[Banana]

I got an email that tries to tell me how what wonderful tech is coming around the corner, but doesn't give out any relevent info (who made this, where, how, etc), and only gave me a link to, you guess it, spam.

However, the pics below rings somehow of plausiblity, so my curiousity has been piqued; do you who know about this more than I do can tell whether this is in foreseeable future, or whether someone has been photoshopping and smoking crack too much?

Future Tech

edit= pic changed to a link due to size.

[pmazer]

As far as I know, these do exist, but they're quite expensive and require the correct surface to work.

[GWARREN]

I have a feeling I have seen stuff about this kind of keyboard before. Hmmm

[Brad]

Yeah, it's not new. There was a PDA in the works about a year ago that projected a keyboard like that. I don't remember what brand it was, though.

[Wickers]

I wonder if any of them actually work as pens...

[Banana]

It's just a bit annoying that they spread this chain to everyone, but doesn't give any means to back it up or even make money (Let's say it was Verizon's- they could just use it to direct traffic to their site), but the email was full of barker's comments ("ZOMG! Future is h3r3! say g00dby3 to p@$t!!! LOLLERSKATES!") and a spam link that I can only assume didn't even have any resemblance to what they're presenting.

It's just a cool toy.

[ghoti]

I believe Siemens demonstrated something similar for mobile phones. I think it's not going to be possible any time soon, simply because of the power requirements. If you want to project something onto a surface, even if it's small, you have to use a certain minimal amount of power to be able to see that. And even if your projection system doesn't lose any energy, that's still a tall order for a battery that would fit into a pen. So it's a nice idea, but I think for the next couple of years we'll be stuck with lugging large projectors around and having to plug them into main power - and with old-fashioned mechanical keyboards.

[Reid]

Heh... they had one of those laser keyboards on CSI Miami a week or two ago. Dusted for prints on a desk and figured out somebody's password or something.

[torifile]

There's no way that's new.



That's an m505/515, a PDA from at least 2 years ago.

[atomicbartbeans]

Yeah... looks like a bunch of crappy mockups to me.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by atomicbartbeans Yeah... looks like a bunch of crappy mockups to me.

Crappy mockups or not, there have been real demonstrations of this technology. It's not all fiction.

[709]

Originally Posted by Brad Yeah, it's not new. There was a PDA in the works about a year ago that projected a keyboard like that. I don't remember what brand it was, though.

I remember that too...but Google wasn't very forthcoming with any info. I did find teh Virtual Laser Keyboard!, though.

[ThunderPoit]

ya, the keyboards biggest problem was that your fingers would block the light so you couldnt really see if you were touching in the right spot

[ghoti]

Dang! I bet they didn't think of that!

[Banana]

If you're a touch typist, this shouldn't be a problem, right?

Though, typing on flat surface may be bit more disorienting than typing on regular keyboard because there's no "transition" between rows.

[ghoti]

The tactile feedback also sucks. But this keyboard isn't supposed to be used to write a book, it's for quickly typing in a few sentences where you don't want to lug around a normal keyboard. It was developed for PDAs and smartphones.

And as for not seeing the keys: The light comes from the "top", so there's little blocking out. You don't see where your fingers hit the keys on your keyboard either, because your fingers block your sight. But since you can see where your fingers are going, you can still hit the keys.

I just don't get why everybody's trying to find a fault here or wants to call it a fake, just because it's a bit out of the ordinary. It has its niche, just like Apple

[bspears@mac.com]

That thing was on an episode of CSI Miami. The bad guy, in the case the bad girl, used it to secretly type corporate secrets to her blog while at work.

[ThunderPoit]

the problem is that if your fingers are where the home row should be, you are blocking the light that is supposed to show you the lower row of keys.

[ghoti]

I still don't see how that's different from those old-fashioned horse-drawn keyboards:

If you don't know what keys are under your hands, you have to lift your fingers either way. There may be a bit more occlusion here, but it's really not too bad. And having such a thing built into a cell phone definitely beats lugging around any kind of physical keyboard.

[Banana]

In short, laser keyboard isn't for "hunt and peck" typists.

[ghoti]

Yes, it is! It's perfect for them! They have to lift their hands from the keyboard to hunt for the next key to peck at anyways ...

[Mikester]

The lazer keyboard is real, but expensive:

http://www.iwantoneofthose.com/searc...uctCode=PROKEY

It's only a matter of time before the other stuff in the pics becomes mainstream - they don't look that unbelieveable.

[fisha]

Yup, the laser keyboard is real, and my brother is seriously looking at getting some for his practice.

He's a dentist and often has to update patient details on the computer. With the laser keyboard, he can project the keys onto the bench, and when he's done he simply has to wipe the bench clean with dis-infectant.

That way sterilisation is kept a top priority and there is no possible transfer through a dirty keyboard.