Slashdot Mirror
Virtual Keyboard a Reality
billmaly writes "Yahoo has a photo and blurb here about a Virtual Keyboard
That shows a photo and bit of text on a virtual keyboard for Palm and other mobile devices. Applications seen for mobile computing, as well as areas where a standard, physical keyboard are not practical. Very cool stuff from Siemens!"
Reminds me of this
Guvf vf abg n EBG zrffntr
to make this a useable virtual touchpad as well.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain with all your metadata.
Im not the most laser specialist person in the world, so can anyone explain how the heck this thing will identify which key im "pressing" on the table?? another question: is that table in the picture a kitchen table? :))
Fabio - Sumare/Sao Paulo/Brazil/South America/Earth/Solar System/Milky Way/Universe
http://www.morroida.com.br
Excellent idea (although perhaps red-on-brown isn't the most ergnomic of configurations) :)
:)
I can see a particular application for this - people who have to author documents in many different languages. If you're a translator, or you're working on application localisation, you're quite often going to want a different key-map from your everyday layout. With this thing, a couple of clicks could give you a keyboard laid out for writing Russian, Greek, German, or whatever-you-like!
Perhaps you could even program it to give you an "any" key...
These sigs are more interesting tha
Besides the question of how quickly and accurately this device can detect your "key taps", there's also the question of the lack of tactile feedback from a physical key press slowing you down.
Sure it's psychological, but I can remember just how painfully slow typing on my Timex Sinclair's membrane keyboard was.
Add to that the normal lag of a character appearing on the screen, and I'll hazard a guess that using the built in hand recognisition will be the way to go.
the same image but on higher quality can be seen here
Fabio - Sumare/Sao Paulo/Brazil/South America/Earth/Solar System/Milky Way/Universe
http://www.morroida.com.br
This really does look neat, but I see two problems with it. First, it won't provide the tactile feedback of a real keyboard, so I imagine it would be easy to type between "keys." Second, notice how far away the "keyboard" is away from the Palm; I think the little screen would be difficult to read from that distance (at least it would be for a poor myopic fool like me!)
There ain't no rules here; we're trying to accomplish something.
http://www.vkb.co.il
you can read all about it in detail there...
Now, lemme see Siemens make virtual projected phones!
Please excuse me for being a pedant, but the headline
"Virtual keyboard a reality"
is an oxymoron.
Excellent idea (although perhaps red-on-brown isn't the most ergnomic of configurations) :)
Just wait til the lawyers get ahold of this one! Talk about an ergonomic nightmare...
"Your honor, when my client placed his virtual keyboard on a bed of nails/hot grill/downward slope/his boss' wife/Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal, he was injured"
*grin*
---"What did I say that sounded like 'Tell me about your day?'"---
...(owned by Yahoo), we can't expect this to stay up much longer.
Basically, the page linked is one picture, about 20k, of some red lines projected onto a table from a little camera-Flash sized thing connected to a palm pilot. QWERTY and other letters' names can be made out between the red lines, also projected.
It is not clear where the feedback comes from. (The red thing doing the projecting almost certainly isn't complex enough to do live analysis of fingers based on a blurry web-cam quality images [it's really a small device, ]).
This text is below the picture:
A full-size fully functional virtual keyboard that can be projected and touched on any surface is shown by Siemens Procurement Logistics Services at the CeBIT fair in Hanover, northern Germany, on Monday, March 18, 2002. The virtual interface from Developer VKB Inc. from Jerusalem in Israel can be integrated in mobile phones, laptops, tablet PCs, or clean, sterile and medical environments and could be a revolution for the data entry of any mini computer. The mini projector that detects user interaction with the surface also simulates a mousepad. The biggest computer fair of the world is open for public until Wednesday, March 20, 2002. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner).
That is all.
[Mod this up (it's just AC) if the page gets slashdotted.]
Was it 3 days ago that you guys ran this same story... please stop, this is starting to piss everyone off.
Anyone see the comparison with the virual interfaces they show in the Final Fantasy movie?
I thought those were neat, but still distant future.
Now, it seems I could project a computer interface on the wall if I want to!
Where can i buy this?!
wow i've never got a troll rating before.. i thought it was damn funny....
how is this different from these ??
Don't quote me on this.
Wonder if you can automatically re-configure it to simulate Dvorak keyboard? That would be wonderful.
Some men spend their entire lives trying to kill themselves for having been born. --Ross MacDonald
All the article seems to have is a picture. How does it work?
What is accepted as a keystroke? I know when I'm writing I tend to hold my fingers on the buttons. And sometimes I might want to keep a button down for a period of time. How does this work on a keyboard that optically detects the strokes? And doesn't it become ergonomically really unsuitable for longer periods of writing?
So, admitting a story is a duplicate is a "Troll" ?
Wait a minute, fucking bastard !
*I* am a troll and the guy above is "insightful".
Smile, don't click...
At my office, our servers have redundant power supplies. I would recommend Slashdot getting servers with redundant power supplies also if they do not already have them. See, redundant power supplies are actually the good kind of redundant, unlike the redundant stories that are published to your web site. You see redundant power supplies serve a purpose, and redundant stories just piss people off.
Please consider this in the future.
Neat keyboard and great for people like me who like to use computers in low or light. I'm always turning on pesky desklamps to find the keyboard.
The lack of tactile feedback is a bummer though. Maybe if it chirped when you hit a key, though that might drive you nuts.
Reliable, Great Value Hosting: $7.95/mo 2.4G/120G
The picture on the homepage shows a virtual keyboard projected on a car dash and the driver typing while driving. Don't we have enough ways for idiots to kill themselves (and others) by distracting them while driving?
Hopefully they will work on making it smaller so it can be integrated into PDA's and cell phones. From the article it looks like the direction they want to head.
www.lonseidman.com
Wow, a virtual keyboard take up no space !! WRONG !!
look at the size of that projector thingy. it's big! Those rubber/cloth folding keyboards are a lot more practical. A flat object is much more pocket-friendly than boxsy objects.
The formfactor is important here. for a desktop, the size doesn't matter that much and a normal kb is the way to go.
I can't wait for Micro$oft to crash and burn.
:wq
Absolutely lovely, now when my girlfriend wants attention when im on the computer all she has to do is lie naked on me and i'll se her naked body as a keyboard :)) Now all we need is a mouse like this and we can perform the JEDI MOUSE TRICK.
GAY.
Useful gimmick for your Palm? In a meeting you say suddenly "can you clear me a keyboard sized space while I project my virtual keyboard to type notes at a small amount of words per minute" and such.
Perhaps you will spill your coffee on the projection area and end up writing a masterpiece, like random monkeys in front of typewriters?
Anybody also note that it comes from Israel. Boycott it if you support human rights and equal opportunities and all that. Then, at least, you can participate in a _real_ revolution and not some virtual fad revolution that apparently, happen EVERY day with some new gimmick that is going to revolutionise our lives.
Conversion Rate Optimisation French / English consultant
according to the Yahoo ad on the same page as the keyboard picture:
I can lose 10 pounds in two weeks!
That's what lazy-ass programmers need more than a virtual keyboard.
Hm, why not turn of that projector, and you'l have an invisible keyboard, that one must know where if is to tap in things on. Perfect for placing outside ones door as a lock (log in with username and password, without any feedback at all, to gain access to the house). In addition, it will look damn cool when one just move ones hands in strange patterns on a totally normal table next to the door, and the door magically opens. And when someone examines the table, it is just a normal table...
--The knowledge that you are an idiot, is what distinguishes you from one.
I have a hard enough time finding keyboards that I like and trying to type on a table top sounds like a bad idea. I'm pretty picky about key travel (the distance that a key moves when pressed). I really like the small key travel of laptops and I searched around for weeks before finding a desktop keyboard that had an acceptable key travel. Even if you're not anal about key travel like I am, it's nice to have some sense that your keys are in the right place by having something move. I imagine it would be pretty easy to get lost trying to type on a table with no feedback from the table.
Using two or more sensors to pick up reflections from the interupted beam, you should be able to pinpoint exactly where you are pressing. And since you know where the emitter is and where the surface is, you know which button you pressed.
:-)
It is, obviously a bit more complicated - you need only consider the option of using your SOs buttocs as a keypad to figure that one out
We do not live in the 21st century. We live in the 20 second century.
Well, one possibility is that if you hit the wrong key, or mispell a word, that the device can zap your pinky fingers with the laser and burn a hole in your finger. Hmmm! something feels warm. Good God, my finger has been zapped/cut off. Hence, no need for tactile feedback now. Just use the handicap voice recognition system.
I don't know, might be the huge pencil sharpener looking projector but, I like the keyboard talked about on this story much better than this new one.
[alk]
I'm guessing based on the photo. This might be totally wrong, but it's the best explanation I can some up with:
I doubt if they're using galvanometers and mirrors to scan that image onto the desktop. For one, they're too expensive, and also that pattern is way too complex to draw with even the fastest galvos.
More likely it's a hologram etched onto a lens, with a really bright laser diode behind it. I'm skeptical as to how visible that keyboard would be except in complete darkness.
So how to they determine which key you're pressing? Well, if they were scanning the image onto the surface, it would just be a matter of using a single photo transistor to measure the brightness of the dot as it moves across the surface. If the brightness changes at a particular point, then you know there's an obstruction. You can map this to a particular key by taking into account the positions of the fingers in the normal typing position. Multiple keys might be obstructed at one time - you only count the one that's closest to the light source.
If it's a static image, it's a little harder. The only way I can think of is to either use a CCD to to capture the whole image, or use a mechanical photo interruptor to blank out a section of the image at a time.
If it's cost effective and it really works, this is a damned impressive product.
I don't know about you, but i don't really see the utility of having to project a virtual keyboard onto a flat surface. I use the stowaway portable keyboard with my iPaq, and the thing rules. I can use it on my lap, in a meeting, on a plane...almost anywhere.
I think you'd look kinda foolish fiddling around with you crotch on an airplane, trying to explain "Oh, no...no, no - don't call the sky marshalls, i'm typing!"
I think this is a case of technlogy for technolgies sake.
For now, i'll use my keyboard occasionally, and my hand predominantly, with my handheld, thank you uvery much.
There are 01 types of people in this world. Those that understand binary, and me.
How does the virtual keyboard detect keypresses?
I can't believe no one is talking about that on slashdot!
You have the keyboard projected on you desk and your cat comes running by, stepping on the keys...
[Ctrl] + a
[Del]
[Ctrl] + s
...dead cat.
Hello left hand, meet Mr right hand. Nice one Slashdot!
I could blow this up and then walk on it. Maybe I'd get more exercise this way.
With a keyboard like that, spilling coke on it won't be a terrific problem anymore :)
Im worried about the feedbacks that a normal keyboard produces and that this virtual one will not. Sure its a great product, but feedbacks normal keyboards does helps us a lot. Maybe the little box that projects the keyboard could have a little sound like a normal key press ever time you succesfully press a key!
Fabio - Sumare/Sao Paulo/Brazil/South America/Earth/Solar System/Milky Way/Universe
http://www.morroida.com.br
Ah, finally, I get to put my air-typing - practiced for years since watching Tron - to good use.
Only problem I can see is that the top row of keys is much smaller than the bottom one due to the way the image is projected (i.e. no correction for angled plane, like road signs painted on roads look strectched if your not in a car).
The problem with infra-red keyboards is that it becomes easy to just sniff what their user sends to his computer...
With such devices, won't there be similar issues ?
Trolling using another account since 2005.
psxndc
The emacs religion: to be saved, control excess.
So.. as its virtual, can I change the layout and add user defined hot-keys and get rid of all those ones I don't use?
Can it emulate the layout of a variety of keyboards - Sparc style or multilanguage?
Wow, it's remarkably similar to the lead item in this recent story. What a rip off! :-)
-me
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
When I was a student a few years ago my HCI lecturer talked about a 'keyboard' for mobile phones/ PDAs which would actually consist of sensors attached to the users lower arms. The signals from the tendons (muscle?) movement would be fed back to the PDA via infra-red signals.
The catch? You had to be a perfect touch typist to ensure that the system could correctly interpret, for example, a strech and tap with the left index finger as a 'Y'. Not much good for those of us who skipped secretarial studies in favour of more gym!
Anyone every heard of such a thing?
I don't know - I didn't design this device, I'm just making an educated guess. If you have a better idea than triangulation, then please post it :-)
We do not live in the 21st century. We live in the 20 second century.
I hadn't thought of this before, but do you need to keep your hands hovered above the "keys" all the time? I usually find that my fingers are resting on the keys until I hit them. Also, does it measure you hitting the key, or your finger moving down toward the "key"? If it's motion, how much motion is needed?
... but what about answers?
Questions, questions, questions
THIS SPACE FOR RENT
I won't be satisfied until we're using force fields!
is there gonna be a virtual natural keyboard??? i hope so, cause i don't wanna get virtual carpal-tunnel syndrome...
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true." - Homer Simpson
What happens if you spill coffee on it?
1. A keyboard like this, except nothing is actually projected on the table; only I see it because it's projected on my retina by the virtual monitor from yesterday's story.
2. Oh by the way, my computer's display is also projected on my retina.
3. A microphone/earplug that allows me to issue voice commands to the computer without a visible mic.
4. Wireless network, of course.
I could sit in Barnes and Noble freaking people out, talking to myself and tapping on the table.
Evil is the money of root.
Its simple really, just have mechanical keys glued to the end of your fingers. Hey presto! Mechanical feedback!
http://www.typingtest.com
Now, try it again--only hitting the keys that you have visually checked the locations of.
I was surprised at how high a score I got (touch typing).. I hadn't taken a test since high school. Years of IT/programming work just seem to hone typing skills.
Virtual Keyboard [slashdot.org] by CmdrTaco with 248 comments on 05:27 PM -- Wednesday November 14 2001
Great gadgets at CeBIT TechnologyPosted by timothy on 10:08 AM -- Monday March 18 2002
I also remember seeing photos, etc a few months back. so the company PR geek must be happy about making into Yahoo, etc.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
I know this is kinda a dupe - but a pretty good one for a more focused discussion. When I saw this in the paper today, I thought "finally, maybe somebody legitimately patented something of interest to Slashdot readers". Siemens appears to have at least one, fairly broad patent on the device/process.
Check out Patent #6,353,428 on the USPTO website:
"Method and device for detecting an object in an area radiated by waves in the invisible spectral range"
The first claim is as follows:
"1. A system for detection of an object in an area irradiated by waves in an invisible spectral range, the system comprising:
a projector configured such that a video image is projectable onto the area;
a device for emitting waves in the invisible spectral range configured such that the area is substantially illuminated;
a reception device configured such that the reception device registers the irradiated area, the reception device being specifically balanced for an invisible spectral range corresponding to the waves; and
a computer configured with a recognition algorithm, whereby the object irradiated by the emitted waves is detected using the recognition algorithm."
The patent seems pretty broad in that it uses phrases like "a reception device..." and "a recognition algorithm" to cover the process, but reading the specification makes it clear that the focus is on "virtual" keyboards, mousepads, and presentation pointing, and it is a bit more specific about the actual means of detection etc.
All and all, without being an expert in the prior art or patent law, I think this one actually seems like a pretty good patent (If you believe in patents at all, of course). Also a pretty cool invention. Obviously it will have to be improved and smallified before being really useful (and integratable into my cell phone, watch, ring, etc.), but they seem to be off to a great start!
My next sig will be ready soon, but friends can beat the rush!
Back when the U Force controller for the Nintendo came out.
But then again, that didn't work very well either. Let's hope invisible devices have improved in the last 15 years!
Virtual keyboard, wow! This is really a cool invention. It's a great step forward for mini computing. Hell, it's a great step forward for all computing, I'm sure there will be many applications for just about every device that requires wide ranging input. The problem is, like a lot of folks have said here, that there's no tactile feedback, which will slow down the expert no-look typers. I myself don't look at the keyboard and type rather quickly, and I know for certain that without the feeling of the keys I would not be able to type at all. OK, so we're going to have to actually look at the virtual keyboard to do any typing... that's a hinderance, but it's still better than no keyboard.
We're still not to the point of "easy" data input for all computer devices. When you think about it, typing on a standard keyboard really isn't that easy. Even when you get used to it, you still make mistakes. The real "revolution" of computer input devices will be when some completely new idea comes along about how to send get input from a human and send the characters to the computer. It will take something like a glove that reads finger movement and types based on combinations of twitches, or maybe a perfect speech recognition system that can figure out the context of your words and spell everything magically. Those might not be the best solutions, or even possible for that matter, but it's going to take something like that before computing input devices get to the point where they're actually "easy" to use.
~ now you know
Hey, it could just be me, but didn't some Israeli firm offer the same thing at CeBIT not too long ago? I think it was posted here on /. just a few days back... Has Siemens been sticking their spies in other companies' dark crevices again?
Jynxy
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it well worth the effort.
Now all we need is for them to do it in a 3D holographic keyboard like Wasyu uses in Tenchi Muyo!!!
Wise men speak because they have something to say, Fools because they have to say something!!!!
Half the reason I can touch type so fast is the keys themselves. The shapes of the keys, the throw, the sound, the dimples on the f and j keys (avant prime keyboard) all add up to give me great feedback. I never have to look at the keyboard. These guys need to sell a thin sheet that has some key shaped ridges to provide some feedback so us 'touch' typists can make the transition.
The company websitehas a picture of a Palm user projecting the keyboard on his dashboard. brilliant.
Huh... huh huh...
You said "Siemens".
Huh huh huh...
"You're just scared like a little white pussy. I'll fuck you till you love me, you faggot!"
...there's three words that would worry me about using this as a keyboard for any length of time: Repetitive Strain Injury.
Touch-pad keyboards have pretty much been banned on office equipment since the mid-1980s because although they allowed users to type at great speed, they also caused massive incidence of RSI. Since then keyboards have all required definite "clicks" that need greater muscle movement.
Of course this would be fine for brief use (on a PDA or similar). And it does look cool.
Now, if it could project a virtual screen from the other side, you would have a virtual monitor too. But you would need a table _and_ a wall, but that would be the ultimate portable computer :)
Add a small power supply and a projection monitor and it would become possible to have a portable the size of a ciggeratte pack which could operate on any light colored tabletop...
I like replies better than Karma, even if they are flames, because that tells me I got someone thinking.
Another case of life imitating art...
"Sure, sure... I'll just type it up on my invisible typewriter..."
(I posted almost an identical comment to this on a previous very similar slashdot story, and I got +4 Funny.)
*crosses fingers*
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
For those of us who learned how to type on manual typewriters, with the notice bell that dinged 5 spaces before the end of the line, and the platen return arm that you had to thwack, pressing a key with anything less than an authoritative clunk would just get you laughed at. Sure it bruised the fingertips, but we liked it that way! When a man was typing back then, he knew it, by God! Then came the newfangled electric typewriters, that only took a minicing little tap, and then these nutty TV-typewriter "word processor" things (with a keyboard that's not even decently attached to the rest of it, I might add!) that hardly even need you to push the keys at all! And now, a laser-typewriter type thing that doesn't even *have* keys? You might as well just dictate to the thing and have it magically type up your words for you like some kind of plastic secretary!
You kids think you're so smart with your rams and drivers and codes and all. I, for one, still keep my trusty can of 3-in-1 oil next to my computer. I haven't had to use it much lately, but just wait till something jams in this thing, and that smart-ass punk Corey is stumped... then we'll see who knows how to fix a broken office machine, by God!
The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them. - Mark Twain
I'll be able to type my review of "LAZER PINK FLOYD" at the show!
Wouldn't it be funny if someone invented the voice commanded computer.......
Oh wait....Someone has.....no need for keyboards! DOH!
Moderation: +4. Modded 70% Funny and 30% Overrated. 100% Saturated.
Many people have pointed out many times in the comments here the very obvious problem regarding the lack of tactile feedback with this keyboard system. There doesn't seem to be a good way around that one.
The only thing I could think of are little things on your fingers that give force feedback "clicks". That would possibly make it feel a bit more realistic. Perhaps they could use the technology of the Logitech iFeel mouse, just on a miniature scale, and one for each finger. The same things giving the feedback could also provide more information as to where the fingers are and what they're doing, which would possibly enhance the ability of the device to tell what you mean to be typing.
For me, there will always be the IBM Model M keyboard.
samrolken
This combined with direct retinal stimulated displays would make for more portable computing.
One idea I had to recognise finger positions (and I've also seen this announced since then) was for a sensor wristband that could learn what you were typing from measuring the nervous signals and tendon positions through the wrist.
Roll on the day when we can throw away those real keyboards! It will be about 50 years too late.
My blog
I think that kitty is going to dig this one.... :)
FreeBSD: Nothing runs like a daemon with a pitch fork.
and, btw, IANAL
...is if you use them on wearable computers, you look like a zombie.
That's what you'll get if you rest your fingers on the home row. Not significant? Try typing for a few hours without ever resting your fingers on the keys.
Kind thoughts do not change the world
MOD THIS UP
I like the whole idea, but doubt it would be very useable as a long term keyboard given the egronomics of it. I can see a lot of people getting carpal tunnel syndrome from something like this. It's not MEANT for long-term use though, it's just meant to write stuff down real quick like you would with sometihng like JOT or Graffiti.
Definitely a cool looking idea though. I wonder if they can make it any smaller so it could fit ON BOARD a cellphone or pda... although I am sure that this is possible.
[Something witty and intelligent should have appeared here.]
{Traicovn}
Don't believe that stupid troll. He's not worth it. Did you really think that the real CmdrTaco would have a six digit user ID, have had less than 500 posts, practically all of them with a score of -1?
About the Israel thing: I agree that Slashdot should not blatently publish "all those cool gadgets coming out of that country". Israel has been violating human and international rights for years. Please don't treat them as your average West-European country, because they aren't. Remember the opression, humiliation and violence they have been inflicting upon the Palestinians for decades!
The vast majority of them are NOT ruthless terrorists. Imagine the many innovations in technology that many young talented Palestinians could have developed if they had been given the chance.
Imagine this built into the side of a Cellphone... lets you TYPE text messages easily, instead of messing with the 3x3 keypads. if condensed, the cellphone would hardly increase in size, yet be way more useful.
Beyond7.com - Modern Art Watersculptures
I made a (somewhat) similar keyboard to help myself overcome RSI symptoms. Each key is concave, and has an infrared beam across the top so no pressure is needed to activate it. It takes some getting used to, but works great and has helped my arms/wrists immensely. See it at: http://web.mit.edu/mjduff/www/keyboard/
...placed his virtual keyboard on...Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal...
It's his own damn fault for not closing his eyes. Like sticking your tongue in a light socket and expecting to NOT get zapped. Dip.
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
Hmmm, might make using emacs a bit difficult?
Does bring up all sorts of amusing possibilities though - Just imagine someone dropping a handful of M&M's onto your desk only to find they've accidentally reset your machine, or dialled Mongolia, or emailed your boss for you...
So is "Slashdot Editor" for that matter.
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
I was surfing pr0n, and I got Siemens all over my virtual keyboard... :(
Yet another example of how life sooner or later immitates that particular cartoon.
It hasn't been long since the data-intercept-via-LED story was posted... I wonder if someone will figure out a way to determine what is being typed on the virtual keyboard by virtue of listening to the resonance of the table/boss' wife/bugblatter beast of traal and reconstructing the keyboard input. Does this seem too farfetched? Waste of time?
"Your Honor, my client has an image of a standard 101 key keyboard burned into his retinas after looking directly into this dangerous mechanism to see 'if it was on'"
If you can't see the value in jet powered ants you should turn in your nerd card. - Dunbal (464142)
"I'm just working, here."
"Fine, work all you want, just quit drumming your fingers."
"Rich, dammit! Didn't you hear me?"
You know what?
For anyone that watches Tenchi Muyo, this seems straight out of the lab of Washu The Great. She frequently summoned up a full virtual terminal in mid air with no visable projector.
I suppose that part is coming next...
I swear by MacOS X. Although I use to swear *at* MacOS 9...
I write touch screen applications. But the hardware cost is really prohibitive to appeal where it is needed by the computer illiterate masses.
This device could replace the screen, computer; the whole setup while allowing participants to touch regions of a surface to answer questions. Don't think of coding with this, think of remote distributed input devices with zero ware, instant customization and limitless input devices available.
Beyond the obvious keyboard click, produce different tones for different keypresses, so you know if you're hitting two keys with one finger without even looking
Create a device that uses microelectronic pulses carefully directed at different nerves in your hand to simulate a keyboard -- probably best imbedded in a glove. Potentially, this could actually "feel" like a keyboard. For work in a germ or particle free environment, the device would have to be smooth enough to be worn under latex surgical gloves.
I wonder if the government grant for MIT is linked at all to these recent breakthroughs in wearable PCs.... It seems like a lot of these things were a ways off a year ago. Perhaps the military isn't just providing funding for MIT, but also funding many other research groups on the verge of advances in wearable PC technology. Why put all your eggs in one basket? If they have $50 million to give to MIT for a nanotech suit, why wouldn't they have more millions to spend on "subcontractors" developing HUDs, virtual keyboards, communication networks and devices, etc, etc? I have a theory: within the next few years, the public will be flooded with news of breakthroughs in nanotechnology, microcomputers, augmented reality, hands free or heads up display and input devices, real space vertex input, and other technologies related to mobile computing. Now all we need is a hostile alien race! Hold on tight, ladies and gentlemen. It looks like we'll get to LIVE the sci-fi that we grew up on.
I have no desire to reach nirvana.
We should not buy things from Israel until
they give the Palestinians their rights and stop
oppressing them.
I have to admit that it is a clever idea.
Regular keyboards get all jammed up when you get
Palestinian blood on them. This solves that
problem.
Neat solution - easy to imagine moveable, virtual interfaces making their way into everything, from remote controls to screens to telephones... imagine an entire office fitting into a tiny cube you can carry around.
Eventually the interfaces wouldn't have to be projected externally, but rather into the mind's eye. Why should a lightswitch have a fixed position, when each member of a household could have place them at the location and height they find most convenient?
At least they are not hiding behing a .com .il
They are using the hated
We need to boycott these racist thugs until
they give the Palistinians their human rights.
What would really be interesting would be if someone would combine this with a data glove that uses piezoelectric crystals to provide tactile feedback.
The cake is a pie
I actually look at the screen when I type and use the mouse. The little keyboard nipples are very important for me to ensure my hands are back in the correct position before typing away.
I also am rather certain that my fingers often find the right keys by touching various key boundaries to know where they are occasionally, but I can't be sure. (So odd to not know what one's muscle memory is doing!)
I think foldable keyboards like the one for the Palm are the solution, not projecting...but interesting research, keep it up!
Not much more needs to be said. PDA with this keyboard and the laser HUD retina display from this article in one unit -- THAT is the laptop for me. :P
How can you possibly touch-type with this thing?
Ok, yes they are showing it off as a portable keyboard for, well portables. As such it's pretty cool. But there are a lot of people talking her about using it on their regular computers and that's pretty rediculous...
Contrary to popular belief, coding is not all free blow-jobs and beer. Those things cost MONEY!
Very impressive. After 25 years, we've developed a keyboard with less tactile feedback than that of the Atari 400.
Please donate your spare CPU cycles to help fight cancer and other diseases
If it is, can I pay a couple of bucks to stop it?
For those who's arguments against this are "no tactile feedback" or "I can't type as fast with it" or the like, please consider that this thing probably isn't meant to replace your current keyboard for your computer.
This thing is targeted at use with mobile devices. It eliminates the need to carry a keyboard around with your Palm or your mobile phone. It will become integrated into your mobile computing device or phone or whatever (i.e., no extra device to carry around for keyboard input). It is meant as a convinience for mobile devices specifically.
It is not supposed to enhance your typing experience; it is meant to enhance the portability of other devices (even if that means you give up some speed or responsiveness).
drools over thoughts of how cool this could be...
Cool technology but this is more cool:
http://www.senseboard.com/
I'm gonna buy one!
*Too lazy to register*
//Spacecow
2. project on floor.
3. Portable "Dance, Dance, Revolution"...
4. Somebody hose me down before I come up with more ideas....
*whup* "Get along, little electrons. Heeyah!"
Actually, according to the article, it is by a company called Developer VKB, not Siemens.
There is another new device and method that uses finger and thumb mounted contacts for data input similar to earlier glove-based devices such as the KeyGlove by Paul Mc Carty, the Chording Glove by Rosenberg or Vaughan Pratt's glove which uses Thumb-Coding. However, in contrast to these and other existing hand-mounted CHORDING DEVICES for which the user has to learn a new coding language, the device proposed by me takes advantages of the users touch-typings skills which virtually eliminates any learning period for those familiar with touch-typing. The new device is also superior to other devices [detials see below *)] such as Senseboards Virtual Keyboard, the Lightglove or the system shown in the picture of the article to which this message responds. (A patent application for my device has already been submitted).
For more information please contact me directly at
cmehring@eng.uci.edu, www.eng.uci.edu/~cmehring
or visit www.tecideas.com for a short (I mean really short) article.
You also might be able to read more about my invention in upcoming issues of wireless magazine and MIT's Technology Review magazine.
*):
There are several points to make with regard to the superiority of my invention with respect to the devices you mentioned, i.e. the Lightglove
and the Virtual Keyboard by Senseboard.
1) Production costs;
The technology involved in the virtual keyboard and the lightlove, and the
associated production costs and costs for parts are significantly larger
than the production costs for the device I proposed.
For example, the sensors used in the virtual keyboard measuring the
flexure of the tendons have to be very sensitive in order to
distinguish between different finger postitions. After all, finger
movement within the virtual keyboard is not detected with sensors on
the fingertips but by sensors fixed to the base of the fingers (using
fingerless mittens).
The lightlove is based on the generation of a "light-matrix" below the
users hands. Penetration and location of penetration of this matrix by the
users fingertips is detected and electronically mapped to an overlay
assigning each position a character according to the layout of a
traditional keyboard. This operation of the device involves
simulataneous scanning of the matrix with various light emitting
diodes or lasers, evaluation of the scattered electromagentic waveforms by
various lightsensitive detectors, signal filtering in a bandpass filter in
order to reject non-correlated ambient signals (see Pat.# 6,097,374
at the uspto.gov homepage for more details). In fact the inventor
of the lightglove R.B. Howard points out in his patent that
in certain applications it might be desirable or necessary to use
an input device other than an optical reflectance matrix.
The device proposed by me is based on exactly the same principles as a
standard keyboard for data input, i.e. using the closure of electrical
circuits in order to generate a signal which then is interpreted by an
off-the-shelf keyboard controller as alphanumeric character
input. Accordingly, my device will not be more expensive than a regular
keyboard.
2) Device calibration / Decision electronics
Due to the fact that everybody's finger movement is slightly different,
the virtual keyboard will have to contain some electronics in order to
allow device or sensor calibration for the individual user. The same
holds true for the lightlove where detector calibration is needed in order to accomodate
various ambient lighting conditions. In fact, as ambient lighting
conditions might change continually (for example in a subway) continuous
calibration of the device will be needed.
The device and method proposed by me does not need any calibration. In
fact, the use of the users fingers and thumbs (which have certain
proportions for almost everybody) as placement locations for the electric
contacts make the device usable for anybody with large or small hands long or short
fingers. Assuming of course that the employed design (different from the
glove design used for the proto-type) allows free placement of the
mentioned contacts.
Both lightlove and virtual keyboard are based on continuous detection
sensors (i.e. measuring a certain amount of tendon flexure or a
certain strength of electromagnetic energy at the light-detector). The
device I propose uses a discrete approach: a signal is generated if the
electic circuit is closed (by contacting one finger with one of the
contacts on the thumb of the same hand), if the circuit is not closed
there is no signal generated (totally analogous to the traditional
keyboard). The use of a "continuous signal detector" implies more attached
"decision" electronics (and consequently production costs) as
well as a higher probability for erroneous data input.
3) Comfort of use / erroneous data input
Imagine you are using the virtual keyboard or the lightglove at Starbucks
and you stop typing for a moment to scratch your nose or to zip some
coffee. In order to omit character input you would have to swith the unit
off every time before doing just that. Now imagine you have allergies or
you are a big coffee drinker like me, or you want to just move your
fingers around for a moment because they got tired from all the typing....
In other words, while using the virtual keyboard or the lightglove you are
very much restricted in the movement of your hands and fingers. This is
not the case with the device I proposed: With it you can easily pick up
anything without switching the unit off. (Assuming it is made of a
conducting material of course.)
With the virtual keyboard and the lightglove there is a well defined
rest- or reference position or reference plane, with repsect to which all
your finger movement is evaluated. In the case of the lightglove for
example, the hand and the fingers have to be strechted out such that they
do not penetate the lightmatrix below the hand. This might become very
uncomfortable with time.
The device I propose does not have such a well-defined reference position.
In fact your fingers and thumbs can be in any position as long as the
fingertips (or possibly sides of the fingers, where contacts for special
character input are located) do not touch the thumbs of the same hand.
Furthermore, the lack of tactile feedback when using the lightglove and
the virtual keyboard (in the mode of "air-typing", i.e. without a solid
surface to type on) will possibly slow down the rate of data input.
4) True or Ultra Portability (Virtual Keyboard only)
The main application of Senseboards Virtual Keyboard is its use in
combination with a flat solid surface as reference surface. With this
the device is not truly portable any more; you might as well use one
of those flexible keyboards you can roll up.
Just imagine you would like to type a letter sitting on a park bench
or standing at a subway stop (i.e. situations where there is just no
flat solid reference surface to type on). In those cases, I suppose,
Senseboard proposes "air-typing" where you hold you finges in a
resting position similar to a position the hands would be in when resting
on a solid surface. However, it is questionable if a user will be able to
preserve this position in the course of his typing action.
5) OTHER ULTRA-PORTABLE GLOVE BASED SYSTMS
As pointed out earlier, other ultra-portable glove-based or hand-mounted systems
for data-input such as the KeyGlove (originally designed by R. Paul Mc Carty from Rochester
University) , the Chording Glove (by Robert Rosenberg from University
College of London) or Vaughan R. Pratt's (Stanford University) glove
using the Thumb-code procedure are all CHORDING devices which do not
take advantage of the users existing touch-typing skills.
Hope you enjoyed the reading
You can only write one letter *a second* with handwriting? Those are some awefully slow hands you got there.
Perhaps you don't realize:
a) How few 60 characters are (less than an average sentance)
or b) How long a minute is
Of course, your (even fairly small) post contains 600 characters (since, of course, the space-bar on a computer is a character)--so I guess it took you a little over 2 minutes of pure typing?
In that case, I don't think it really matters WHAT you're using for the Palm device or whatnot...it's gonna take you a decade to write anything substation anyway. (Or, as I assume, your numbers are just a bit off.)
I remember reading the Harry Harrison books Homeworld, Wheelworld and Starworld where there was a similar device. In one of the books (I can't remember which) the main character, Jan, uses a computer that a fellow prisoner had.
This computer was built into a broach on a necklace. Once activated it would create a hologram of a compouter that could be used just like the real thing.
I wonder when the virtual keyboard will become the virtual computer? I would like that quite a lot. Imagine, you just need a small table to place your pen-computer onto and it will project a nice image to interact with. When are researchers going to catch up with strong enough power supplies?
Dear CmdrTaco (Score:3, Funny)
by Signa1 11 on on Wednesday March 20, @08:14AM (#3193451)
(User #567568 Info)
Not the Signa1 ll on ?
Eh?
damn palestinians keep gunking up my keyboard too!.. I hope they stop blowing themselves up soon.. hey.. anyone have a video of a palestinian blowing himself up ?? or how about some suiside bloopers ?? where he goes to flick the switch and instead of blowing up, a little flag with the words "boom" comes out...
...'cause I'm never going to get all the drool out of my current keyboard.
It's torture to sit across the pond & watch those damn Euros get to play with all those toys while I slave away. May they all choke on Nutella sandwiches.
The only tool you've got against psychosis is experience.
The line between sane and not-so-sane just got a bit blurrier. Soon, the guy next to you on the bus will be talking to himself (hands-free cell doohickey) and typing on a keyboard that isn't there.
Most often users frustration is vented on the keyboard (http://lap.umd.edu/Computer_Rage/). Maybe we would see people getting hurt banging on desks or dashboard..
As many have pointed out -
No tactile feedback. They underestimate tactile feedback. Can you look at your hands and make sure the key you pressed shows up on the screen while typing more than 10 wpm? What about the backspace frenzy when it messes up? I hope resting my palms or an uneven or unlevel surface won't mess it up.
I don't know about you but I actually notice the little bumps on the f an j keys, they let me find my position on the keyboard without looking. Mac (or was it NeXT) sometimes mess me up with their dots on d and k.
Second, what if I use the left hand alt to do Alt+D or Alt+F? Will it be able to 'see' the obscured alt key?
I bet it will be great for Quake (NOT)! How often do you look down at your hands while playing? Are they going to simulate a touchpad with it too?
Although a bit of a stretch - I think it would be much easier to teach people to type chording style with switches attached to their fingers.
Type anywhere, tactile feedback, much more friendly to modal (ie vi) than to windows (alt/cntrl + key) bindings.
---- Smokin' another sig.
Just in case you like watching videos better than looking at pictures...
--Drake 2c
--Yahoo blurb
--FOLDOC entry for 'minicomputer'
I think the choice of the word "minicomputer" was slightly inaccurate.
What if the surface it's projected on is red?
...
;)
My words are backed with NUCLEAR WEAPONS!
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_548253.html?m enu=news.technology
"Failure of Windows operating systems is extremely rare. If it happens, it is usually due to operating system file c