The I-Tech Virtual Laser Keyboard

avtchillsboro writes, "The NY Times has a rather fluffy article (registration required) about stuff you can buy to 'accessorize' your smart phone & or cell phone (so passé!). What caught my eye was the I-Tech Virtual Laser Keyboard. From the vendor's website: 'The Virtual Laser Keyboard (VKB) uses both infrared and laser technology to generate an invisible field and project a full-size virtual QWERTY keyboard on any surface... The I-Tech VKB reacts exactly like a real keyboard. Direction technology based on optical recognition enables the user to tap the images of the keys, complete with realistic tapping sounds(!), which feeds into the compatible PDA, Smartphone, laptop, or PC. Note: The VKB is both PC and Macintosh compatible!'"

Hi, welcome to 2003

[hsmith]

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/03/18/131420 7&tid=126 [slashdot.org]

On the way to the ultimate in portable computers..

[GuruBuckaroo]

Now just tack on one of these matchbox-sized projectors [audioholics.com] and a fast PDA, and you're set.

Re:Hi, welcome to 2003

[joe 155]

indeed, I saw this on amazon (.co.uk - and we have to wait longer than the US for everything) about a year ago, infact it is so old that it's now been discontinued from amazon, still, there are some reviews; http://www.amazon.co.uk/I-Tech-C51-A04031-XX-Bluet ooth-Virtual-Keyboard/dp/B000BBQQRY/sr=8-34/qid=11 59734652/ref=sr_1_34/026-5191554-0026041?ie=UTF8&s =electronics [amazon.co.uk]

You can get them...

[Wampus Aurelius]

...from here [thinkgeek.com].

They suck

[dorpus]

Laser keyboards have a high rate of false key presses, because your fingers have to pass over other keys, and you can't feel the keys.

Re:Hi, welcome to 2003

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, but they're still charging $179.99 for this. Any technology for which Moore's law has not been applied can be re-posted on Slashdot at will. It's in the bylaws -- I looked it up.

Videos (YouTube)

[LionKimbro]

The I-Tech VKB reacts exactly like a real keyboard.

I hoped so, wished so, but the videos I've seen [techeblog.com] defy this.

You can see that you have to type slowly, and, it'll miss some keypresses.

Still, it's really cool, and portable: You don't have to carry a keyboard around with you.

I got one and it sucks

[soleblaze]

I got one of these a few months ago, figuring i'd be able to use it to type faster than I would with the hand writing recognition/on screen keyboard of my lifedrive. Turns out I make enough mistakes, and need to go slow enough with it that the handwriting recognition is faster on it. The On Screne Keyboard is probably the fastest method of inputting (provided you don't have to use symbols and such). I've been meaning to put mine on ebay for the last months, but i'm a lazy bastard.

Re:other layouts

[Doppler00]

Nope, I e-mailed the company one time asking about alternative layouts for lanugages and Dvorak, and they said the usual "we have no plans at this time..." excuse. From what I read, the product probably isn't very useful for someone who's a touch-typist anyway.