Patent ID: 9557825
Date: 2017-01-31
CPC Classifications: G06F

Claim:
1. A method for use with a data processing device to detect finger presence above a key, the method comprising: providing a first fan shaped beam of light above a working area at a first elevation, the working area including indicia of a virtual keyboard having a plurality of keys, the first fan shaped beam of light can be used to detect a selected key; providing a second fan shaped beam of light substantially parallel to and above the working area at a second elevation, the second elevation is larger than the first elevation, the second fan shaped beam of light is used to detect finger presence; capturing images of the working area with an image capture device, the image capturing device is positioned above the second fan shaped beam of light and captures images of light from the second fan shaped beam of light; detecting a presence of a user's finger above a key of the plurality of keys from light measured during the capturing; and outputting an identification of the key obtained during the detecting to the data processing device.