Interactive virtual keyboard configured for gesture based word selection and having a plurality of keys arranged approximately radially about at least one center point

Abstract

A method according to one embodiment includes detecting a first touch event on a touch-sensitive input area of a display, the touch-sensitive input area having groups of virtual ambiguous keys arranged approximately radially about a center point. The method further includes determining a plurality of words based on the detected first touch event, outputting at least two of the determined words to a list on a first portion of the display, and in response to detecting a gesture based second touch event in a predefined area of the touch-sensitive input area, changing the list on the display. The method further includes outputting at least one of the words in the list to a second portion of the display in response to detecting a tap based second touch event in an area selected from the group consisting of: the predefined area and the first portion of the display.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A system, comprising:
 a display;   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 display: 
   detecting a first touch event on a touch-sensitive input area of a display, the touch-sensitive input area having groups of virtual ambiguous keys arranged approximately radially about a center point;   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 detected first touch event;   outputting displaying a second plurality of words at least two of the determined words to a word option selector list located in on a first area portion of the display, wherein the second plurality of words is a subset of the first plurality of words;   in response to detecting a gesture based second touch of at least one of the first group of virtual ambiguous keys event in a predefined area of the touch-sensitive input area, changing at least one of the second plurality of words to create a third plurality of words displayed in the word option selector list located in the first area of on the display;   emphasizing one of the third plurality of words displayed in the word option selector list based on the first touch and the second touch; and   outputting displaying, in response to detecting a third touch on the touch-sensitive input area, at least one of the emphasized word words in the word option selector list to a second portion area of the display in response to detecting a tap based second touch event in an area selected from the group consisting of: the predefined area and the first portion of the display.   
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , the logic being configured to:
 the second portion area of the display is a current location of a first cursor on the display.   
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 21 , the logic being configured to:
 a character characters of one or more of the second plurality of words in the word option selector list is emphasized on the first portion of the display corresponding to a character characters selected by the first touch event are emphasized.   
     
     
         24 . The system of claim  1 , the logic being configured to:
 the touch-sensitive input area has a second group of virtual ambiguous keys arranged approximately radially about a second center point, wherein the second group of virtually ambiguous keys are different than the first group of virtually ambiguous keys.   
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 24 , the logic being configured to:
 the first center point is located near a corner of the display and the second center point is located near a different corner of the display, wherein the word option selector list is displayed at a location that is positioned horizontally between the first and second groups of virtually ambiguous keys.   
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 21 , the logic being configured to:
 the third touch on the touch-sensitive input area is a swipe gesture that changes the emphasized word in the word option selector list prior to displaying the emphasized word in the second area of the display.   
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 21 , the logic being configured to:
 the first group of virtual ambiguous keys are resized according to a swipe gesture starting at a first location on the touch-sensitive input area and ending at a second location on the touch-sensitive input area.   
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 27 , the logic being configured to:
 the first group of virtual ambiguous keys is enlarged in response to the first location being closer to the first center point than the second location.   
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 21 , the logic being configured to:
 the emphasized word is determined to be most probable for displaying in the second area based on a degree of correlation with the first touch and the second touch.   
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 21 , the logic being configured to:
 the first touch includes a touch of a first virtual ambiguous key representing more than one character and the second touch includes a touch of a second virtual ambiguous key representing more than one character.   
     
     
         31 . A method, comprising:
 detect a first touch event on a touch-sensitive input area of a display, the touch-sensitive input area having groups of virtual ambiguous keys arranged approximately radially about a center point;   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;   determine determining a first plurality of words based on the detected first touch event;   output displaying a second plurality of words at least two of the determined words to a word option selector list located in on a first area portion of the display, wherein the second plurality of words is a subset of the first plurality of words;   in response to detecting a gesture based second touch of at least one of the first group of virtual ambiguous keys event in a predefined area of the touch-sensitive input area, change changing at least one of the second plurality of words to create a third plurality of words displayed in the word option selector list located in the first area of on the display;   emphasizing one of the third plurality of words displayed in the word option selector list based on the first touch and the second touch; and   output displaying, in response to detecting a third touch on the touch-sensitive input area, at least one of the emphasized word words in the word option selector list to a second portion area of the display in response to detecting a tap based second touch event in an area selected from the group consisting of: the predefined area and the first portion of the display.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the touch-sensitive input area has a second group of virtual ambiguous keys arranged approximately radially about a second center point, wherein the second group of virtually ambiguous keys are different than the first group of virtually ambiguous keys. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the first center point is located near a corner of the display and the second center point is located near a different corner of the display. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the third touch on the touch-sensitive input area is a swipe gesture that changes the emphasized word in the word option selector list prior to displaying the emphasized word in the second area of the display. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the first group of virtual ambiguous keys are resized according to a swipe gesture starting at a first location on the touch-sensitive input area and ending at a second location on the touch-sensitive input area. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the first group of virtual ambiguous keys is enlarged in response to the first location being closer to the first center point than the second location. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein a character of one or more of the displayed words in the word option selector list is emphasized corresponding to a character selected by the first touch. 
     
     
         38 . The A system, comprising:
 a display;   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 display: 
   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, based on the detected first touch of a first virtual ambiguous key representing a first group of plurality of characters, a plurality of words wherein each of the plurality of words begins with a first character belonging to the first group of plurality of characters;   displaying at least one of the determined plurality of words to a word option selector list located in a first area of the display;   in response to detecting a second touch of a second virtual ambiguous key representing a second group of plurality of characters on the touch-sensitive input area, changing the displayed words of the word option selector list, wherein each of the displayed words after the change begins with the first character belonging to the first group of plurality of characters and a second character belonging to the second group of plurality of characters; and   emphasizing one of the displayed words of the word option selector list based on the first touch and the second touch.   
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 38 , the logic being configured to:
 a third touch on the touch-sensitive input area is a swipe gesture that changes the emphasized word in the word option selector list prior to displaying the emphasized word in a second area of the display that is different from the first area of the display.   
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 38 , the logic being configured to:
 the first group of virtual ambiguous keys are resized according to a swipe gesture starting at a first location on the touch-sensitive input area and ending at a second location on the touch-sensitive input area.