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Making a Keyboard with Mutating Keycaps?

Posted by Cliff on from the keyboards-of-the-future dept.

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?

9 of 64 comments (clear)

  1. Fiber optics? by diesel_jackass · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Have you researched optical fiber at all?

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  2. Electroluminescent by perlyking · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Lots of Electroluminescent panel squares?

    It would be fiddly but be low power and look cool.

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  3. Animation. by perlyking · · Score: 4, Interesting

    And.... if you get it to work you could animate the keyboard :-) Imagine ripples spreading out from each key as it is pressed...

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    1. Re:Animation. by p4ul13 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Doesn't quite fit the low power consumption requirement, or for that matter practicality, but the thought of a fully skinnable keyboard is really quite slick.

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  4. Not quite the same, but... by Rick+the+Red · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Years ago I had an idea for a keyboard where you could change the layout as you saw fit, but unlike you I lack the resources to do anything with it. The basic idea is that each keycap has one to eight pins that fit into eight sockets in each underlying switch. Each socket has an optical sensor to tell if a pin has entered the socket when you press the key. Each keycap has a unique combination of pins, making 255 possible values for any given keycap (you can't use "0" because if you remove all the pins the switch can't tell when you press the key). E.g., the "A" key has an ASCII value of 65 and has two pins, one in the 1s position and the other in the 64s position. You could put the "A" key in any position you want and the keyboard will know it's an "A" when you press it. Just don't break off any pins when you move keycaps!

    There, it's out in the public now, so use it but don't try to patent it or I'll sue your lame ass.

    Sorry, but I don't have any ideas for making the printing on the keycap change dynamically.

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  5. Use Software! by Arthur+Dent · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Hardware?

    To paraphrase and mutilate:

    I just want to say one word to you - just one word : Software!

    Check out a picture and the marketing stuff.

    Should be real easy to project any kind of key using this technology.

  6. ...how about making a keyboard without ...keys by jukal · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I had this idea some two-or-so years ago. Meanwhile, I think someone already implemented it. I personally, and I think a significant percentage of others, don't have a look at the keyboard very often. After typing millions of characters you just know where the keys of the qwerty keyboard are. So, I think the perfect solution for especially PDA usage, would be to wear "data gloves" - with no physical keyboard at all.

    You would just "calibrate" your "keyboard" by typing "Ok, now lets calibrate this keyboard - the keys are here 123 poi zxc mnb". And after then just start typing.

    The only problem with this is that - the "data gloves" are expensive and clumsy. If someone knows how build something like this otherwise, please let me know :))

  7. OT: Warm the keys, reduce the RSI risk? by ivi · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The following is -pure- speculation on my part:

    As the symptoms of RSI (that we experience - all
    too often, eg when mousing & keying at all hours
    of the day or night) may come, in part, from the
    more or less constant touching of cold, at least
    in Winter, plastic this guy's idea might help.

    Ie, if the dynamic keytops that this inventor is
    set to engineer happen to -warm- the tips of the
    fingers instead of chilling them... I, for one,
    wouldn't be surprised to see a decrease in RSI &
    an increase in comfort resulting from their use.

    Has anyone else noticed different levels of RSI-
    symptoms with different ambient temeratures...?

    PS I'm also looking to engineer a comfortable
    seat, for my computer desk, that enables me to
    peddle &/or otherwise exercise my legs while
    at work with my vast array of systems. Ideally,
    it will do something with the energy produced
    by my moving my legs (eg on bicycle-like ped-
    dles, slightly in front of me), like generate
    electricity from it...

    Hey! With bits from an old exercise bike, an
    old automobile alternator, et al. this may be-
    come the 2003 Killer DIY Project for Geeks! :-)

    Perhaps there should be a contest (annual or
    monthly, you choose) for Best DIY Geek Project.

  8. A simple, soon-to-be inexpensive solution. by cybermace5 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Here's a tip.

    Go to eInk and check out a few of their products. They'll prototype up some stuff for you at a pretty reasonable cost, in the $20k range.

    It's thin, it's light, it's power-saving, it's going to be pretty cheap once large-scale manufacturing kicks in. You could seal this stuff under a clear keycap. The major engineering problem, that I can see, is getting all the graphics data to the keys. Based on how the tech works, you'd probably be making a segmented character display, rather than dot-matrix. If you want a dot-matrix graphics display, they have to put an active-matrix array behind the eInk layer to control the dots.

    The stuff is also easy to see in bright light...something difficult to achieve with LEDs. Plus, it stays in the state you left it...no blank keyboard when your KeyCapWriter drivers crash on powerup.

    If you really insist on them glowing, put a single LED in the key and front-light the eInk with a plastic light guide.

    You'll align your product with another emerging technology, probably strengthing both companies' chances (or pinning your chances on their success, whatever way you look at it).

    I don't work for eInk; wish I did. They once had an opening for a hardware engineer.

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