How many of you would buy and use one of these keyboards?
Each one of the keys is actually a miniature LCD display and the buttons could dynamically change according to which programs/games you were in.
So like, if you were in photoshop, instead of seeing letters on the keyboard, you might see visual representations of icons/actions. The “V” key could display the mouse cursor with the move symbol next to it, for example.
7 responses to “Customizable LCD Keyboard”
Hmmm, last time I saw this thing, it was just a “wouldn’t it be cool if” 3D rendering. Now they’ve got it slated for release on the 1st of February (though right under the first image on the right hand side it says “Release date: 14.07.2005”). Mixed signals much?
This product will sell big time. Think of all of the people who look for that next cool thing to give as a gift? It’s also going to be a status symbol for insecure sales people and CEOs.
Of course, that all depends on product availability and price. If it costs $200 it’ll sell big time. If it costs $500 you can write an epitaph now.
Would I buy one? Maybe. If the price was right. Most likely I would if it cost $85. which it won’t.
This would be great for games! When you can’t remember the keycode to do something the icon appears on the keyboard.
Good post.
I think this will sell among the first adopter for a small while and then die off. Those folks you use keyboard shortcuts in their installed base of software will already know where those keys are without thinking about it, like those of you who can type 1,000 words per minute as proved in the earlier post here.
Those of us who are more menu driven, will still have to hunt and peck for keys regardless of the icon displayed on the keyboard and because of this, we will still be accustomed to doing things via the interface.
Not worth the several hundred dollars for anything but a neato toy.
Did you notice the mouse design they are also working on? While cool looking, that doesn’t look to be very comfortable to use at all.
Yeah, both this keyboard and the mouse aren’t exactly rolemodels when it comes to ergonomics…
@Ara:
The release date on that page is when that page was written. At the time, this was just a proof of concept. Now it seems like it’s about to get released.
On engadget, someone mentioned that the creator has mentioned in a private email that the price is going to be around $1,000. It seems like it will become a collector’s item… I don’t know, let’s just wait until the price is official.
Since I don’t know whether xhtml is allowed, here are the links:
engadget:
http://engadget.com/2006/01/08/optimus-keyboard-shipping-february-1st/
comment:
http://engadget.com/2006/01/08/optimus-keyboard-shipping-february-1st/#c907043
Heck yes. I play videogames A LOT and although the zboard is cool, it’s not as cool as this. Additionally, I assume it could be configured to language character sets other than english or russian, which would be uber useful for me. 🙂
Will the every day user buy this? No way. But there are plenty of potential markets out there, and if they sell to first adopters at even the ridiculous price of $500 it’ll come down to a reasonable price within a year (like cell phones) and be a luxury item for gamers and those who hate switching keyboards or memorizing mapped keys when *not* typing in english…
It is one of the coolest keyboards to date. If they hit 200$ it will sell. I think this will last the test of time, it is the first to do it.
I play alot of complex simulation games , this would be perfect for making each individual key show its function, on the complex sims , its about impossible to memorize everything . it all depends on if its easy to use.
id flop down 250 bucks for somthing like this just because it would save me from manual diving in a ruff spot on a simulation hunting for a critical crtl+alt+key command
good idea , now if it can withstand a gammers wear and tear is another matter