Interactive virtual keyboard configured to use gestures and having condensed characters on a plurality of keys arranged approximately radially about at least one center point

Abstract

A method according to one embodiment includes detecting a touch event on a touch-sensitive input area of a display. The touch event includes a gesture. The touch-sensitive input area has groups of virtual ambiguous keys arranged approximately radially about a center point. The method further includes determining at least one character from at least one of the virtual ambiguous keys selected by the gesture. The method further includes outputting the determined at least one character on the display.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method, comprising:
 detecting, on a touch-sensitive input area having a first group of virtual ambiguous keys arranged approximately radially about a first center point, a first touch of at least one of the first group of virtual ambiguous keys;   determining a plurality of words based on the first touch; and   
       displaying, in response to detecting a second touch on the touch-sensitive input area, the emphasized word in the word option selector list to a second area of the display. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the center point is located at about a corner of the touch-sensitive input area. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein at least one of the determined characters includes a character of a first of the virtual ambiguous keys, which is determined in response to the starting location of the gesture being located on the first virtual ambiguous key, and the ending location of the gesture being located at a different location on the first virtual ambiguous key, and in response to determining that the gesture did not extend beyond the first virtual ambiguous key. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , comprising enabling a swipe gesture mode, in which detected circumferential gesture transitions of a gesture are used for determining at least one character from at least one of the virtual ambiguous keys. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein at least two of the determined characters includes a character of a first of the virtual ambiguous keys and a character of a second of the virtual ambiguous keys in response to the starting location of the gesture being located on the first virtual ambiguous key, and the ending location of the gesture is located on the second virtual ambiguous key. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the ending location of the gesture is located on the second of the virtual ambiguous keys, wherein the characters of the first and second virtual ambiguous keys are bordered by flick borders, wherein each flick border defines at least two flick areas, wherein the starting location of the gesture is located on a first flick area, and the ending location of the gesture is located on a second flick area. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , comprising:
 detecting a second touch event on the touch-sensitive input area of the display, the second touch event including a second gesture, wherein detecting the second touch event includes determining a starting location of the second gesture on the touch-sensitive input area, and an ending location of the second gesture on the touch-sensitive input area; and   outputting the groups of virtual ambiguous keys with an updated size in response to the starting location of the second gesture being located at a corner of the touch-sensitive input area of the display, and the ending location of the second gesture being located away from the starting location of the second gesture, wherein a difference between the updated size of the groups of virtual ambiguous keys and an original size of the groups of virtual ambiguous keys corresponds to a predetermined scaler of the distance between the starting location and the ending location of the second gesture.   
     
     
         28 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions configured to cause a processor of a computer to perform operations comprising:
 detecting, on a touch-sensitive input area having a first group of virtual ambiguous keys arranged approximately radially about a first center point, a first touch of at least one of the first group of virtual ambiguous keys;   determining a first plurality of words based on the first touch; and   displaying, in response to detecting a second touch on the touch-sensitive input area, the emphasized word in the word option selector list to a second area of the display.   
     
     
         29 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 28 , wherein the center point is located at about a corner of the touch-sensitive input area. 
     
     
         30 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 28 , wherein at least one of the determined characters includes a character of a first of the virtual ambiguous keys, which is determined in response to the starting location of the gesture being located on the first virtual ambiguous key, and the ending location of the gesture being located at a different location on the first virtual ambiguous key, and in response to determining that the gesture did not extend beyond the first virtual ambiguous key. 
     
     
         31 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 28 , comprising enabling a swipe gesture mode, in which detected circumferential gesture transitions of a gesture are used for determining at least one character from at least one of the virtual ambiguous keys. 
     
     
         32 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 28 , wherein at least two of the determined characters includes a character of a first of the virtual ambiguous keys and a character of a second of the virtual ambiguous keys in response to the starting location of the gesture being located on the first virtual ambiguous key, and the ending location of the gesture is located on the second virtual ambiguous key. 
     
     
         33 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 28 , wherein the ending location of the gesture is located on the second of the virtual ambiguous keys, wherein the characters of the first and second virtual ambiguous keys are bordered by flick borders, wherein each flick border defines at least two flick areas, wherein the starting location of the gesture is located on a first flick area, and the ending location of the gesture is located on a second flick area. 
     
     
         34 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 28 , comprising
 detecting a second touch event on the touch-sensitive input area of the display, the second touch event including a second gesture, wherein detecting the second touch event includes determining a starting location of the second gesture on the touch-sensitive input area, and an ending location of the second gesture on the touch-sensitive input area; and   outputting the groups of virtual ambiguous keys with an updated size in response to the starting location of the second gesture being located at a corner of the touch-sensitive input area of the display, and the ending location of the second gesture being located away from the starting location of the second gesture, wherein a difference between the updated size of the groups of virtual ambiguous keys and an original size of the groups of virtual ambiguous keys corresponds to a predetermined scaler of the distance between the starting location and the ending location of the second gesture.   
     
     
         35 . A system, comprising:
 a display, wherein the display includes a touch-sensitive input area for touch events;   a processor; and   logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor, the logic being configured to output on the touch-sensitive input area of the display:   detecting, on the touch-sensitive input area having a first group of virtual ambiguous keys arranged approximately radially about a first center point, a first touch of at least one of the first group of virtual ambiguous keys;   determining a first plurality of words based on the first touch; and   displaying, in response to detecting a second touch on the touch-sensitive input area, the emphasized word in the word option selector list to a second area of the display.   
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 35 , the logic being configured to:
 the center point is located at about a corner of the touch-sensitive input area.   
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 35 , the logic being configured to:
 at least one of the determined characters includes a character of a first of the virtual ambiguous keys, which is determined in response to the starting location of the gesture being located on the first virtual ambiguous key, and the ending location of the gesture being located at a different location on the first virtual ambiguous key, and in response to determining that the gesture did not extend beyond the first virtual ambiguous key.   
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 35 , the logic being configured to:
 enabling a swipe gesture mode, in which detected circumferential gesture transitions of a gesture are used for determining at least one character from at least one of the virtual ambiguous keys.   
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 35 , the logic being configured to:
 the ending location of the gesture is located on the second of the virtual ambiguous keys, wherein the characters of the first and second virtual ambiguous keys are bordered by flick borders, wherein each flick border defines at least two flick areas, wherein the starting location of the gesture is located on a first flick area, and the ending location of the gesture is located on a second flick area.   
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 35 , the logic being configured to:
 detecting a second touch event on the touch-sensitive input area of the display, the second touch event including a second gesture, wherein detecting the second touch event includes determining a starting location of the second gesture on the touch-sensitive input area, and an ending location of the second gesture on the touch-sensitive input area; and
 outputting the groups of virtual ambiguous keys with an updated size in response to the starting location of the second gesture being located at a corner of the touch-sensitive input area of the display, and the ending location of the second gesture being located away from the starting location of the second gesture, wherein a difference between the updated size of the groups of virtual ambiguous keys and an original size of the groups of virtual ambiguous keys corresponds to a predetermined scaler of the distance between the starting location and the ending location of the second gesture.