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Microsoft Hardware Demos Pressure-Sensitive Keyboard
Krystalo writes to tell us that Microsoft hardware has an interesting demo of a pressure-sensitive keyboard they have designed. While there are no currently announced plans to turn this into a shipping product, there are many cool uses that one could imagine a device like this providing. "The device will be put to use in the first annual Student Innovation Contest in Victoria, Canada, where contestants will be supplied with a keyboard prototype and challenged with developing new interactions for it. Contestants will demo their creations and attendees will vote for their favorite at the conference on October 5. $2,000 prizes will be given to the authors of programs deemed as the most useful, the best implementation, and the most innovative."
Yes, yes and more yes. The one thing I've always wanted in a keyboard. No more walk/run modifier key or jerky steering in driving/flying games. Yay!
How about the students sit on their ideas and market them when the keyboard comes out?
Should be worth more then a lousy $2000, especially considering the fact that the students will have NO intellectual property rights once they submit through the contest.
Just another way for MS to steal ideas, patent them and then pocket all the profits.
On another note, I wonder what MS employees think about their employer opting to go outside the company for ideas rather then feed their employees families.
I can think of one use right off.
If person typing an email is hitting keys harder than normal. Delay sending the message for a few hours, as they are probably angry and might wish they had not sent the message.
If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
They really need a better name.
Perhaps simply calling it "Variable Pressure Keyboard"
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
A keyboard that can actually detect when someone presses on a key! Will wonders never cease.
We're still waiting for the comment that can actually detect when it shouldn't be posted, as evidenced by the parent...
because it turns your 104 into 208 or 312, there's the obvious "angry typing" usage, but there is also potential for stuff like...
Alt+Tab (light) = Change Tab In Browser
Alt+Tab (med) = Change Application Window
Alt+Tab (hard) = Change User Account
or
Left (light) = Move (one char)
Left (med) = Move (one word)
Left (hard) = Move (one line)
or the F# keys, you could now have 24 instead of 12.
(granted I basically just look at the pictures, didn't RTFA) but depending on how this is done, it could also mean 2 or 3x the failure rate, however, it could also mean half or a third of the failures for normal key typing, your Space Bar gives out on a normal keyboard, it's done, but with this one you could just press harder/lighter and it would still work.
Why can't we just have a pressure sensitive mouse? Graphics tablets aren't for everyone, mmkay?
Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
That's actually a pretty cool idea. You've just eliminated the shift and capslock keys. You could probably eliminate other function keys too with other clever combinations + pressures. That would be fantastic for a tiny netbook.
No, it'll be perfect for Emacs users. Now they can add "light press", "medium press", "hard press", "whacked key" to the list of available modifiers! Think of how much more productive they can be now that they increased the number of modifiers available. Now every function will be able to be mapped to a keystroke or a set of them. E.g., whack Q 5 times to quit.
Has anyone mentioned that entering music via the keyboard is also an option now? (I kid, I kid...)