KR101766301B1 - Method and apparatus for inputting character in electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for inputting characters in an electronic device, and a method of inputting characters in an electronic device includes the steps of mapping characters to respective coordinates of a screen, detecting a user's touch on the screen, Searching for a character mapped to coordinates of the detected screen, and outputting a voice signal of the searched character.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for inputting characters in an electronic device,

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a technique for inputting characters in an electronic device, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for inputting characters in a blind person.

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, electronic devices such as mobile communication terminals and portable terminals have been increasingly used. Accordingly, service providers are developing electronic devices with more convenient functions to secure a large number of users. For example, various methods for efficiently inputting characters in electronic devices are being provided. However, since the conventional character input methods are provided for general users, they are difficult to use by the visually impaired.

Conventional electronic devices provide a character input method using speech recognition for the visually impaired. For example, the electronic device recognizes the user's voice and automatically provides a character corresponding to the recognized voice. However, the method of recognizing the voice and inputting the characters has a disadvantage in that if the voice recognition rate is lowered according to the ambient noise, the characters can be erroneously input. In addition, the method of recognizing the voice and inputting characters is disadvantageous when the user is in a situation where it is difficult to speak or when the user is inconvenient to speak.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for inputting characters in an electronic device.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for mapping a character to a coordinate of a touch screen in an electronic device, and sensing a touch operation of the user to input a character.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a character input method and apparatus for mapping a character to coordinates of a touch screen in an electronic device and outputting a character corresponding to a touch coordinate of a user as a voice signal, .

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of inputting characters in an electronic device, the method comprising: mapping characters to respective coordinates of a screen; detecting a user's touch on the screen; Searching for a character mapped to the coordinates of the detected screen, and outputting the voice signal of the searched character.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a character input device for an electronic device, comprising: a sensing unit for sensing a user's touch on the screen; a character mapping unit for mapping a character to each coordinate of the screen; A control unit for searching for a character mapped to coordinates of the detected screen, and a voice output unit for outputting a voice signal of the searched character.

According to the present invention, a character is mapped to a coordinate of a touch screen in an electronic device, and a character corresponding to a user's touch coordinates is output as a voice signal, so that a visually impaired person can input a character more easily, Can be accurately input.

1 is a block diagram of an electronic apparatus according to the present invention,
2 is a diagram illustrating a character input procedure in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention;
3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating a Hangul input procedure in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention,
4 and 5 are diagrams showing a Hangul input method in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention,
6 is a diagram illustrating a phone book function using a Hangul input method in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention;
7 and 8 are diagrams illustrating an English input method in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention;
9 is a diagram illustrating a phonebook function using an English input method in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention;
10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating an English input procedure using word recommendation in an electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
11 and 12 illustrate an English input method using word recommendation in an electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear. In addition, the terms described below are defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, which may vary depending on the intention of the user, the operator, or the custom. Therefore, the definition should be based on the contents throughout this specification.

Hereinafter, a method and an apparatus for mapping a character to a coordinate of a touch screen in an electronic device and detecting a touch operation of the user to input a character will be described.

1 shows a block diagram of an electronic apparatus according to the present invention.

1, the electronic device includes a control unit 100, an input / output unit 110, an audio output unit 120, and a storage unit 130, And the input / output unit 110 includes a touch screen panel 112. The input /

First, the control unit 100 controls and processes the overall operation of the electronic device, and includes the character input control unit 102 according to the present invention to provide a character input method for facilitating the input of characters by the blind And controls and processes the functions.

That is, when the character input mode is entered, the character input control unit 102 controls the function of mapping a character to each coordinate of the touch screen, detecting a user's touch, and outputting a voice signal of a character mapped to the touched coordinate And processing. In addition, the character input control unit 102 detects a user's touch operation (e.g., change of the touch direction, touch release, and the like) and stores and inputs a character corresponding to the touch coordinate or a character corresponding to the last outputted voice signal Control and processing functions for In addition, the character input control unit 102 can switch the character input mode according to the user's touch direction change. For example, when the user's touch moves up and down, the character input control unit 102 operates in a consonant input mode. When the user's touch moves in the left and right direction, the character input control unit 102 switches to a vowel input mode It will be possible. Of course, the character input control unit 102 may control switching from the Hangul input mode to the English input mode when the user's touch direction is switched according to the design method. The character input control unit 102 determines whether or not the character corresponding to the current touch coordinates and the previously input character can be combined. If the character can be combined, the character corresponding to the current touch coordinates and the character previously input And controls and processes a function for outputting a voice signal of a combined character.

The character input control unit 102 can map characters to the coordinates of the touch screen in various ways according to the design method. For example, consonants can be sequentially mapped on each of the Y-axis coordinates of the touch screen, and vowels can be sequentially mapped on each X-axis coordinate. For example, in the case of the Hangul input mode, a method of mapping a consonant "a" to (x, 0), mapping "(b)" to (x, 1), and mapping " , Consonants can be sequentially mapped to the Y axis coordinate irrespective of the x-axis coordinate. Also, in the case of the Hangul input mode, in a manner of mapping vowel "a" to (0, y), "ㅑ" mapping to (1, y), and "ㅓ" The vowels can be mapped in order for the x-axis coordinates, regardless of the y-axis coordinates. Such a character mapping method may be equally applied to the English input mode. Here, the interval of coordinates at which each character is mapped can be set in consideration of the size of the touch screen, and can be changed according to the design method. For example, consonants may be sequentially mapped to (x, 0), (x, 1), (x, 2), ..., 3), (x, 6), ..., (x, y). Also, vowels may be mapped to (0, y), (1, y), (2, y), ..., (x, y) , (4, y), ..., (x, y).

The input / output unit 110 includes a display unit (not shown) for displaying various status information and characters, numbers, and images generated during operation of the electronic device, and an input unit (not shown) for receiving data from the user. In particular, the input / output unit 110 includes the touch screen panel 110 according to the present invention, thereby displaying various information generated during operation of the electronic device through the touch screen panel 110, And provides the coordinates of the touched position to the control unit 100. In particular, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 8, in the character input mode, the touch screen panel 110 displays the characters mapped to the coordinates of the touched position and the coordinates Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > mapped < / RTI > In addition, the touch screen panel 110 may provide the controller 100 with coordinates of the user's touch start position, coordinates corresponding to the touch movement, and coordinates of the touch release position according to the present invention. Here, the controller 100 may detect that the direction of the touch movement has been switched through the coordinates corresponding to the touch movement.

The voice output unit 120 outputs a voice signal generated during operation of the electronic device under the control of the control unit 100. [ In particular, in accordance with the present invention, the voice output unit 120 outputs a voice signal of a character corresponding to the coordinates of the touch position of the user in the character input mode. Here, the voice output unit 120 may receive the digital voice signal stored in the storage unit 130 from the controller 100, convert the digital voice signal into an analog signal, and output the analog voice signal.

The storage unit 130 stores various programs and data necessary for the operation of the electronic apparatus. In particular, according to the present invention, the storage unit 130 stores a table indicating mapping relationships between coordinates of characters and coordinates of the touch screen under the control of the controller 100, and stores voice signals corresponding to the characters . The storage unit 130 stores a table indicating a mapping relationship between coordinates and characters according to a plurality of character input modes under the control of the controller 100. [ For example, the storage unit 130 may include a table indicating a mapping relationship between the Y-axis coordinate and the Korean consonant, a table indicating a mapping relationship between the X-axis coordinate and the Korean vowel, a Y-axis coordinate, A table, a table indicating the mapping relationship between the X axis coordinate and the English vowel, and the like.

2 shows a character input procedure in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, in step 201, the electronic device enters a character input mode. Herein, the entry into the character input mode may be performed through various methods such as pre-set hot key input, voice recognition, double touch, etc., and the specific method is not limited.

The electronic device maps characters to respective coordinates of the screen according to a preset method in step 203 and proceeds to step 205 to detect whether a user touch is generated.

When the user touch is detected, the electronic device proceeds to step 207 and searches for a voice signal of a character mapped to coordinates touched by the user. Then, the electronic device outputs the searched voice signal so that the user can listen to the voice signal.

In step 211, the electronic device checks whether the user's touch is moved or released. That is, the electronic device examines whether the user moves to another position or the user's touch is released while the user does not release the touch.

If the user touch is not released and is dragged and moved to another position, the electronic device proceeds to step 213 and outputs a voice signal of a character mapped to a corresponding coordinate as the touch moves, Lt; / RTI > At this time, the electronic device may sequentially output all the voice signals of the characters mapped to the coordinates included in the path along which the user's touch moves according to the design method, Only when staying, it is possible to output the voice signal of the character mapped to the coordinates of the position. For example, in a state in which characters "a", "b", "c", ..., "" are mapped to coordinates of A, B, C, The audio signals of characters "a", "b", "c" and "d" mapped to positions A, B, C and D are sequentially In this case, if the touch remains below the threshold time at the B position and the C position, and when the touch remains at the A position and the D position for more than the threshold time, the character mapped to the A position and the C position Quot; "and" d ", respectively.

Here, when outputting the voice signal, it is determined whether or not the characters mapped to the coordinates of the current position and the previously input and stored characters can be combined. If possible, the characters mapped to the coordinates of the current position are input and stored previously Characters can be combined to output a voice signal of a combined character. In this case, whether or not the word can be combined can be determined through a previously stored character combination method or a word DB.

On the other hand, when the user touch is released, that is, when the user touches the screen, the electronic device proceeds to step 215 to store and input the character corresponding to the last output voice, The process returns to step 215 and executes the following steps again.

3A and 3B illustrate a Hangul input procedure in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIGS. 3A and 3B, for convenience of description, a case in which a Korean consonant is mapped to a Y-axis coordinate and a Korean vowel is mapped to an X-axis coordinate will be described in detail, for example. However, the description of FIGS. 3A and 3B can be variously modified without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, it is also possible to map consonants of English to Y-axis coordinates and to map consonants of English to X-axis coordinates in the same manner. A Korean or English vowel is mapped to Y-axis coordinates, The same method can be applied to mapping the Korean or English consonants to the X-axis coordinates.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the electronic device enters a character input mode in step 301. FIG. Herein, the entry into the character input mode may be performed through various methods such as pre-set hot key input, voice recognition, double touch, etc., and the specific method is not limited.

In step 303, the electronic device sequentially maps the consonants to the Y-axis coordinates of the screen according to a preset method, and sequentially maps the vowels with respect to the X-axis coordinates. For example, in a manner such that "a" is mapped to (x, 0), "b" is mapped to (x, 1), and "m" is mapped to (0, y), mapping "ㅑ" to (1, y), mapping "ㅓ" to (2, y) , Vowels can be mapped in order for the x-axis coordinate, regardless of the y-axis coordinates. Here, the interval between the coordinates to which each character is mapped may be set considering the size of the touch screen, and may be changed according to the design method. For example, consonants may be mapped to (x, 0), (x, 1), (x, 2) ), (x, 6), ,,, (x, y).

In step 305, the electronic device detects whether a user touch occurs.

When the user touch is detected, the electronic device proceeds to step 307 to check coordinates touched by the user, and searches for a voice signal of a consonant mapped on the Y-axis of the identified coordinates. Thereafter, the electronic device proceeds to step 309 and outputs the searched voice signal so that the user can listen to the voice signal. For example, as shown in Fig. 4 (a), if "b (401) " is mapped to the Y axis coordinate of the position touched by the user, a voice signal" .

In step 311, the electronic device determines whether the user's touch is moved or released. That is, the electronic device examines whether the user moves to another position or the user's touch is released while the user does not release the touch.

If the user touch is released, the electronic device proceeds to step 315 and stores and inputs the character corresponding to the last output speech signal, and returns to step 305 to perform the following steps again. For example, if the last output speech signal is "shiny ", the electronic device recognizes that the letter" a "has been input and stores the letter" b "

On the other hand, if the user touch is not released but moves to another position while maintaining the screen contact, the electronic device proceeds to step 313 to check whether the movement direction of the touch corresponds to the Y axis. If the movement direction of the touch is the movement direction corresponding to the Y axis, the electronic apparatus proceeds to step 317 to search for a voice signal of the consonant mapped to the Y axis coordinate corresponding to the movement position of the touch, And outputs the searched voice signal. For example, as shown in Fig. 4 (a), when the user touches a position mapped with "b " 401 and then moves down while holding the touch, And outputs a speech signal "support" indicating the character "I (403) " mapped to the coordinates.

In step 321, the electronic device checks whether the moving direction of the touch is changed or the touch is released. If the touch direction is not changed and the touch is not released, the electronic device returns to step 317 to re-execute the following steps. On the other hand, if the moving direction of the touch is changed or the touch is released, the electronic device proceeds to step 329. FIG.

If the movement direction of the touch is the movement direction corresponding to the X-axis, the electronic apparatus proceeds to step 323 and searches for the voiced sound of the vowel mapped to the X-axis coordinate corresponding to the movement position of the touch, And outputs the searched voice signal. For example, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), when the user touches a position mapped with "X (403)" and then moves sideways while maintaining the touch, the X axis And outputs a speech signal "" representing the character "(411)" mapped to the coordinates. At this time, the electronic device judges whether or not the character of the voice signal outputted last is combined with the character "", and when it is possible to combine, the electronic device can output the voice signal of the character combining the two characters. For example, as shown in Fig. 4 (a), when the last output speech signal is "Supported ", the letter" Quot; low "when the character" 411 "corresponding to the X-axis coordinate of the position where the touch has moved can be combined.

In step 327, the electronic device checks whether the moving direction of the touch is changed or the touch is released. If the touch direction is not changed and the touch is not released, the electronic device returns to step 312 and re-executes the following steps. On the other hand, if the moving direction of the touch is changed or the touch is released, the electronic device proceeds to step 329. FIG.

The electronic device checks whether the direction of movement of the user's touch is changed or not in step 329. If the direction of movement of the user's touch is changed, the electronic device returns to step 313. If the user's touch is released, And stores and inputs the character corresponding to the last output speech signal. Thereafter, the electronic device returns to step 305 and re-executes the following steps.

Hereinafter, a method of inputting characters based on the above description will be described as an example.

4 and 5 illustrate a Hangul input method in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4, when the user touches a predetermined position on the screen, the electronic device outputs the voice signal "Nin " of the consonant" b 401 "mapped to the Y- Detects that the touch moves down while maintaining the screen contact, and outputs the audio signal "i" of " I (403) " mapped to the Y axis coordinate of the moved position. At this time, the electronic device can temporarily store the character "X" and display it on the corresponding character input window. Then, when the touch moves to the left while maintaining the screen contact, the electronic device confirms "411" mapped to the X-axis coordinate of the moved position, Quot; (403) "to generate the character" low ", and outputs the corresponding voice signal "low. &Quot; Here, the electronic device updates the temporarily stored character "X" to the character "low ", and displays" X " Then, when the user touch moves upward again while maintaining the screen contact, the electronic device confirms "b 401" mapped to the Y axis coordinate of the moved position, And generates a character "before" in combination with "low ", and outputs a voice signal" before " At this time, the electronic device updates the temporarily stored "low" to "before ", and when the user touch is released, the electronic device can determine and store the" previous "as an input character.

5, when the user touches the screen again, the electronic device outputs a voice signal "mute" of the consonant "501" mapped to the Y-axis coordinate of the touch position. At this time, the electronic device can temporarily store the character "?" And display it on the corresponding character input window. Then, when the user's touch moves to the left while maintaining the contact with the screen, the electronic device confirms "511" mapped to the X-axis coordinate of the moved position, (501) "to generate the character" L ", and outputs the corresponding voice signal "L ". Here, the electronic device updates and stores the temporarily stored character "CI" to the character "CI ", and changes" KI " Then, when the user touch moves upward again while maintaining the screen contact, the electronic device confirms "b (521) " mapped to the Y axis coordinate of the moved position, And generates a character "MIN" in combination with "MUSIC ", and outputs a voice signal" MIN " At this time, the electronic device updates the temporarily stored "minor" to "minor ", and when the user touch is released, the electronic device can determine and store the" minor "as an input character.

Accordingly, the electronic device can display on the screen that the "all people" has been input according to the user's touch.

6 illustrates a phone book function using a Hangul input method in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, when the user touches the screen with multi-touch, for example, with two or more fingers in a state in which the word "All" is input, Search function can be performed. In other words, the electronic device can search for information corresponding to the "all citizen" among the information stored in the memory. For example, the electronic device may search for a user name that includes "all people" in the phone book, and map the retrieved user name to each coordinate of the screen. At this time, when the user's multi-touch moves down (601) while maintaining the screen contact state, the electronic device confirms the user name mapped to the coordinates of the movement position of the multi-touch, Can be output. That is, as shown in the figure, when the name mapped to the coordinates of the movement of the multi-touch of the user is "Jeon Min Wook 611 ", the electronic device outputs a voice signal corresponding to the name" Jeon Min Wook ". At this time, when the user touches the corresponding position for a predetermined time or longer, the electronic device can perform a function of transmitting a call to a telephone number corresponding to the "Jun-Min Wook 611 ".

Herein, a description has been given of searching for a name including the input "full name" in the phonebook of the electronic device. However, if the electronic device includes a word database, It is also possible to search for words.

7 and 8 illustrate an English input method in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the method of inputting alphabet in the electronic device is similar to the method of inputting Hangul in Korean, but unlike the case in which consonants are not consecutively included in one syllable in Hangul, consonants can be continuously input in English, In addition, a method of recognizing the diagonal touch and inputting consonants is added.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the user touches the screen, the electronic device outputs the voice signal "C" of the consonant "C (701) " mapped to the Y- At this time, the electronic device can temporarily store the character "C (701) " and display it on the corresponding character input window. Then, when the touch of the user moves down the diagonal line while maintaining the contact with the screen, the electronic device determines that the voice signal "H (eit?) Of the consonant" H (711) "mapped to the Y- ]) " At this time, since the electronic device has changed the moving direction of the user's touch after outputting the voice signal of the consonant "C (701) ", the character " C (701)" ([Si]), H ([eit?]) "Corresponding to the two characters can be output. At this time, the electronic device temporarily stores the letters "C (701)" and "H (711) ", and displays the two characters in the character input window. Then, when the user touch moves down while maintaining the screen contact, the electronic device sets the audio signal " R ([aːr]) "of" R (713) " mapped to the Y- Output. At this time, after the electronic device outputs the voice signals of "C (si)" and H ("eit") ", the direction of movement of the user's touch is changed so that the letters" C " ([Si]), H ([eit?]), R [a? R]) "corresponding to the three characters can be output. If the user touch moves to the left while maintaining the screen contact, the electronic device outputs a voice signal of "I (715)" mapped to the X axis of the movement position. At this time, the electronic device can output the voice signal "CHRI ([kri])" of "CHRI" by combining the previously input characters "CHR" and "I".

Accordingly, as shown in Fig. 8, the electronic device can display on the screen that "CHRI" is inputted according to the user's touch.

FIG. 9 illustrates a phonebook function using an English input method in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, when the user inputs the word "CHRI" and the user multi-touches the screen with two or more fingers, the electronic device can perform a search function for the input "CHRI ". That is, the electronic device can retrieve information corresponding to the "CHRI" from the information stored in the memory. For example, the electronic device may search for a user name including "CHRI" in the phone book, and map the retrieved user name to each coordinate of the screen. At this time, when the user's multi-touch moves down while maintaining the screen contact state (801), the electronic device confirms the user name mapped to coordinates of the movement position of the multi-touch, Can be output. That is, as shown in the figure, when the name mapped to the coordinates of the user's multi-touch is "CHRISS (811)", the electronic device outputs a voice signal corresponding to the name "CHRISS". At this time, when the user touches the corresponding position for a predetermined time or longer, the electronic device may perform a function of transmitting a call to a telephone number corresponding to the "CHRISS (811) ".

As described above, in the present invention, consonants and vowels are sequentially mapped in the Y-axis coordinate and the X-axis coordinate of the screen, and a voice signal of a character mapped at a position touched by the user is output, It is possible to input each character included in a word to be input. However, in the case of an English word, silence and similar pronunciation exist, so that it may be difficult for a blind person to input a desired word only by the above-described method. Accordingly, the present invention provides an English input method using word recommendation.

10A and 10B illustrate an English input procedure using word recommendation in an electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention. Here, the description will be made by taking as an example a case where both the consonant and vowel of English alphabets are mapped on the Y-axis coordinate and only the vowels of the alphabet are mapped on the X-axis coordinate. However, the same can be applied to mapping both consonants and vowels of alphabet letters to the X-axis coordinate and mapping only vowels of the alphabet to the Y-axis coordinate. In addition, the word recommendation method described below may be applied in the same manner at the time of inputting Hangul.

Referring to FIGS. 10A and 10B, the electronic device enters an English input mode in step 1001. FIG. Here, the entry into the English input mode may be performed through various methods such as a preset hot key input, a voice recognition, a double touch, etc., and the specific method is not limited.

In step 1003, the electronic device sequentially maps consonants and vowels of English characters to Y-axis coordinates of the screen according to a preset method, and sequentially maps collections of English characters to X-axis coordinates. For example, in a manner such that "A" is mapped to (x, 0), "B" is mapped to (x, 1), and "C" (1, y) is mapped to (1, y), and (2, y) is mapped to "I" E, I, O, U, and Y with respect to the x-axis coordinate, regardless of the y-axis coordinates. Here, the interval between the coordinates to which each character is mapped may be set considering the size of the touch screen, and may be changed according to the design method. For example, consonants may be mapped to (x, 0), (x, 1), (x, 2) ), (x, 6), ,,, (x, y).

In step 1005, the electronic device determines whether a user touch is generated.

When the user touch is detected, the electronic device proceeds to step 1007 and outputs a voice signal of a character mapped to the Y-axis coordinate of the position touched by the user. For example, as shown in Fig. 11 (a), when "E" is mapped to the Y-axis coordinate of the position touched by the user, a voice signal indicating "E" is output.

In step 1009, the electronic device checks whether the user's touch is moved or the touch direction is switched. If the user touch is dragged and moved to another position on the screen, the electronic device returns to step 1007 and outputs a voice signal of a character mapped to the Y-axis coordinate of the touch position of the user. For example, as shown in Fig. 11 (a), after the audio signal indicating "E" is output, the touch of the user moves in the Y-axis direction and the position of "Y" When staying, it outputs a voice signal indicating "L ".

On the other hand, if the moving direction of the user's touch is switched, the electronic device proceeds to step 1011 and stores a character corresponding to the finally output voice signal as a first input character. For example, when the user's touch moves in the Y-axis direction, an audio signal of "E" is output, and thereafter a voice signal of "L " L "as the first input character.

In step 1013, the electronic device checks whether the user's touch moves in the X-axis direction or in the diagonal direction. If the user touch moves in the X-axis direction, the electronic instrument proceeds to step 1015 and outputs a vowel sound signal of the vowel mapped to the X-axis coordinate of the user touch position. For example, as shown in FIG. 11 (b), when the touch of the user moves in the X-axis direction and remains at the position where "0" is mapped in the X-axis coordinate, a voice signal indicating "O" is output .

On the other hand, if the user touch moves in the Y axis direction, the electronic device proceeds to step 1017 and outputs a voice signal of a character mapped to the Y axis coordinate of the user touch position. For example, as shown in Fig. 12 (a), after the user touch outputs and stores the audio signal of "A ", the user touches the diagonal direction as shown in Fig. 12 (b) P "remains in the mapped position, the electronic device outputs a voice signal indicating the" P ".

In step 1019, the electronic device determines whether a word recommendation event is generated. That is, the electronic device checks whether an event for performing a function of recommending a word including the input characters up to now is generated. The word recommendation event may be generated by various methods such as the user's cancellation of touch, multi-touch, menu selection, and shortcut key input, and the present invention is not limited to a specific method.

When the word recommendation event is not generated, the electronic device returns to step 1013 and re-executes the process of outputting the voice signal of the character according to the touch direction of the user.

If the word recommendation event is generated, the electronic device proceeds to step 1021 and stores the character corresponding to the finally output speech signal as the second input character.

In step 1023, the electronic apparatus searches for words having a high frequency of use among words including the first input character and the second input character in a word database stored and designed in advance, and in step 1025, Map on each of the screen coordinates. For example, as shown in Fig. 11 (c), when a word recommendation event is generated when the user inputs "L" and "O" through touching, the electronic device transmits a word , "LOVE, LONG, LOG, LOW ...", and maps the searched words to each Y-axis coordinate on the screen. 12 (c), when a word recommendation event is generated with the user inputting "A" and "P" through the touch, the electronic device generates words "APPLE" , APPL, APART ... ", and maps the searched words to the Y-axis coordinates of the screen. Here, the electronic device may search for the recommended words in the order of the highest frequency of use among the words including the first input character and the second input character, and the electronic device may include the first input character and the second input character It is also possible to search for the recommended words in the order of higher priority in the preset words. In addition, the electronic device may preferentially map the words having high frequency of use or high priority to a position where the user can easily touch. For example, if the user maintains a touch on the screen of the electronic device, the electronic device maps the frequency of use or proximity to the touch location of the user, It is possible to use a method of mapping the touch location of the user to a remote place.

In step 1027, the electronic device recognizes the user's touch and outputs a voice signal of a word mapped to the touch position. In step 1027, the electronic device determines whether the user's touch is canceled or a word corresponding to the output voice signal is selected Check whether an event occurs. If the user touch is not released and an event for selecting a word corresponding to the output speech signal is not generated, the electronic device returns to step 1027 to output a speech signal of a word mapped to the touch position of the user Re-execute the process.

If the user touch is canceled or an event for selecting a word corresponding to the output speech signal is generated, the electronic device proceeds to step 1031 and transmits the word of the speech signal lastly output from the electronic device to the user It is decided by input word. For example, as shown in FIG. 11 (c), in a state in which words "LOVE, LONG, LOG, LOW ..." including "LO" are mapped to respective Y- Quot; LOVE " is mapped, the electronic device outputs the voice signal of "LOVE ", and then determines" LOVE " as an input word when the user touch is released. APPLE "," APPL ", and" APART ... "that include" AP "are mapped to the respective Y-axis coordinates on the screen as shown in FIG. 12 (c) When the user moves to the mapped position, the electronic device outputs the voice signal of "APPLE ", and then determines" APPLE " as an input word when the user touch is released.

Thereafter, the electronic device terminates the algorithm according to the present invention.

In the above-described Figs. 10 to 12, a method of searching for a recommended word after receiving two English characters from a user in the electronic device has been described as an example. However, after inputting three or more English characters according to the design method, It is natural that it can be done.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited by the illustrated embodiments, but should be determined by the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

100: control unit 102: character input control unit
110: input / output unit 112: touch screen panel
120: audio output unit 130: storage unit

Claims (20)

A method of an electronic device,
Displaying the first group of characters on the first direction based on the first point, corresponding to receiving a first input on a first point of the display of the electronic device, in a state of operating in a character input mode; ,
And dragging in the first direction and the first direction among the displayed first character groups based on that the direction of the drag input received while the first input is held is changed from the first direction to the second direction, Determining a character corresponding to a distance between a second point at which input is terminated as a first character and displaying a second character group in the second direction,
The character corresponding to the distance between the second point and the third point at which the drag input ends is determined as the second character among the displayed second character groups based on the end of the drag input in the second direction Operation,
Outputting a speech signal corresponding to a word determined based on the first character and the second character through an output of the electronic device.
The method according to claim 1,
Displaying the first character on the screen of the electronic device corresponding to determining the first character,
Further comprising displaying the second character on the screen of the electronic device in response to determining the second character.
The method according to claim 1,
Outputting a first speech signal corresponding to the first character through an output of the electronic device in response to determining the first character;
And outputting a second voice signal corresponding to the second character through an output of the electronic device, corresponding to determining the second character.
The method according to claim 1,
Contains consonants,
Wherein the second character group comprises:
How to include vowels.
The method of claim 1, wherein outputting a speech signal corresponding to a word determined based on the first character and the second character through an output of the electronic device,
Determining whether the first character and the second character can be combined,
And outputting the combined word corresponding to determining that the first character and the second character can be combined.
The method according to claim 1,
Detecting a second input to the screen of the electronic device;
Retrieving at least one word associated with the word in a database in the electronic device corresponding to detecting the second input;
Displaying the retrieved at least one word;
Further comprising outputting a speech signal corresponding to the selected one word corresponding to detecting a third input for selecting one of the displayed at least one word.
7. The apparatus of claim 6,
A method for multi-touch on a screen.
The system according to claim 6,
A word database, or a phone number database.
The method of claim 8,
Determining whether the third input is maintained for a particular time on the one of the at least one words;
Determining a telephone number associated with the one word in the telephone number database, corresponding to determining that the third input is maintained for the specified time,
And sending a call to the determined telephone number.
The method of claim 8,
Determining whether the third input is maintained for a particular time on the one of the at least one words,
Further comprising determining an input word associated with the one word in the word database, corresponding to determining that the third input is maintained for the specified time.
In an electronic device,
A memory for storing instructions,
A display unit,
At least one processor electrically connected to the memory,
A processor coupled to the processor,
Displaying a first group of characters in a first direction based on the first point, corresponding to receiving a first input to a first point of a display of the electronic device, in a state of operating in a character input mode,
And dragging in the first direction and the first direction among the displayed first character groups based on that the direction of the drag input received while the first input is held is changed from the first direction to the second direction, Determining a character corresponding to a distance between a second point at which input is terminated as a first character and displaying a second character group in the second direction,
The character corresponding to the distance between the second point and the third point at which the drag input ends is determined as the second character among the displayed second character group based on the end of the drag input in the second direction ,
And to execute the stored instructions to output a speech signal corresponding to a word determined based on the first character and the second character through an output of the electronic device.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor comprises:
Displaying the first character on the screen of the electronic device corresponding to determining the first character,
And responsive to determining the second character, to execute the stored instructions to display the second character on a screen of the electronic device.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor comprises:
Outputting a first voice signal corresponding to the first character through an output unit of the electronic device,
Corresponding to determining the second character, to execute the stored instructions to output a second voice signal corresponding to the second character through the output of the electronic device.
12. The method of claim 11,
Contains consonants,
Wherein the second character group comprises:
≪ / RTI >
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor comprises:
Determining whether the first character and the second character can be combined,
Wherein the processor is further configured to execute the stored instructions to output the combined word corresponding to determining that the first character and the second character can be combined.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor comprises:
Detecting a second input to the screen of the electronic device,
Corresponding to detecting said second input, retrieving at least one word associated with said word in a database in said electronic device,
Displaying the retrieved at least one word,
And to execute the stored instructions to output a speech signal corresponding to the selected one word, corresponding to detecting a third input for selecting one of the displayed at least one word.
17. The system of claim 16,
A multi-touch electronic device for a screen.
18. The system of claim 16,
A word database, or a phone number database.
19. The system of claim 18,
Determine whether the third input is maintained for a certain time on the one of the at least one words,
Determining a telephone number associated with the one word in the telephone number database, corresponding to determining that the third input is maintained for the specified time,
And to execute the stored instructions to originate a call to the determined telephone number.
19. The system of claim 18,
Determine whether the third input is maintained for a particular time on the one of the at least one words,
And to execute the stored instructions to determine an input word associated with the one word in the word database, corresponding to determining that the third input is maintained for the specified time.

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