Today, nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults own a smartphone, up from 35 percent in 2011, according to the Pew Research Center, and almost half of smartphone users say the device is something “they could not live without.”
As handy as smartphones are, typing on them can be a challenge – especially for older users who didn’t grow up texting.
But there’s an inexpensive, cool-looking, sci-fi fix for that: For between $35 and $150 (down from several hundred dollars a few years ago), you can buy a wireless laser projection virtual keyboard that will make your smartphone function a lot more like a laptop computer.
It’s a lightweight device about the size of a large pack of gum that connects wirelessly to a smart phone, tablet or computer via Bluetooth.
The device projects a laser image of a QWERTY-style keyboard on a table or other flat service. Another laser projects invisible infrared light that lets the device see where your fingers type.