Samsung SelfieType tech at CES 2020 is a glimpse of the future

Smartphones are part and parcel of modern life but we’ve all been reliant on virtual keyboards and a variety of makeshift predictive algorithms to offer typing experiences and speeds akin to a real keyboard with mixed results.

One of Samsung’s C-Lab teams at CES 2020 in Las Vegas has a vision of the future that looks so promising that it may even make physical keyboards go the way of the dodo. Enter Samsung’s SelfieType concept tech from their C-Lab in-house incubation programs.

For the uninitiated, Samsung’s C-Lab program are research teams in Samsung that tinker about with next generation innovations. This particular team which came up with the SelfieType concept uses the front-facing selfie camera as a means for users to comfortably type large reams of text without having to tote around a separate keyboard or relying on a small touchscreen.

Generally, their concept is device agnostic without the need for additional tech save for a front-facing selfie camera with their concept video showing a Galaxy Fold folded halfway and a variety of other Samsung phone modes like the Galaxy S10+ to demonstrate the tech.

After propping a phone up, you then put your hands in a typing position for the SelfieType AI to register the presence of finger and then all you need to do is to type away as if you’re touching a real QWERTY keyboard. Think of an air guitar, except that you’re punching text instead of chords and you’re getting the right idea.

At present, this SelfieType tech is purely at the concept stage and they’re working on improving the text accuracy and offering it in additional languages beyond English so it won’t be seeing service anytime soon. Even so, the concept is so innovative that it we’re hoping it gets deployed as soon as feasibly possible. Check out the video on how SelfieType works.

[Source Samsung]