The biggest problem I often have with my iPhone is that the touch screen keyboard is actually slower to type on than my old flip phone’s keypad was once I mastered the “word” function. This seems ridiculous since the iPhone’s keyboard has every letter as a separate button while the flip phone’s buttons are compressed to three-to-four buttons per letter. This is mainly due to the size constraints on the buttons of the iPhone, as I tend to press the wrong one or even two at once in clumsiness.

However, it looks as if the new “Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard” has solved this problem for me. Featuring a full-size laser projection keyboard, this device allows one to type emails or texts on any flat surface as long as the device is bluetooth-enabled. It is claimed that this novel keyboard approaches the typing speed of a standard keyboard, a rather ambiguous statement which implies that typing speed is limited on the device.

The limited typing speed would potentially be a nuisance, but was probably unavoidable in the design of the product due to its mandatory Bluetooth connection. Another design issue that this keyboard faces is that standard keyboards are much more comfortable since the keys push down. I suspect that typing any more than a quick message on the virtual keyboard would slightly hurt the tips of the fingers. A positive about the virtual keyboard is that it is only a bit larger than a matchbook in size, so its portability could outweigh its other detriments. The price of the device is $150, which is expensive but expected for this type of technology. In short, the design of the Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard has many merits but may not be worth the investment.

Sources: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/01/07/monday-inspiration-innovative-designs-and-devices/

http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e722/

http://www.virtual-laser-devices.com/

Photo: http://virgintech.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/bluetooth-virtual-keyboard.jpg