Laser Virtual Keyboards

[TheGreatSatan]

Has anyone ever used one of these?

Laser Virtual Keyboard (http://www.directron.com/laserkeyboard.html)

[xRyokenx]

...no I haven't but that looks awesome. I wonder how well they'd work for gaming.

[tinker]

I've hear of them but it seems like they would be awkward to use. There is no tactile sensation that you get with the return of keys on a real keyboard to you don't know if you hit a key correctly until you see it on the screen.

I also wonder how they work. I'm assuming it knows when a shadow is cast over a certain key then you have pressed it. Seems like it could be a little buggy.

It would be a fun novelty item to use but not for $150

[crenn]

I've seen these for some time..... interesting but a gimmick.

[Bopher]

I've been interested in these for a long time. I don't think they would register fast enough for gaming. but word processing and web browsing would probably be good.
I was doing some research on them and found out how they work. There is 2 LEDs inside. 1 red to project the keyboard and 1 IR that works almost like radar being it can tell how far away your fingers are passing through the beam and tell the internal hardware what key is being "pressed". I could be wrong in that but i could swear that how it worked.

[Luke122]

..so waving your hands through the laser would make for some gibberish words?

[Drum Thumper]

..so waving your hands through the laser would make for some gibberish words?

I'm thinking that would only work if you ran your hand along whatever surface you've got the keyboard projected onto.

[TheGreatSatan]

What if you sneezed in the path? All that snot hitting the desktop would have to type something....

[jdbnsn]

What if you sneezed in the path? All that snot hitting the desktop would have to type something....

only you bro, only you would have thought of that concern.

[Quakken]

Just another reason why they need more satan at high-tech companies.

[chaksq]

Ok this obviously won't be a replacement for true keyboards, but this isfar more than a gimmick. As a stand alone the use is limited but when they start making them smaller so they can be built into cell phones, PDA, etc thats where the true potential comes in. A lot of people have trouble typing on keyboards or keypads that are the size of an Asus EEEpc or smaller. However a lot of business people now need to rely on this technology. Having the ability to sit at a table and type on a full size keyboard anywhere, while being able to throw the device into one's pocket can make life a lot easier for some people. Also now that more and more powerful pocket sized computers are becoming available their is going to be a demand for this.

[Killdrath]

I'll come out of long time inactivity on this.

I got to try one of these a couple years ago at CES... Granted, I was on an early production version, but it was ..meh.

Response was a bit sluggish, and you had to have clear concise finger movements. I.e. had to pick your finger up the half inch or so from the "key" you just pressed, THEN move over to the next key. I'm sure they've made improvements in the optics involved, but as has been said, I see this as more of a gimmick type thing until they get them into the afore-mentioned micro-sized devices.