Canesta, Inc. has launched a fully-Integrated projection keyboard for mobile and wireless devices. The company said by integrating a set of tiny Canesta components into such mobile products as smartphones, PDAs, tablet PCs, or cell phones, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will be able to offer their customers the convenience of a full-sized keyboard and mouse created "out of thin air" by projected beams of light.

According to the company, this eliminates the need for awkward input methodologies such as styluses or thumb keypads. Canesta's "electronic perception technology" is then used to track user's finger movements in three dimensions as the user types on the image of a keyboard, projected on any flat surface in front of the mobile device. No accessories are required.

The Integrated Canesta Keyboard is made possible by the Canesta Keyboard Perception Chipset, the first commercial realization of Canesta's electronic perception technology. The company claims electronic perception technology is a low cost and practical technology that permits machines and electronic devices of any nature to "see" by tracking nearby objects in three dimensions in real time. The chipset itself, which consists of an invisible light source, a pattern projector for the keyboard, and a sensor chip, is designed to unobtrusively be Integrated right into the cases of small mobile devices.

Andrew M. Seybold, founder and principal of Outlook 4 Mobility sees an impact that goes far beyond OEMs. "The ability to finally do PC-like work on a mobile device will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the wireless market," said Seybold. "We would expect in the long term to see not only an across-the-board increase in revenue traffic, but the appearance of new, value-added carrier offerings that take advantage of the capabilities of a full-sized keyboard on a mobile device."

The Integrated Canesta Keyboard is implemented by means of a new type of 3-dimensional sensor technology that can track moving objects in the vicinity of the sensor chip in real time. The packaged sensor, a module not much larger than a pea, resolves a user's finger movements as he or she types on the projected image of a keyboard, resolves those movements into "keystrokes" on specific projected keys, and processes the movements into a stream of serial keystroke data similar to that output by a physical keyboard. This enables an OEM wishing to integrate the sensor module into a mobile or wireless device to do so with great ease, as both the software and hardware interfaces to conventional keyboards are well understood, and well represented with existing code and circuit designs.

Included with the sensor module are two other miniature components: a pattern projector, and a small infrared light source. The pattern projector, hardly bigger than the sensor module, uses an internal laser to project the image of a full-sized keyboard on a nearby flat surface. The keyboard may be the familiar QWERTY English keyboard, which is offered as a standard option by Canesta, or any non-English or even non-Roman character set, or unique keypads, provided to OEMs on a custom basis. The light source invisibly illuminates the user's fingers, as they type on the projected surface, such as a desk, tray table, or briefcase.

The three components, collectively called the Canesta Keyboard Perception Chipset, are intended to be mounted directly into the face of the smartphone, PDA, cellphone or other wireless or mobile device, and when in use, consume small amounts of battery power. No separate accessories are required. Users of emerging mobile applications such as wireless email would simply place the mobile device conveniently in front of themselves, and begin typing on the projected keyboard.

The pattern projector projects a standard or OEM custom keyboard layout onto a nearby flat surface. The company said the keyboard pattern has been optimized for usability, featuring wide key spacing to improve typing accuracy, shortcut keys for popular applications, and adjustable brightness levels. The eye-safe projector, about 9mm (5/16 inch) square, meets U.S. ANSI and IEC Class 1 Laser safety standards.

The small, cylindrical light source, 6.5mm (1/4 inch) in diameter, illuminates the keyboard area with invisible infrared light, which is detected by the sensor module. The keyboard sensor module serves as the "eyes" of the Integrated Canesta Keyboard, and utilizes Canesta's electronic perception technology to develop a 3-dimensional moving picture of the nearby area. Additional processing built right into the sensor itself translates user finger movements into conventional serial keyboard data, eliminating the need for additional processing in the OEM device. The sensor includes an integral lens that performs all filtering and focusing functions.

The Canesta Keyboard Perception Chipset for the Integrated Canesta Keyboard is available in sample quantities now. An OEM Development Toolkit, consisting of an application test bed with a pattern projector and image sensor, customization tools, sample applications, device drivers, and management and interface software, is also available from Canesta to aid OEMs in fully exploring the range of product opportunities made possible by the Integrated Canesta Keyboard.