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Virtual typing in the works
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By Jørgen Sundgot, Friday 20 September 2002  
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Canesta's says its new component set will allow mobile device makers to integrate a virtual keyboard - made up of projected beams of light and motion sensors - in their products.
If there's one issue bothering users of mobile devices today, it's data input. Voice recognition hasn't arrived yet, and in the meantime users are forced to deal with stylus input, handwriting recognition, voice recognition and various add-on or integrated thumbboards and keyboards that add bulk. There's light in the end of the tunnel, however, if Canesta's new projection keyboard components deliver on the company's promises.
Launched at DEMOmobile 2002 recently, a set of tiny Canesta components for integration into such mobile products as smartphones, PDAs, tablet PCs, or mobile phones, device makers will be able to offer end users the convenience of a full-sized keyboard and mouse created "out of thin air" by projected beams of light, says the company.
 | | Ill: Canesta |
Eliminating the need for admittedly more awkward input methodologies such as styluses or thumbboards - should Canesta's technology work as promised, the company's 'electronic perception technology' is used to track a user’s finger movements in three dimensions as the user types on the image of a keyboard, projected on any flat surface in front of the mobile device. No accessories are required.
The chipset itself, which consists of an infrared light source, a pattern projector for the keyboard, and a unique sensor chip, is designed to unobtrusively be integrated right into the cases of small mobile devices. Canesta hopes that low cost semiconductor manufacturing techniques used for the chipset and its small form factor mean that OEMs may add this capability to today’s wireless devices for little or no size penalty at a reasonable cost.
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