Alternative hypothesis error correction for gesture typing

A computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to:

• detecting a gesture that selects one or more keys from a plurality of keys of a graphical keyboard;
• generate, based on the one or more keys, an initial plurality of characters selected by the gesture;
• update, based on a word in a dictionary, the initial plurality of characters to include an additional character not selected by the gesture;
• determine whether an alignment score of the gesture matching a selection of the initial plurality of characters with the additional character satisfies a first threshold;
• and
• responsive to determining that the alignment score of the gesture matching the selection of the initial plurality of characters with the additional character does not satisfy the first threshold, determine whether the word in the dictionary is intended by the gesture by at least:
• determining that a substring of the initial plurality of characters matches at least a portion of an alternative plurality of characters intended by the gesture, wherein the alternative plurality of characters is determined from correction data that indicates one or more misspellings of the word in the dictionary;
• determining whether an alternative alignment score of the gesture matching a selection of the at least a portion of the alternative plurality of characters satisfies a second threshold;
• and
• responsive to determining that the alternative alignment score of the gesture matching the selection of the at least a portion of the alternative plurality of characters satisfies the second threshold, outputting, for display, the word in the dictionary as a candidate word.

A computing device comprising:

• a display configured to present a graphical keyboard comprising a plurality of keys;
• a presence-sensitive input component configured to detect a gesture that selects one or more keys from the plurality of keys of the graphical keyboard;
• and
• at least one processor configured to:
• generate, based on the one or more keys, an initial plurality of characters selected by the gesture;
• update, based on a word in a dictionary, the initial plurality of characters to include an additional character not selected by the gesture;
• determine whether an alignment score of the gesture matching a selection of the initial plurality of characters with the additional character satisfies a first threshold;
• and
• responsive to determining that an alignment score of the gesture matching the initial plurality of characters with the additional character does not satisfy a threshold, determine whether the word in the dictionary is intended by the gesture by at least:
• determining that a substring of the initial plurality of characters matches at least a portion of an alternative plurality of characters intended by the gesture, wherein the alternative plurality of characters is determined from correction data that indicates one or more misspellings of the word in the dictionary;
• determining whether an alternative alignment score of the gesture matching a selection of the at least a portion of the alternative plurality of characters satisfies a second threshold;
• and
• responsive to determining that the alternative alignment score of the gesture matching the selection of the at least a portion of the alternative plurality of characters satisfies the second threshold, outputting, for display, the word in the dictionary as a candidate word.