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The I-Tech Virtual Laser Keyboard
avtchillsboro writes, "The NY Times has a rather fluffy article (registration required) about stuff you can buy to 'accessorize' your smart phone & or cell phone (so passé!). What caught my eye was the I-Tech Virtual Laser Keyboard. From the vendor's website: 'The Virtual Laser Keyboard (VKB) uses both infrared and laser technology to generate an invisible field and project a full-size virtual QWERTY keyboard on any surface... The I-Tech VKB reacts exactly like a real keyboard. Direction technology based on optical recognition enables the user to tap the images of the keys, complete with realistic tapping sounds(!), which feeds into the compatible PDA, Smartphone, laptop, or PC. Note: The VKB is both PC and Macintosh compatible!'"
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/03/18/131420 7&tid=126
Slow news day or slow sale year? This gadget has been around for what, two years now ?
I booked this to my del.icio.us on February 8, 2005, and it's just now hitting Slashdot front pages? I'm not that far ahead of the curve, I promise.
Hasn't this been on thinkgeek for a while now? Who is it good for? # Business men/ women # Suppliers/ Invoice keepers # Students/ teachers # Tourists/ trekkers # High-tech employees # Lawyers/ accountants # Architects # Land surveyors/appraisers # Field engineers They should have added: # Mobile bloggers.
Now just tack on one of these matchbox-sized projectors and a fast PDA, and you're set.
Poor means hoping the toothache goes away.
seriously, where do they grow you people?
Its not ever that i say this, but, this article should be pulled from the front page ASAP
There was a dupe back in 2003 too!
...from here.
No Linux support? No thanks.
Res publica non dominetur
... the price is still $179.99 in the "Special Summer Sale". I am looking forward to getting one for road warrior use, but it looks as though I will have to wait another couple of years at least.
It's been on the front page of thinkgeek for a while now. It is a cool toy, but not exactly very practical.
As Yoda would say, "If on ebay you can buy it, on slashdot it does not belong".
m =300031914752
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ite
Save the environment, recycle your old slashdot news here!
biopowered.co.uk - catalytically cracking triglycerides for home automotive use since 2008. Just say no to big oil!
Jesus this is the second story they have posted and its a
dupe..
rob needs to put the smackdown..
Laser keyboards have a high rate of false key presses, because your fingers have to pass over other keys, and you can't feel the keys.
You must be new here.
"Sony anounced today a recall of their ultra high power laser keyboards. After several unfortunate power surges resulted in lost fingers they felt a recall was wise."
"The I-Tech VKB reacts exactly like a real keyboard."
One of the reasons I type so much faster than I can talk is that I get so much tactile feedback from the physical keys on the keyboard. My hands know when I've mistyped usually before I can even see the difference on the display. A little lingering feeling in my hands that they've missed the pattern they were expected to type. Despite the simulated clicking sounds to my ear, I expect that I'll make a lot more mistakes on a keyboard which doesn't offer tactile feedback that I've hit a key, complete with a little "throw" through its unique 3D spatial path.
That kind of feedback is extremely important to using any device. It's why eliminating any grasped tool for purely gestural expression seems doomed inferior to actually touching something. Maybe just a dumb pad that gives just tactile feedback, without needing to deliver any sensory info back to the processor, is plenty to complete the loop. But just tapping my fingers on an unresponsive surface, or one different in shape/texture/response every time, will be much worse than typing on even a tiny crowded keyboard, or maybe even A9 keypad entry.
--
make install -not war
Clearly, I myself, got a little dupe happy: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=19855 3&cid=16268639
Great, another "feature" I'll have to endure in addition to all the other obnoxious noises idiots have on their phones.
From FAQ:
How do I submit stories to Slashdot?
Before you submit a story, please take a minute to make sure it's not a duplicate of a story we've posted already. Check the main Slashdot page and make sure it hasn't already been posted. If it's not breaking news, you might also run a search to see if it's something that might have been posted on a previous day. Roughly ten percent of all our story submissions are duplicates of stories we've already posted.
I wonder that slashdot of all doesn't have some shell script that tries to detect if the submission is a duplicate...
there is no issue with my network
Sit around and bang your fingertips against a hard table or desktop for a few hours and get back with us.
http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa092998 .htm
.. Most people predict this to be a fad and new greater emerging techologies such as the 8-track will make a much larger impact on our society!
Intel 4004 - The World's First Single Chip Microprocessor . This technology is going to revolutionize the world!!! One day maybe 1 in 25 houses will have a 'computer'
Fuck Slashdot, get your ass together. I come here to feel special about my dorkdom and now I don't even have that!
I typed in slashdot.com but got deja-vu!
...the sex appeal of "cute" electronics...
The point is to have gear cool enough that the chicks come to you. Also likely to make every other guy in the area green with jealousy -- if they can't see you through the cloud of chicks, but they keep hearing "Can I touch it?" in sweet, feminine voices...
This would be pretty pathetic/depraved, pretty typical of Slashdot, except that I discovered it by accident in high school, when I went to fetch my laptop and found a girl... stroking it.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
...moderates. Sorry.
Don't you get it?!! It's just an advertisement! Old stuff needs new advertisement...
Consider what a toll your finger joints would be taking over years of using this device. I'm willing to bet that the cartlidge in your joints would 'handily' be destroyed by hard, inflexible impacts on a desk-like surface over time.
We're all hypocrites. We all have hidden parts, it's the contrast between them that make us more a hypocrite than others
The I-Tech VKB reacts exactly like a real keyboard.
I hoped so, wished so, but the videos I've seen defy this.
You can see that you have to type slowly, and, it'll miss some keypresses.
Still, it's really cool, and portable: You don't have to carry a keyboard around with you.
...it's product placement, stupid!
I mean, come ON. Virtual lasers have been around since Space Invaders...
I've seen quite a few posts related to this being a dupe.. however, this is really the first I've seen of this type of keyboard in actual existance, other than on a CSI miami episode.
The episode features a secretary that used one of these keyboards to write a blog about the company without anyone knowing it. When I saw the episode, I was amazed at the writer's inguenuity in thinking up such a good gadget... I thought it was TV Drama. Little did I know that the gadget actually exists.
I guess the question is... how well does it really work? Has anyone actually used one?
Watching the CSI Miami episode made me say "wow! cool" - but I also walked away saying... "Yea Right"...
Lindsay Blanton
RadioReference.com
"News for news. Stuff that matters"? Yeah right...
I love my Mac but the snap and fell of the PC keyboards is far better so I still try to write on the PC.
So why don't you use a PC keyboard on your Mac?
I have used PC keyboards exclusively since Apple switched to USB, because that coincidentally is when they introduced teh horrid mushy keyboards they have now. I actually get confused because teh CMD/Apple/Windows key is in the "wrong place" on a Mac keyboard.
The horrid Apple laptop keyboards are a bigger problem. I have found a decent Bluetooth keyboard by Logitech that's slim enough to fit in my backpack and has a far superior feel.
I concur with the first poster in this thread. I already suffer enough pain just using my Macbook Pro's keyboard that one with even less responsiveness brings a shiver to my spine... and ulnar nerve...
If there were some way to shrink this device and integrate it with a umpc, it could be wonderful. I know, I know.. "no tactile feeedbacck!!!" Well, nobody said you had to live your life on a umpc. But such a device would be wonderful for typing in a url quickly (something which is pure hell on a cellphone).
I learned to write Grafitti by obsessively writing in the first few days I got one when they first came out. Grafitti is faster than regular writing (though not typing) because every character is a single stroke, much like the speed of cursive writing was a consequence of ballpoint pens. [...] This half-duplex keyboard is different.
Indeed. Graffiti is good, but many of its workalikes are truly awful. Jot, which was used on the original Microsoft handhelds and has replaced Graffiti on the palm (under the name Graffiti 2), slows me down so much that I'm considering the possibility that I may be forced to switch to the Pocket PC when my current Palm dies simply because Microsoft learned... their later emulation of Graffiti is almost perfect and far far better than Graffiti 2.
Similarly, when I started using modern laptops it took me some time to get used to the relatively short throw and awkward layout, but the better ones (like the one on the Thinkpad) are quite good. The worst ones are terrible, though, and what makes them so bad is the same thing that makes this bad. It's the "Graffiti 2" to the good laptop's "Graffiti".
You are so late with that news.
Front page of slashdot yesterday said the TMS1000 is way faster and already shipping.
Intel don't stand a chance.
I can see the warning label now: "Do not type into laser keyboard with remaining fingers."
Well, it's good to know that at least your working on making it better.
Tried one in Terminal 10 at JFK. It's teh suck. It functions as described, however, there is no tactile feedback to tell you that 1) your fingers are in the correct place, and 2) that you have hit a key. The audible feedback is delayed be at least 200msec, and so you're still left guessing if you can type faster than 5 keys per second. Blah.
Don't piss off The Angry Economist
I, for one welcome our new Intel 4004 overlords.
But does it run Linux?
Imagine a beowulf cluster of these...
In Soviet Russia...
(etc., etc.)
Slow Down Cowboy!
Slashdot requires you to wait between each successful posting of a comment to allow everyone a fair chance at posting a comment.
It's been 20 minutes since you last successfully posted a comment
Oh my God! Why on Earth was I trying to rape Slashdot servers! Trying to post within 20 minutes of each other? Kill me! Kill me now! I don't deserve to live anymore. I can't live with my conscience! Seriously, I'm going to be late for work. Time to move on to digg.
wget -O foo.htm --referer=http://www.google.com http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/28/technology/28bas ics.html?ref=technology
http://www.nec-design.co.jp/showcase/#pism
Imaging 4 pens in your extra coffee mug, (or pocket protector). One converts to a mini-projector, one to a laser keyboard, one is a wireless NIC, another is a Wireless USB drive?
Anyway...it seems a cool use for this technology, even if it's just a concept.
I swear there was a page with more details about the function of each pen, but the link above is the best I could find.
--Welcome to the Realm of the Hawke--
I got one of these a few months ago, figuring i'd be able to use it to type faster than I would with the hand writing recognition/on screen keyboard of my lifedrive. Turns out I make enough mistakes, and need to go slow enough with it that the handwriting recognition is faster on it. The On Screne Keyboard is probably the fastest method of inputting (provided you don't have to use symbols and such). I've been meaning to put mine on ebay for the last months, but i'm a lazy bastard.
Does anybody know if these are offered in either split (aka natural) formats or alternative layouts (i.e. Dvorak). There is no reason not to except to keep overhead low.
Hell! Now combine that with an LED beamer and a PDA in the size of a credit card and you've got THE DEFINITE mobile phone that allows you to browse the net, write emails, make video phone calls...
Old news, yeah, but with the concern hospitals have over a) using technology to reduce doctor errors and efficiency and b) maintaining a clean environment where, frankly, no pda or keyboard or tactile interface is yet clean in the slighest (disposable sleeves for pda, maybe, but stil..
I'd say the neatest thing is in hospitals where a bit of disinfectant on smooth surface is all it takes to keep transmission of shared consoles down - hey, even sliding paper rolls for the purpose. Any way just thought 'gee that's appicable'..
CS majors know the time/space tradeoff, but they never get taught the 3rd, crucial, tradeoff of the set: comprehension!
these are so old there are on special in some parts of OZ at a lot less than US$179. I like the idea for about 10 seconds then thought about how painful it would be to type with your fingers hitting a tabletop or something. To be fair, the did actually make it into production, unlike so many other 'breakthrough' gadgets.
There was an unknown error in the submission.
Dupe or no dupe, the timing of this article is great for me, as a buddy of mine got one last week and I got an opportunity to play around with it extensively over the weekend.
First, to the folks who are saying "It's teh suck compared to a full-sized keyboard 'cuz you don't get tactile feedback", thanks for the brilliant insight.
This isn't designed to compete with a full-sized keyboard except perhaps in geeky coolness. It's designed as an alternative to typing on the tiny keyboards built into PDAs or using the keypad on a phone. In this regard there's no comparison- it blows them away. I can actually touch type on the keypad on my phone, but could never hope to approach the typing speeds I can get on the virtual keyboard.
I think that a big factor in the utility of this device is the individual user. My friend (who actually owns the thing) has fairly thick fingers, and I think that he normally types by sight. Conversely, I touch type and have fairly smallish hands (for a guy anyway. They're still larger then all but the largest women's hands). My friend was able to do a passable job, but had to make a lot of corrections compared to when he's using a normal keyboard. On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised by how low my error rate was after just a short while. There's definitely a loss of speed associated with needing to keep glancing down at the "keys" to keep my finger positions calibrated, but after getting used to it I was still probably faster than your average hunt-and-peck typist.
As to the concern about repetitive stress injury from banging fingers into a table top, that's just absurd. You don't need to press into the surface- just touch it. There's no impact to speak of at all.
IMHO, it's pricy but useful, and has extreme coolness value. We took it around with us and got a lot of ooh's and aah's. If your fingers are exceptionally thick then you should probably skip it, but folks with smaller fingers will have little trouble. I need to find out if the layout works with the Mac's Command key, which normally maps to the Windows key on PC keyboards. The virtual keyboard doesn't include a Windows key, but if I can work around that I'm definitely getting one.
Boundless Expansion, Self-Transformation, Dynamic Optimism, Intelligent Technology, Spontaneous Order- BEST DO IT SO!
I've been wondering when someone will create a device which requires no input surface (either voice, or something like this) with something that projects its output as well (presumably something such as this could be made to do it). At that point, there is no particular limitation to how small the device itself can actually get. My Palm would be much more convenient to carry around if it were, say, the size of my watch.
sig fault
Stuff that. Integrate them all inside the PDA: That's when you're set.
I posted excatly this idea (have a laser project a keyboard to any surface and have the same laser detect fingers) to a Fidonet echo sometime in the first half of the 1990s. It's really unfortunate that there isn't such a comprehensive archive of those like DejaNews (nowadays Google). I looked there but coulnd't find it, so it probably was in a regional echo...
;-)
I wouldn't want any money, I'd settle for the fame.
Siemens showed a similar device on CeBit 2002 or something.
I don't really want four pens, why can't I just carry one ?
.. Old news.
I've already bought one, spent 6 months trying to get it to work with my Palm T¦X with no success, gotten pissed off, tried to return it (unsuccessfully since it isn't "broken" - it just doesn't "work")... finally put it away in my drawer - probably never to be powered up again.
Since the store wont let me return it - anyone interested in having mine ?
This device would be quite useful.. if it only worked.
"Lets all move to California & start using slow modems"
No, really !
Why carry any? Why not just have them built into your phone?
The requested URL
or is it totally useless to blind people ?
In fact, this is actually quite a clever idea. It's almost a pity it is now in the public domain.
Pining for the fjords
An "invisible field? Well, I suppose that lasers, being light, are actually an electromagnetic field, but otherwise this is just trying to make it sound all Star-Trekky (or perhaps, Doctor-Evilish), complete with technobabble.
And looking at their site, there are some more gems:
"An infra-red plane of light is generated just above, and parallel to, the interface surface. This light is invisible to the user and hovers a few millimeters above the surface."
Don't be tempted because of few bucks, the only seller that have true technical support and can help you pair your device with the VKB is - www.virtual-laser-keyboard.com . Many thought they are smarter and failed to pair or to operate correcly. belive me, I know, I am their help-desk manager. We don't support thinkgeek or ebay clients so please...10x and all the best.
I would say that it's twenty bucks cool, not $179.99 cool.
Maybe ten. Blow money's a bit tight this paycheck.
Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius. -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
It would be worth it if it would keep the laptop running for at least 48 hours. If it were a detachable unit and provided 12 volts hell there's a lot that could be done with it.
I'd go on a Vegan diet but the delivery time from Vega is too long. --brownkitty