Typing on a mobile device isn’t always the easiest thing to do, especially for long-form writing. Now,Samsungis developing a new product that might be just what consumers need to change all that: an invisible keyboard.
Invisible keyboards aren’t entirely a new concept. Laser keyboards, which project an image of a keyboard and tracked the user’s hands with laser technology have been in production for some time now, but required bringing along an external device, which made it no more viable than simply carrying a portable keyboard. However, Samsung’s device will work a little differently, eliminating the need for a projector or extra device.
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Samsung’s invisible keyboard, Selfietype, is being developed by Samsung’s C-Lab division and will be demoed atCES 2020. The keyboard is designed to utilize the selfie front-facing cameras built in to the vast majority of mobile devices, like tablets and phones in order to track the user’s hands. The demo video shows a user propping up their mobile device and then being able to tap away on any flat surface as though they were using aQWERTY keyboard. The device responds by analyzing the movements of the hands and generating the appropriate text on whatever word processing, texting, or email app is currently open on the screen.
Though the demo is impressive and the technology intriguing, there’s no telling how it will perform in real-life conditions. Movement of the hands, interruptions in typing, or simply typing too fast could potentially pose problems for the camera to be able to track the hands accurately. While it’s an interesting premise, chances are it won’t fully replaceBluetooth keyboardsfor important long-form documents, at least not for the near future.
There’s no doubt, however, that hand-tracking capabilities are gradually becoming more common. Facebook’sOculus recently introduced hand trackingfor the standalone VR headset Oculus Quest, which allows users to interact with their virtual environments without using the Quest’s controllers. However, even the Oculus’s hand tracking is still very much in a beta phase, and it remains to be seen if developers embrace it and allow Quest users to use their hands in third-party apps.
Samsung users probably shouldn’t hold their breath for this technology to launch in the near future. Products andtechnology revealed at CESsometimes takes years to reach the consumer, and some projects are scrapped entirely. Though if Samsung does pull this off, the company may very well have a significant advantage over its mobile competitors in the years to come.
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