JP5045446B2 - Character input device, character input support method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to character input, and is particularly suitable for character input in a character input device such as a mobile phone terminal in which the number of keys that can be mounted is limited.

  In recent years, even for portable terminals that are difficult to occupy a large space for operation devices for user interfaces, as with a general personal computer, a character input / editing function or connection to the Internet displays a web page, etc. Functions are provided.

  In particular, in the case of a mobile phone terminal which is an example of a mobile terminal, there are limited operation devices for inputting and editing characters, so-called numeric keys (number keys “0” to “9”), “#”, “ The symbol key “*” is used, and up, down, left, and right arrow keys (cross keys) are used as an operation device for moving the cursor and scrolling the screen.

  It is considerably difficult to input characters, for example, an e-mail, with a mobile phone terminal as compared with a normal personal computer. For this reason, various methods for reducing the burden of character input operations have been proposed.

For example, as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3, many recent mobile phone terminals are equipped with a so-called prediction function as a support function when a user performs character input. There are various methods for the prediction function. Basically, based on the characters or words that have already been entered or entered characters, words, phrases, etc. that the user is going to input will be input candidates. And a list of them is displayed on the screen. By doing this, the user can realize the input of the target character string by selecting a desired input candidate from the displayed list without inputting all of the target character string.
JP 2002-169644 A JP 2002-351601 A JP 2007-206978 A

  By the way, in the mobile phone terminal, one input key is assigned to a plurality of characters, and the input character is specified by the number of times of pressing. For example, in the “ka” line button, “ka”, “ki”, “ku”, “ke”, “ko” depending on the number of times of pressing once, twice, three times, four times, and five times. Is identified.

  The methods disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3 predict a character string starting from the character or a character string including the character as input candidates based on the character input by the user.

  For example, when the “ka” line button of the mobile phone terminal is pressed once, “return”, “home” and the like are predicted as input candidates, and when the “ka” line button is pressed twice, “Listen” and “Today” are predicted as input candidates. In order to input the word “word”, it is necessary to press the “ka” row button at least five times and to perform a selection operation after “word” is displayed in the list.

  One aspect of the present invention is an input device. A display unit having a plurality of input keys assigned to a plurality of characters, an input unit having a plurality of input keys assigned to a plurality of characters, and an input candidate is predicted and displayed on the display unit when the input key is pressed. And a history storage unit that stores input candidates determined as target inputs among a plurality of input candidates displayed by the display unit and input keys in association with each other. The prediction unit preferentially displays each input candidate stored in the history storage unit in association with the pressed input key on the display unit.

  Another aspect of the present invention is an input support method. In this method, when an input key assigned to a plurality of characters is pressed, a first step of predicting and displaying input candidates and a target input among the displayed input candidates are determined. A second step of storing the input candidate and the input key in association with each other as an input history is provided. In the first step, each input candidate included in the input history of the pressed input key is preferentially displayed.

  It should be noted that what is expressed as a system or a program that causes a computer to execute the method is also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

  According to the technology according to the present invention, it is possible to further reduce the operation burden of character input in a character input device such as a mobile phone terminal in which the number of keys that can be mounted is limited.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic front external configuration of a mobile phone terminal 100 according to the present embodiment. In order to make the gist of the present invention easy to understand, the cellular phone terminal 100 is described and illustrated with respect to the portions related to the technology according to the present invention, and is not particularly related, and the portions normally provided in the cellular phone terminal are described and illustrated. Is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile phone terminal 100 includes a display 110 serving as a display unit and an input unit 120. The input unit 120 includes a plurality of input keys 130 serving as key buttons. These input keys are numeric keys “0” to “9” and “#” and “*” for inputting telephone numbers and characters. The symbol key is provided. Each numeric key is assigned to a plurality of characters so that the “2” button is assigned to the number “2”, the “K” line of Kana, and the English letters “A, B, C”. Although not shown, the input unit 120 also includes an arrow key (cross key), an utterance key, an enter key, a clear key, an end / power key, and the like that are used for cursor movement and menu advancement.

  When any of the numeric keys is pressed in the character input mode, the input unit 120 displays information indicating the pressed numeric keypad, the number of times of pressing, “alphabetic characters”, “numbers”, “kanji / hizana”, “symbols”. And the type of the input mode such as “” is output as input information to the prediction unit 150 described later. The display 110 displays a list of input candidates output by the prediction unit 150 according to the input information. Thereafter, when the user moves the cursor by pressing the arrow key and determines the input candidate indicated by the cursor as the target input by pressing the enter key, the input unit 120 displays the information indicating the numeric keypad and the identified input candidate. It outputs to the control part 160 mentioned later as finalization information.

  FIG. 2 shows a schematic internal configuration of the mobile phone terminal 100 shown in FIG. As illustrated, a database 140, a prediction unit 150, and a control unit 160 are provided inside the mobile phone terminal 100.

  The database 140 has a basic dictionary 142 and an input history 144. When receiving the input information from the input unit 120, the prediction unit 150 selects input candidates from the basic dictionary 142 and the input history 144 based on the input information, and outputs and displays them on the display 110. When receiving the confirmation information from the input unit 120, the control unit 160 updates the input history 144 based on the confirmation information.

  FIG. 3 shows the input history 144. The input history 144 stores a numeric keypad and a character string input via the numeric keypad in association with each other. “Character string input via the numeric keypad” means a character string that is determined after the numeric key is pressed, regardless of the input mode when the numeric key is pressed and the number of times the key is pressed. As shown in FIG. 3, “rest” input in “Kanji / Hiragana” mode is stored as the input history for the numeric keypad “1”, and “word, Friday” is stored for the numeric keypad “2”. , BANK "is stored as an input history.

  The input history 144 is updated by the control unit 160 every time there is confirmation information from the input unit 120. Further, the input history 144 stores character strings input in the past for each numeric keypad in order from the character string input later. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 3, among the character strings “word, Friday, BANK” input in the past via the numeric keypad “2”, “word” is the character string last input, and “BANK” Is the first input string.

  The prediction unit 150 will be described by taking the case where the input history 144 is in the state shown in FIG. 3 and the numeric keypad “2” is pressed once in the “Kanji / Hiragana” mode.

  First, the prediction unit 150 selects an input history “word, Friday, BANK” corresponding to the pressed numeric keypad “2” from the input history 144 as an input candidate. Then, from the basic dictionary 142, a word starting from the character “ka” corresponding to the type of input mode (here “Kanji / Hiragana”) and the number of times the numeric keypad “2” is pressed (here, once) is selected as an input candidate. To do.

  The prediction unit 150 outputs and displays each input candidate selected from the input history 144 and the basic dictionary 142 on the display 110. In the display, the input candidates selected from the input history 144 are preferentially displayed, and these input candidates are displayed in the order from the last input.

  FIG. 4 shows a display screen of the display 110 at this time. As illustrated, each input candidate “word, Friday, BANK” selected from the input history 144 is displayed in front of each input candidate “hard, Kataoka, enemy” selected from the basic dictionary 142. Each input candidate selected from the input history 144 is displayed in the order from the last input, that is, words, Friday, and BANK.

  It is assumed that “Friday” indicated by a dotted frame in the drawing is selected and confirmed by the user with respect to the input candidate list displayed as shown in FIG. With the determination of “Friday”, the input unit 120 outputs information indicating the numeric keypad “2” and information indicating the character string “Friday” to the control unit 160 as determination information.

  The control unit 160 updates the input history of the numeric keypad indicated by the information included in the confirmation information with respect to the input history 144. As shown in FIG. 5, in this case, the character string included in the input history of the numeric keypad “2” does not change, but the input history 144 is stored so that “Friday” is stored as the last input character string. Updated.

  Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that “Kataoka” indicated by the dotted frame is selected and confirmed by the user. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, in the input history 144, the input history of the numeric keypad “2” is updated to “Kataoka, words, Friday, BANK”.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of the above process. When the prediction unit 150 receives input information from the input unit 120, first, the prediction unit 150 includes the input history corresponding to the ten key in the input history 144 based on the information indicating the pressed ten key included in the reception information. Each character string is selected as an input candidate (S10, S20). Then, the prediction unit 150 selects input candidates from the basic dictionary 142 based on the information indicating the pressed numeric keypad, the number of times pressed, and the input mode included in the received information received in step S10 (S30).

  The prediction unit 150 outputs each input candidate selected in steps S20 and S30 to the display 110, gives priority to the input candidates selected from the input history 144, and those input candidates are the ones input last. Are displayed in this order (S40).

  As the target input is confirmed from the list for the input candidates displayed on the display 110, the control unit 160 inputs the numeric keypad to the input history 144 based on the confirmed information from the input unit 120. The history is updated (S60).

  As described above, according to the cellular phone terminal 100 of the present embodiment, the character string input in the past via the numeric keypad for inputting characters is associated with the numeric keypad and stored as the input history, and the input candidate is predicted. Sometimes, each character string included in the input history of the pressed numeric keypad is selected as an input candidate, and is displayed with priority over the input candidate selected from the basic dictionary. By doing so, for example, when the word “word” is input for the second time and thereafter, the user simply presses the numeric keypad “2” once, and “word” is displayed in the list of input candidates. The technology can reduce the burden of user input operations.

  In addition, in a user's input operation, there is a tendency that the frequency of inputting a recently input character string again is high. Therefore, in the mobile phone terminal 100 of the present embodiment, when displaying the input candidates selected from the input history, the input candidates are displayed in order from the last input candidate. By doing this, input candidates that are likely to be selected are displayed first, so the number of cursor movement operations until the user reaches the target input can be reduced, further reducing the burden of character input operations. can do.

  In the above, this invention was demonstrated based on the Example. The examples are illustrative, and various changes and increases / decreases may be added without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that modifications to which these changes and increases / decreases are also within the scope of the present invention.

  For example, in this embodiment, the technology according to the present invention is applied to a mobile phone terminal, but the technology according to the present invention assigns and inputs a plurality of characters to each numeric keypad of a personal computer as well as other mobile terminals. It can also be applied to systems that do.

  In the description of the present embodiment, character strings are illustrated for input candidates. However, the technology according to the present invention uses any one or a combination of letters, words, numbers, symbols, and pictograms. It can be applied to input candidates.

1 is an external view of a mobile phone terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the mobile telephone terminal shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of an input history. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a list of input candidates and a target input selection example in the case of the input history example illustrated in FIG. 3 (part 1); It is a figure which shows the update example of an input history (the 1). FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a list of input candidates and a target input selection example in the case of the input history example illustrated in FIG. 3 (part 2); It is a figure which shows the example of update of an input history (the 2). It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process in the mobile telephone terminal shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Mobile phone terminal 110 Display 120 Input part 130 Input key 140 Database 142 Basic dictionary 144 Input history 150 Prediction part 160 Control part

Claims (7)

A display unit;
The input key assigned a plurality of characters and a plurality Yes, an input unit that performs an input on the basis of specified input mode among the plurality of input modes,
When the input key is pressed, a prediction unit that predicts input candidates and displays them on the display unit;
A history storage unit that stores an input candidate that is confirmed as a target input among the plurality of input candidates displayed by the display unit and an input key that is used to input the input candidate in association with each other. With
The prediction unit can input each input candidate stored in the history storage unit in association with the pressed input key (in an input mode other than the input mode specified when the input key is pressed). input apparatus characterized by displaying on the display unit preferentially a includes an input candidate). The predicting unit displays each input candidate stored in the history storage unit in association with the pressed input key in the order from the input candidate that has been confirmed most recently. The input device described. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the input candidates are any one or a combination of letters, words, numbers, symbols, and pictograms. A first step of predicting and displaying input candidates when an input key assigned to a plurality of characters is pressed in a designated input mode of the plurality of input modes ;
A second step of associating an input candidate determined as a target input among a plurality of displayed input candidates and an input key used for inputting the input candidate as an input history; ,
Each input candidate included in the input history of the input key pressed in the first step ( input candidates that can be input in an input mode other than the input mode specified when the input key is pressed) input assist method for causing preferentially display the the including). 5. The display device according to claim 4, wherein, in the first step, each input candidate included in the input history of the input key that has been pressed is displayed in order from the input candidate that has been confirmed most recently. Input support method. A first procedure for predicting and displaying input candidates when an input key assigned to a plurality of characters is pressed in a designated input mode of the plurality of input modes ;
A second procedure of associating an input candidate determined as a target input among a plurality of displayed input candidates and an input key used for inputting the input candidate as an input history; A program for causing a computer to execute
In the first procedure, each input candidate included in the input history of the input key that was pressed ( input candidates that can be input in an input mode other than the input mode specified when the input key is pressed) program for causing preferentially display the the including). 7. The input procedure included in the input history of the input key that has been pressed in the first procedure is displayed in the order from the input candidate that has been confirmed most recently. program.

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