DailyDirt: Keyboards? We Don't Need Keyboards Where We're Going... (Okay, Maybe We Do)

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The future of keyboards could be really interesting... or we might be about to witness some truly cool UI train wrecks. Despite all the proposed improvements to it, though, the traditional QWERTY keyboard will probably never actually be obsolete. Here are just a few more "advancements" in the field of user input design. By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.
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Filed Under: keyboard, pebkac, ui, user input
Companies: apple


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  • identicon
    Ken, 17 Jun 2011 @ 6:07pm

    Ban the keyboard for the children

    The answer to copyright infringement is to do away with the keyboard, mouse, and all input devices and make the Internet a read only medium like cable TV. We will have all of our information spoon fed us like the good old days of newspapering.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 6:20pm

    That sonar keyboard looks like the thing I could whip up for Linux in an afternoon using my Kinect, the OpenCV "find a pair of eyes" code from pam-face-authentication, and a copy of xlockmore if I knew as much about C as I do about Python.

    Nifty to see someone actually selling it already though and that they did it with sonar.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:28pm

    Back To The Future reference scoreboard.

    Thought (it counts): 10
    Accuracy (so close): 7

    Total BTTFR* score : 7.5 :(

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    E. Zachary Knight (profile), 18 Jun 2011 @ 10:33am

    A PC keyboard with a sonar sensor can tell if a person has walked away from it -- and sign out the user to prevent someone else from accessing the computer.

    Meh. I just set my screen saver to 5 minutes with the requirement to enter my password to unlock. Works well enough.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    cryptozoologist (profile), 18 Jun 2011 @ 3:10pm

    swipe

    i just played with a new android phone that has 'swipe technology' where instead of tapping each character you drag your finger and paint from letter to letter. it sounds weird but it works really well. you do not need to be all that accurate as it is really going off of the shape of the swipe more than the exact key you 'hit'

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Jeff Rowberg (profile), 20 Jun 2011 @ 10:04pm

    Keyglove wearable wireless input device

    I try to avoid shameless plugs as a rule, but it's too relevant for this post to pass up. I've been working on the Keyglove since October, and I just wrapped up a great exhibit at the Next Generation Science Fair up in San Francisco on June 19th.

    In short, the Keyglove wraps a keyboard and mouse around your hand into a single glove. It's entirely open source and reprogrammable, platform-agnostic, and very promising. The project website at www.keyglove.net has all kinds of info if you want to check it out. I'm still working on it a lot, but the prototype is a working proof-of-concept, and it has excellent potential.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Michael Ho (profile), 20 Jun 2011 @ 10:30pm

      Re: Keyglove wearable wireless input device

      Hi Jeff -- keyglove looks cool. And congrats on the Kickstarter funding!

      link to this | view in chronology ]


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