h a l f b a k e r y"It would work, if you can find alternatives to each of the steps involved in this process."
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So I read about a company that is developing a virtual keyboard that uses lasers to project a keyboard pattern onto a flat surface and to read the position of the user's fingers to allow you to "type" on a virtual keyboard. They envision using it with PDAs.
Then I did some research and found another
company working on LPD's - Laser Projection Displays that allow you to project visual information (like the images of a computer monitor) against a wall or screen using lasers. Tiny little thing. They envision using it in cellphones and PDAs.
SO I thought - put it all together. A tiny box that uses lasers to project a screen in one direction and a keyboard in another, hooked up to the processing power of a PDA. A reporter in the field could make a laptop out of a couple scraps of cardboard.
The Keyboard
http://www.virtualdevices.net/
[EvilHomer, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]
The Screen
http://www.symbol.c...oducts/oem/lpd.html
[EvilHomer, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]
Buy in bulk quantities
http://www.pacific-recycling.com/
Second-hand laptops by the thousands [thumbwax, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]
Paper Laptop
http://www.dtcproducts.com/dtc/
Different technology, but the concept has been patented up the wazoo. [dalek, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]
Virtual Computer
Virtual_20computer
Who needs the cardboard? [newt, Apr 09 2005]
cell phone projector
http://news.com.com...1398_3-5951372.html
[vmaldia, Jul 23 2006]
Real Cardboard Desktop
http://greenupgrade...d-desktop-computer/
Cardboards are greener too! [kamathln, Feb 23 2009]
[link]
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Free outside your Kelloggs (tm) Cornflakes today... cut out and keep Cardboard Laptop!
(actual functionality may differ from graphic) |
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Um, Jinbish, was there an un-stated pun in your annotation about "thinking outside the (cereal) box", perhaps? |
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Wasn't intentional... I was going to follow up with a very poor 'cereal port' one though. |
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Put a wristband on it, and it sounds like something Dick Tracey would use. As for a cardboard laptop, see link. |
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I'd love to see the patent. I don't think claims so broad as to cover "laptop made of paper" would be valid. For one, the laptop isn't made of paper - its made of lasers and a PDA. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not quite sure people have patented tons of stuff in this area. |
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I had a working SCSI server in an Airwalk shoebox and held together with duct tape. |
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here's a link that shows a really small low power projection system. It's usable for a cell phone so it should work for a laptop size device |
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You could also boast of the green factor! Check link (Real Cardboard Desktop). |
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I've seen (in a chain e-mail) a 'laptop' made up of a series of 'pens' and a stand to put them all in pointing the right direction. One did the keyboard, one projected the screen onto a nearby wall (about regular monitor size), and a couple of others made up the mouse, battery etc. |
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It basically a desktop computer that fits in your top pocket (I guess with the processing power of a PDA if you're lucky though)! |
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