Despite all of the advances in smartphone touchscreens – including a significant increase in the average size – over the last few years, many of us still have difficulty with typing accuracy.
However, Samsung’s innovative and experimental C-Labs unit believes it may have the answer, in the form of an AI-powered virtual keyboard that would allow users to type on a desk in front of them.
It’s called SelfieType and in a concept video debuted at CES 2020, the company showcased a system that would use the front-facing cameras in order to track the device owner’s hands as they tap away on the keyboard.
The technology, which will be showcased on the show floor during the ongoing Las Vegas tech showcase this week, may not ever make it to market, but is a potential game-changer for those fat-thumbed smartphone users.
Samsung also showcases the tech working on one of its Galaxy Tab slates, as well as the Galaxy Fold smartphone away from the office environment on a table at a cafe.
Check it out in the video below:
Whether Samsung ever includes this technology in its range of consumer mobile products remains to be seen.
From looking at the video, it would probably require users to be keen typists with an inside out knowledge of the QWERTY layout in order for it to function accurately, because there’s no projection technology involved here.
However, if Samsung could perfect this, it could end the misery of having to type out long emails on the bottom half of a 6-inch touchscreen.