AN INTELLIGENT CHINESE PHONETIC ON-SCREEN VIRTUAL KEYBOARD SYSTEM

Abstract

In this paper, we designed and implemented a user-friendly Chinese phonetic on-screen virtual keyboard key-in system for persons with disabilities. The proposed system inputs the Chinese characters by way of the mouse selecting phonetic symbols. After selecting the initial phonetic symbol, a list of possible phonetic symbol combinations is shown. The proposed system can decrease the number of input clicks needed to select a character, thereby improving typing speed. In addition, the size of the keyboard can be adjusted to increase accuracy and convenience. The system also provides temporary saving and scanning of selections, which makes the keyboard convenient for users. The most frequently typed characters typed by an individual user will be ranked first and this ranking constantly adjusted to facilitate character selection. Moreover, the proposed system shows common combinations of the character typed with other Chinese characters. The system will list all of the possible term correlations for a user to choose from, so that the user spends considerably less time inputting frequently used character combinations. Experimental results showed that the proposed on-screen virtual keyboard system provides an operation interface, which is easier to use, and achieves faster typing speeds compared to two other systems tested.