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At the same time the world is focused on the huge 3GSM Congress conference & exhibition in Cannes, France this week, another technology-focused show, DEMO@15, with over 70 companies hawking their wares is taking place in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Attending DEMO@15 is VKB, a company that licensees technology to original equipment manufacturers for integration into their products. VKB is demonstrating a Bluetooth edition of a virtual keyboard.

Here's the story:

A virtual keyboard projects an image of a full-sized keyboard onto a surface. You can then use this laser-created keyboard to type accurately and more comfortably than traditional handheld thumb-keyboards and keypads. (See image of original virtual keyboard above.)

While virtual keyboards aren't new—iBIZ Technology shipped a version last May—the technology has yet to become widely available or accepted by the marketplace.

Current models require a cable to attach the small device that projects the keyboard to a mobile device. VKB's new version nixes the cable in favor of Bluetooth wireless.

Called BTVKB, the Bluetooth keyboard is composed of three modules: the projection module, the illumination module, and the sensor module. The first module projects the keyboard image onto the adjacent surface using a red laser diode and diffractive optical element, while the illumination module projects an infrared beam of light just above the keyboard surface.

This light is invisible to the user and hovers a few millimeters above the surface. The sensor module detects the interaction of the finger with the IR beam. It receives this information, interprets the keystrokes, and communicates them back to the external device (PDAs, mobile phones, etc.).

Virtual keyboard have often been talked up as a way of integrating a full-size keyboard right into a standard-sized handheld or phone. The projection module would be shrunk to the point where it could fit right into the mobile device, negating the need for a add-on (wired or wireless) altogether.

A VKB representative toldaus Radio Shack will start selling the Bluetooth Virtual Keyboard at many of its stores across the U.S. within the next couple of months.