Making a Keyboard with Mutating Keycaps?

Montreal Geek asks: "I'm currently working on a pet project of mine for which I now find myself with the financial resources to bring to completion: the International Keyboard from Heck. The basic idea (most of the electronics and software for it have already been written) is that the keyboard has a variable layout (and a nice interface to change that layout) with the actual images on the keycaps changing to match what glyph/code-point it will generate. My problem is that I am unsure of which hardware solution to use for the actual, physical keycaps. My original prototype keycap uses a 7x9 array of leds under a lexan surface, but the power requirements of this many leds on a whole keyboard (even when scanning) is a tad prohibitive, and the lexan doesn't feel very good under a finger. Although glowing red keycaps look cool at first, I'm a bit worried that they will end up overly aggressive and annoying in the long run. Can you think of better alternatives? Keep in mind that the design must be resistant to repeated impacts (it is a keyboard after all) and, preferably, have fairly low power consumption so that the device remains practical for laptops." Although a few years from being truly affordable, might OLED technology be appropriate for this project? What other ideas might work out well for such a piece of hardware?

Comments

Can you think of better alternatives?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nope, sorry. Hope that helps.

Sticky tape

[tsa]

Stick the letters on with sticky tape. If you want to change the layout you can easily pull them off.

Darn.

[Dannon]

Misread the title for a moment there. Thought it was talking about muting keycaps.

I was hoping this would be a cure for IRC shouting.

Re:Clear keycaps + LCD?

[PD]

That would work except he'd also need transparent aluminum springs.

Why label the key caps at all?

[rthille]

My main keyboard at home doesn't have any keycaps. It's a prototype NeXT keyboard that I bought from one of their hardware engineers. It doesn't have anything printed on any of the keycaps. It keeps people from messing with my computer! I suppose it would work even better if I used a non-qwerty layout :-)

Reposte

[mmol_6453]

What kind of computer needs to switch layout so often that this is worth it? Why not just buy another keyboard and a good keyboard switch box?

Any computer that plays games, does CAD, or uses any program where keyboard shortucts are useful.

What's wrong with a touch screen and a CRT?

The same thing as gloves used for modeling. Your hands and arms get tired from holding them up for so long. Aside from that, touchscreens wear out. Mechanical switches don't. (That's why my IBM Model M keyboard still works. :)