Virtual keyboards were a novelty a while ago but they didn’t gain much traction. However, it may be time for them to return given the immense use they can be of in smartphones and tablets. A UK student has now successfully created a ‘virtual keyboard’ for iPhone by using the smartphone’s built-in accelerometer.
Florian Kraeutli is a computer science student and has been trying to create an easier way of interacting with an iPhone when doing more typing-intensive tasks on the smartphone.
According to him, iPhone’s accelerometer can measure different forms of vibrations. All we need to do is make the iPhone interpret each of these different vibrations as a distinct letter. For instance, you can draw a grid of letters on a paper, place the iPhone next to it and then read it the tap on every square on this grid different, based on the difference.
iPhone’s accelerometer is well capable of accomplishing that. And this is precisely why, Kraeutli was successful in creating a virtual keyboard for the smartphone. The iPhone is able to get the input from this keyboard right 80% of the time which is very impressive.
Kraeutli says that his attempt was more of a ‘proof of concept’ to demonstration how iPhone’s accelerometer can be used in more innovative ways. To create a more accurate virtual keyboard, he says, a more powerful accelerometer is required. Watch the video below to watch him demo his virtual keyboard for iPhone:
Source: Telegraph
Courtesy: BGR
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