The Virtual Keyboard is a new input option that could* (big emphasis on could) be used in future Nokia devices. Here's how it works.

First, an integrated camera on a given device will read a user's hand/finger positions. With this information, the device can display an onscreen keyboard with virtual fingers hovering over the virtual letters. As a user "types" a key, sound sensors pick up the tapping noises and translate them into keystrokes.

It's definitely a little off-the-wall, and an idea that I'd bet will never see the light of day. Reason: way too potentially user-unfriendly.

But the idea for the virtual keyboard isn't exactly new: there's a small contraption by i-Tech called the "Virtual Laser Keyboard" that projects a QWERTY keyboard onto any surface, and reads your keypresses with infrared technology.

I do wish that Nokia would hurry up and start implementing its touch-sensitive interface, Haptikos into some cool new devices. Haptikos is the first touch-screen technology that attempts to duplicate the feeling of typing on a actual keyboard, and apparently it works pretty well.

Nokia's virtual keyboard idea - UnwiredView

Tags: nokia, patents, virtual keyboard

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