For some smartphone users, the highly sensitive on-screen touch keyboards remain an irritating shortcoming of the powerful devices, particularly when attempting to compose long messages. But one new approach that uses vibration mapping could be a look at the future smartphone keyboards.

Created by Swiss programmer Florian Kraeutli, the Vibratim Virtual Keyboard allows you to input text into an iPhone using a simple piece of paper emblazoned with an illustration of a keyboard. The feat is accomplished by utilizing the iPhone's built-in accelerometer to measure and identify key letter locations. At present, the prototype isn't efficient (Kraeutli says the keyboard has about 80 percent accuracy), and it requires a good deal of system training to determine the vibration patterns of difference surfaces.

Nevertheless, the innovative experiment could be a great starting point to lead us toward a simpler interface solution for smartphones of the future. You can see the Vibratim Virtual Keyboard in action in the video below.

Florian Kraeutli, via Telegraph