just got a projec4ed laser keyboard

[kensuguro]

wow i always took these things as a joke, but they really work!!
the sesnsitivity is very good, just that it;s very easy to loose your home row position. It's hard to go a few words withouta messing up. and i need to constantly peek at the projected keys to make sure my hands are in the correct position.

the feat9re nobody etalks a out because this is a "keyboard" device is that it has a moise input mode, which is very nice. the entireikeyboard projection area becomes a track pad. it's got right mouse lick and everything.

there are actually two companies that make this device. one is the original.. a company called i-TECH. their device uses a non-standard keyboard layout, and I don't think theirs has the mouse mode. the better, which I got is from a company called celluon. it's got usb amd bluetooth, and has a morr standard keyboard lwyout, although it's still not quite standard.

all in all though, I'm very impressed. maybe not 100% usable just yet, but it's definitely close. I mean, with aka bit of struggle, I'm typing this at about 30wps.. on my wood floor!! while navigating the site with the mouseofeature. amazing!

[braincell]

Why did you buy this?

[siriusbliss]

thanks for the update.

I've been tracking these, but am still so used to the tactile approach (without looking at my hands), that I may have to pass for now.

Greg

[kensuguro]

because it had the word "laser" in it. And as we all know, it's the globally accepted synonym for concepts such as "awesome", or "right on dude". It's the direct opposite of concepts such as "taxes", or "refusing a free beer".

I must agree though, tactile resonse is sooo important to blindly doing things.. typing, fiddling with your walkman in your backpack in the 80's, administering pleasure to your gf/other females.. (or males) iphone people will tell you it'll all go away and tiny panels that are multi touch sensitive will replace all that old non-apple stuff "that has soo many moving parts". Airplanes? Too many moving parts. US congress? waay to many. The internet? Fuggedaboudit!

Apparently the world will not have any moving parts within the next few years. In fact, earth and the solar system will stop moving too. It's got waay to many moving parts, it's a manufacturing deficienty and parts are bound to break. If it's got moving parts, shove it in a $.99 iphone app and release it with a freebie "entry" counterpart that gets you hooked at no cost to you. What a deal. What a deal. Coincidentally, your body has many moving parts. Those should be replaced by icons and a touch interface. It's so frickin' complicated as it is. So many.. moving parts!

Jokes aside, haptic response is a form of information transfer. It is extremely quick, direct, and simple. Anyone who thinks it can be replaced by some visual representation and a flat glass panel needs to go have some sexy sexy in the dark. Preferably with many partners. See if they'd still prefer replacing "lots of moving parts" with touching a glass panel.

[Me$$iah]

I'm typing this at about 30wps.. on my wood floor!!

30 words per second.........Jesus, thats impressve.... I probably cant think 30 words in a second.... even in a comfy chair

[petal]

I've heard that: yes the technology works (as you report) but an unexpected problem arised after some use - Your fingertips starts to hurt because of the hard surface of a table/floor. Have you experienced this as well?

[kensuguro]

na, can't type fast enough for my fingers to hurt. lol

I do wish they impelemented the "scroll with the side portion of the touch area" like the touch pads.

[kensuguro]

I'm typing this at about 30wps.. on my wood floor!!

30 words per second.........Jesus, thats impressve.... I probably cant think 30 words in a second.... even in a comfy chair

oh ya, duh. haha. let's make that 30 words per several minutes then.

also, once big downside the designers didn't think about.. here's the deal breaker:

The thing requires a projection surface of about a keyboard, but it also needs vertical space so that the keyboard can be projected at the necessary distance from the projector. And that space? Rright, it's bigger than a notebook! lol. Why did the designers think that a person would rather use a blackberry + laser keyboard combo that takes up more desktop space than a notebook, I don't know.

but again... it's got lasers shooting out of it, so it makes it sort of alright.

[Immanuel]

So I g8ess tha5 you onl7 wrot4 the first post witj youf new keyboa4d?

[netguyjoel]

M3 T00!

[garyb]

mmmmm,

lasers.....

[siriusbliss]

llllaaaaaasssssseeeeerrrrrrrssssss <makes quote gesture with hands>

Yeah, I guess until they put the lasers in the top of the monitor, then it's sort of counter-intuitive having the extra z-height.

What about angle? Don't your hands create shadows over the other keys?

Greg

[kensuguro]

yeah, the laser goes right over your fingers. so you do hsve to move you hands away slightly if you want to check your home row. one thing i am finding out is that if you glance at the keys once in a little while, you can maintain a fairly good accuracy. bottom line is, though this thing is still more of a joke than any thing else. i just wished somewhere in my optimistic mind that this thing would just replace my regular keys.

one strange thing is that not having to press down on the keys actually makes typing very effortless. i mean ,it's zero key pitch. but then the apple "thin" keyboard is pretty much zero key pitch and almost perfectly flat. and requires much less desktop space.

[siriusbliss]

yeah, the laser goes right over your fingers. so you do hsve to move you hands away slightly if you want to check your home row. one thing i am finding out is that if you glance at the keys once in a little while, you can maintain a fairly good accuracy. bottom line is, though this thing is still more of a joke than any thing else. i just wished somewhere in my optimistic mind that this thing would just replace my regular keys.

one strange thing is that not having to press down on the keys actually makes typing very effortless. i mean ,it's zero key pitch. but then the apple "thin" keyboard is pretty much zero key pitch and almost perfectly flat. and requires much less desktop space.

Now, if someone would develop this for drum-pads such as a padKontrol, etc. then my table-top drumming could be captured more directly. But then there would be an issue with velocity...

Oh well...it's still a laser...

Greg

[netguyjoel]

All that is left, is to mount them on slightly ill-tempered mutant sea bass.

[kensuguro]

I juet spent half a day "practicing" on the keys.. there's no way I think I can get past 20 wpm.. it's just too hard to type fast while loosing track or home row all the time. it's fine when the base hand position is right, but once it drifts off, it's hard to get right again without having to look at the laser keys. Thought with half a day of practicing, it does become much easier to type quickly. I'm down to having to retype every other word, as opposed to EVERY word before practicing to give you a general idea.
like now, at least I'm typing with much less typos.

[siriusbliss]

I juet spent half a day "practicing" on the keys.. there's no way I think I can get past 20 wpm.. it's just too hard to type fast while loosing track or home row all the time. it's fine when the base hand position is right, but once it drifts off, it's hard to get right again without having to look at the laser keys. Thought with half a day of practicing, it does become much easier to type quickly. I'm down to having to retype every other word, as opposed to EVERY word before practicing to give you a general idea.
like now, at least I'm typing with much less typos.

I envy you for how much time you have on your hands
Have you tried putting down a piece of tape or something slightly tactile that your thumbs can use as a reference point?

frikin' lasers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh7bYNAHXxw

Greg

[netguyjoel]

I glad you caught that one!!!