filed
by this inventor, etc.), may be used with the predictive data entry
systems of the invention.
[0463] It must be noted that although in many examples, the input
information provided for the entry of a word is mentioned as being
based on key presses, it is understood that, if desired/permitted,
in addition to a key press (e.g. for better accuracy), the user may
also provide the speech corresponding to at least some of the key
presses.
[0464] It must be noted that although in many paragraphs describing
the methods of data entry system of the invention, the input
information provided by the user is mentioned as may being
correspond to a character of a word, obviously, depending on the
architecture of the system, in some cases the input information may
correspond to a chain of characters of the corresponding word (e.g.
see the portion-of-a-word data entry systems of the invention).
Obviously, as mentioned previously in detail, the character date
entry systems of the invention combined with portion-of-a-word data
entry systems of the invention may be used with the (e.g. word)
predictive data entry systems of the invention. For example, to
enter the word "action", the user may first press the keys
corresponding to the letters "a" and "c", and then provide a
gliding action on the key that are predefined to represent the
portion-of-a-word "tion", and speak the portion (e.g. saying
"shen"). Based on the input information provided by the user, the
predictive data entry system of the invention may, for example,
look for a word wherein its two beginning characters correspond to
the two key presses and that the remaining characters of the word
is the chain of characters "tion". The system may consider the word
"action", and depending on its frequency of use, the system may
propose the word to the user. In the example above, the user could
also precisely enter any of the characters "a" or "c" by speaking
the letter (e.g. while pressing the corresponding key) to help the
system/user to for example, faster/more accurately provide the
desired word. Using the combined character and portion-of-a-word
data entry systems of the invention with the productive data entry
systems of the invention has been previously described in detail.
As described before, such system may also include/work-with at
least one other data entry system such as an on-screen full
keyboard or handwriting input/recognition system to enter precise
characters that may correspond to at least a potion of a word. The
precise character(s) and additional input information corresponding
to the word provided through other data entry methods of the
invention such as described in this paragraph, may be considered by
the predictive data entry systems of the invention to provide the
desired word.
[0465] Also for example, the combined data entry systems of the
invention may be used/implemented-with (e.g. for example, by using
a split keypad of the invention) an extendable computer such as
shown (e.g. see FIGS. 70a to 70h and the corresponding description
in the incorporated PCT/US04/12082.
[0466] It must again be noted that depending on the architecture of
the system, the portion-of-a-words of a language may either be
included within the dictionary of words database of the language or
they may constitute a separate database and be used with the
combine (e.g. including the predictive) data entry systems of the
invention.
[0467] It must be noted that speech information corresponding to a
letter is generally speaking the letter.
[0468] It must also be noted that key press(es) corresponding to at
least one character of a word generally means providing the
sequence of key presses corresponding to (sequentially) to the
characters.
[0469] It must be noted that as described in detail above,
providing a predefined interaction with a key may also refer to
providing a press-and-holding action on a another key and providing
a pressing action on the key.
[0470] It must again be noted that although in many paragraphs
describing the methods/features of invention key press information
have been mentioned for the entry of a word, obviously said
methods/features, may consider other input information such as the
corresponding speech may be provided by the user, in addition to
said key press information.
[0471] Thus, while there have been shown and described and pointed
out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to
alternative embodiments thereof, it will be understood that various
omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of
the disclosed invention may be made by those skilled in the art
without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the
intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope
of the claims appended hereto. It is to be understood that the
drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, but that they are
merely conceptual in nature.
* * * * *
References