Instead of carrying around a keyboard for your phone, a proof of concept system allows your iPhone to generate an invisible keyboard, letting you type on any surface. Developed by Swiss designer Florian Kräutli, a computing student at Goldsmiths in London, ‘Vibrative’ analyzes the vibrations on the surface that are made when a person taps their fingers.

The Telegraph reports that it uses the iPhone’s accelerometer to measure the characteristics of each tap, such as the strength and frequency of the vibrations it causes, and work out which key was pressed. The system currently determines the intended key correctly about 80% of the time, so an auto correct dictionary is also used to make sure the words are spelled correctly. Check out the video below to see ‘Vibrative’ in action:

Florian Kräutli