Patent ID: 8094941

Claim:
A method for recognizing characters, comprising: receiving touch-based input relating to a sequence of strokes at a touch-based interface of a computing device, wherein a first subset of the sequence of strokes corresponds to a first area of the touch-based interface and a second subset of the sequence of strokes corresponds to a second area of the touch-based interface that at least partially overlaps the first area; displaying a graphical representation of the first subset of the sequence of strokes on an output device coupled to the computing device; determining a confidence level that a first character approximately matches the first subset of the sequence of strokes, wherein the confidence level is of at least a first confidence threshold, wherein determining the confidence level further comprises comparing a graphical representation of the first subset of the sequence of strokes to one or more characters of a set of characters, further comprising comparing at least one property of the first subset of the sequence of strokes with a corresponding property of the one or more characters, wherein the at least one property includes one of congruency between the graphical representation of the first subset and the one or more characters, vertical spacing of strokes, horizontal spacing of strokes, crossing of strokes, size of strokes, and number of strokes; altering the display of the graphical representation of the first subset of the sequence of strokes based on the confidence level; and providing the first character for processing by an application executing on the computing device when the confidence level is of at least a second confidence threshold, wherein the application is designed to process characters from touch-based input.