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Virtual keyboards provide an alternative input method for users who cannot use a physical keyboard due to disabilities or who need to switch between keyboard layouts. They are commonly used on devices without a physical keyboard, such as phones, tablets, and PDAs. Virtual keyboards can be touchscreen-based, optically projected, or use optical detection of finger motions. They allow for input from a variety of devices and provide flexibility in keyboard layouts and types.

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Arun Gopinath
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29 views1 page

Untitled 1

Virtual keyboards provide an alternative input method for users who cannot use a physical keyboard due to disabilities or who need to switch between keyboard layouts. They are commonly used on devices without a physical keyboard, such as phones, tablets, and PDAs. Virtual keyboards can be touchscreen-based, optically projected, or use optical detection of finger motions. They allow for input from a variety of devices and provide flexibility in keyboard layouts and types.

Uploaded by

Arun Gopinath
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Virtual keyboard

On a desktop PC, one purpose of a virtual keyboard is to provide an alternative input


mechanism for users with disabilities who cannot use, or do not have access to a physical
keyboard. Another major use for an on-screen keyboard is for bi- or multi-lingual users who
switch frequently between different character sets or alphabets, which may be confusing
over time. Although hardware keyboards are available with dual keyboard layouts (e.g.
Cyrillic/Latin letters in various national layouts), the on-screen keyboard provides a handy
substitute while working at different stations or on laptops which seldom come with dual
layouts.
Virtual keyboards are commonly used as an on-screen input method in devices with no
physical keyboard, where there is no room for one, such as a pocket computer, personal
digital assistant (PDA), tablet computer or touchscreen equipped mobile phone. Text is
commonly inputted either by tapping a virtual keyboard or finger-tracing. [2] Virtual
keyboards are also used as features of emulation software for systems that have fewer
buttons than a computer keyboard would have.
Virtual keyboards can be categorized by the following aspects:
Physical keyboards with distinct keys comprising electronically changeable displays
integrated in the keypads
Virtual keyboards with touchscreen keyboard layouts or sensing areas [3]
Optically projected keyboard layouts or similar arrangements of "keys" or sensing areas[4]
[5]

Optically detected human hand and finger motions[6]


Virtual keyboards to allow input from a variety of input devices, such as a computer
mouse, switch or other assistive technology device.
An optical virtual keyboard was invented and patented by IBM engineers in 2008.[6] It
optically detects and analyses human hand and finger motions and interprets them as
operations on a physically non-existent input device like a surface having painted keys. In
that way it allows to emulate unlimited types of manually operated input devices such as a
mouse or keyboard. All mechanical input units can be replaced by such virtual devices,
optimized for the current application and for the user's physiology maintaining speed,
simplicity and unambiguity of manual data input.
On the Internet, various JavaScript virtual keyboards have been created, allowing users to
type their own languages on foreign keyboards, particularly in Internet
cafes. Multitouchscreens allow the possibility to create virtual chorded keyboards for tablet
computers,[7] touchscreens, touchpads and wired gloves.[8][9]

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