It’s impossible to truly master typing on a tiny touch screen, hence the existence of peripherals like laser keyboards or this iPhone case. But what if your smartphone could use any surface as a keyboard without the help of additional devices? That’s the idea behind the Vibrative Virtual Keyboard.
The software was invented by Florian Kräutli, a Cognitive Computing student at the Goldsmiths University of London. It uses the iPhone’s built-in accelerometer along with a program written by Kräutli to detect which letter has been pressed based on the vibrations made when the user “types” on a flat surface.
Presumably, the app needs to be trained each time it’s used on a different surface or by a different user. I think that even Kräutli himself would admit that the app is unusable as it is. Even without the lag I think it would be far more useful when there are fewer keys involved, perhaps while playing a mobile game. I’d rather have this technology on my phone. Still, the demo does show us just how smart our mobile devices have become.
Most of us would not give second thoughts about our keyboards – after all, aren’t these inanimate objects that do not have the ability to think, feel, or express itself (other than respond to your keystrokes, that is)? Robbie Tilton of NYU decided to take a second look at the humble keyboard that is used by millions and millions of people worldwide, where this bit of inspiration came about after he undertook a course in fabrication, realizing that he wanted to introduce a change of pace in keyboard technology – by making it more personal and less lifeless. The Natural Keyboard, as he calls it, is a wooden keyboard that comes slathered in moss, and you are required to add some moisture from time to time so that the moss does not die off and stink.
