It’s not quite household holographic video conferencing, but we’re getting there: on March 13, Japanese electronics company Elecom unveiled their TK-PBL042BK wireless projection keyboard for consumer markets.

The device projects a keyboard illuminated in red light on a flat surface and detects which keys are pressed via sensor that tracks the movement of your fingers.

The launch model will support both iOS and Android devices via Bluetooth, making it an excellent device to use with your tablet or smartphone. The device can also connect to PC via Bluetooth or USB, the latter which will also charge the internal battery.

It measures only 8.0 x 29.0 x 75.0 mm and weighs a mere 77g, taking up less space than a regular keyboard and making it much easier to carry around as well.

The projected keyboard has a standard key pitch of 19mm and the device can recognize a maximum of 350 words per minute. Furthermore, the brightness of the keyboard can be adjusted to 3 different settings and will automatically fade if not in use to save energy.

The device also supports a “mouse mode,” which allows you to move the mouse cursor by moving your finger in the area over the projected keyboard.

The TK-PBL043BK will go on sale in Japan mid-April for 28,875 yen (US $348), which is a hefty price tag considering you can get a tablet for about that much. We think we’ll hold off for a few price drops.

Source: ELECOM TK-PBL042(Japanese) via Internet Watch (Japanese)