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Google has acquired start up BlindType that has developed a virtual software keyboard for mobile devices.
The BlindType software aims to facilitate text input on touch screen devices by interpretting relative positions of key presses rather than absolute. The company has demonstrated the keyboard as a standard on screen keyboard and also without any keyboard on screen at all.
“We’re excited to join Google, and look forward to the great opportunities for mobile innovation that lie ahead,” wrote BlindType on the firm’s web site.
A Google spokesman said: "We’re excited to welcome the BlindType team to Google. With their help, we hope to make touch typing on your mobile device easier and faster than ever."
Advanced software keyboards have become a defining feature of Android with keyboards such as Swype featuring in marketing of handset manufacturers like Samsung as a unique selling point. The acquisition suggests that Google will add a similar advanced software keyboard to the standard Android operating system.
Below is a demonstration video of the BlindType technology:
