Google has applied for a patent to use a tiny laser that would project a virtual keyboard onto a surface or even a user’s hand. It may not sound newsworthy as the concept of a laser system that projects a virtual keyboard certainly isn’t new. Odds are that you’ve probably seen videos on YouTube showing how a smartphone with a laser keyboard would work.

Heck, you may even be surprised to learn that such third party accessories already exist but let’s be honest with ourselves here – a laser projection keyboard amounts to little more than a gimmick on a smartphone. There’s simply no point as the phone already serves as an adequate input device for text.

But Google might have just come up with the perfect usage scenario for a laser keyboard. According to a recently filed patent, the search giant wants to use such a system alongside Google Glass to assist those wearing the high-tech spectacles with inputting text in situations where voice control isn’t an option.

In the event that you are out and about instead of sitting at your desk, Google envisions that you could simply beam the keyboard, a keypad or even a graphical UI directly onto the palm of your hand. The system should be pretty easy to implement as it could use the video camera built into the glasses to supplement the keyboard.

It’s little more than a patent application at this point but this is the first implementation of a laser keyboard system that actually seems practical, at least in my opinion. What says you?