Random Encounters of We: Laser Keyboards

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Laser Keyboards

I once saw a TV show where someone used one of these keyboards to to access the internet through their PDA because the company did not allow its employees internet access. When I saw it I thought it was totally cool but figured it was one of those "made for TV" props. But according to Think Geek the Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard is now a reality. Quoting the article:

"This tiny device laser-projects a keyboard on any flat surface... you can then type away accompanied by simulated key click sounds. It really is true future magic at its best."

I think it is so funny that it makes key clicking sounds, my digital camera does the same sort of thing making a shutter sound every time you take a picture; both unnecessary but provides that familiar sound.
I know how hard it is to enter more than a few words into my Palm, but with something like this I could see myself using it a lot more for a lot of different things. If computer companies could come up with a way of integrating this technology into a laptop, it could really reduce the overall thickness of the laptop itself, not to mention being wicked cool. If you think about it the keys on a keyboard have to have room to move up and down in order to be used but if you had a laser keyboard all you would need is a flat surface. Even though you can use the laser keyboard with your phone or PDA through Bluetooth, I am sure one day there will be phones and PDAs that have laser keyboards built in.