Projected keyboards aren’t new. We’ve seen them in the past but according to a recently discovered patent (via Cult of Mac), it has been suggested that in the future, we can look forward to iMacs that feature built-in projected keyboards. What this means is that instead of having to deal with a physical keyboard, you can type on a projected one instead.
Also instead of relying on a separate device to project the keyboard, the patent diagram suggests that the projector could be built into the base of the iMac. This seems to be in line with Apple’s all-in-one design, although from what we can tell you will still need to rely on a separate mouse.
Interestingly enough according to the patent, it targets a range of devices, not just the iMac, in terms of its use and availability. For example it suggests that it could make its way into the MacBook, iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch, display kiosks, and it has even been suggested that it could find its way into automobiles.
That being said this is just a patent and as we’ve seen in the past, there are many patents that never come to fruition. Whether or not this will remains to be seen, but in the meantime we can’t say we’re looking forward to it since typing on hard surfaces like a table would probably be very uncomfortable.