Review: Magic Cube laser keyboard

Laser keyboards have mostly been concept devices for a few years and have not seen huge uptake by the mass consumer market. This could change, however, with Celluon's release of the Magic Cube virtual computer keyboard, which aims to replace traditional keyboards.

At first glance, the Magic Cube, which is the size of a small Web cam, is certainly very portable, has a modern, minimalist design, and is much smaller than a full-sized traditional keyboard. It has two indicator lights on the front as well as a small camera lens.

The gadget has a projection laser that displays a full keyboard layout onto any surface; however, the Magic Cube must be resting on a flat surface. An infrared laser combined with an optical sensor on the front of the device recognises keystrokes.

The plug-and-play Magic Cube wirelessly connects to a mobile device via Bluetooth connectivity. The device projects a bright red laser keyboard onto a tabletop that is easy to see. What I liked was that each time a user touches a virtual key or button, it makes a realistic sound as if typing on a hardware keyboard.

While the Magic Cube essentially works on almost any flat surface, the biggest hurdle was that it's sensitive to light and shadow. The device picked up multiple shadows and mistook them for keystrokes; this made typing clumsy and awkward at times. Also, the device is more suited to the mobile user who's on the go, doesn't do a lot of typing, and requires a keyboard that's compact, lightweight and doesn't take up too much space.

I found that the keystrokes were more accurately read via an iPad versus a notebook PC.

Touch-typing at fast speeds proved difficult, as the Magic Cube simply could not accurately register my keystrokes as fast as I could type them - on average more than 100 words per minute.

However, for general Web browsing, typing and editing documents, it was able to do the job. The Magic Cube can be charged by connecting it via USB to another mobile device or PC.

As users become increasingly mobile, the Magic Cube is likely to suit the tablet and smartphone market, as it works best with an Apple iPad. The device is also compatible with the latest iPhone, Android and BlackBerry devices; practically any Bluetooth-enabled device.

In conclusion, I don't think the laser keyboard is based on mature enough technology to replace the conventional keyboard. While I think the Magic Cube does fare better than competing technology such as the roll-up keyboard or smaller compact keyboard variants, it does need some additional technology development in terms of keystroke detection.