deskthority

Hi folks!
I am looking for some feedback about some ideas I have had about innovative keyboards!

What would you think of a keyboard with tranparent keycaps and ability to switch the keyboard display (qwerty to azerty to gaming mode..) using the backlighting that could be fiber-optics?

Thanks for your answer!

Something like this, but worse? If cheap enough, and if it looks good enough, eehhhh....might sell a few.

Nice link. Did the Optimus ever actually ship? And if so at what price?

I remember reading all about it on Slashdot, donkeys years ago when I still went there and long before I got into keyboards. Pretty much says it all for what ancient vaporware it was back then.

It is listed on Amazon.com, so it was available, but I have no idea how many sold, or at what price.
The similar and newer Ortimus Popularis sells for 1500$.

dianoutch I think this might not be the right community to ask this question...

You see, in here are people who type a lot and care about how a keyboard feels.

You are asking about a keyboard for people who care how it looks.

Most people here look at the screen and type on the keyboard without looking.
You want to make a keyboard for people who look at the keyboard while typing....

Hi,

No actually, I am also looking for improvements for people who don't look at their keyboards!

Every suggestion is welcome

A board like that wouldn't necessarily feel bad. Depends on the switch.

I think the real problem isn't the concept but all the work, all the details, and all the little vital design decisions that go into a project like this. Ideas are cheap. Implementation is what counts.

Razer has had gaming keyboards with a few task-specific image keys especially for a couple of PC games. Microsoft has also had a prototype keyboard very much like the Optimus Popularis and a competition for creating apps for it.
Those all have the same basic type of mechanism: Transparent keys with very wide shallow scissor-switches on top of a single screen. In other words, the mechanisms have been at the outskirts of the keys. Very small rubber domes.
I have never tried any, so I can't tell about key feel.

Don't forget , keyboards are a very harsh environment for sensitive electronics like screens and fibre optics, from spilt coffee to human slime and stuff i don't want to even think about they get dirty and dusty and damp, everything would have to be fully sealed if you where to put an LCD/OLED or fibre optics in a keycap.

Yes, you're right!

Thanks for all your feedbacks. Moreover, what major innovation would you expect in the next few years concerning mechanical keyboards?

Thanks for your answer!

If you expect it it's not really innovation, is it?
I'd like to see a few new sensible and well built keyboards, with less bells and whistles...
A newer, sturdier Filco-like board with quality caps (DS ABS or PBT), something worth it's money. Like CM did with the NT (minus the caps ofc).

You're right!
That's true that a lot of keyboards have a huge amount of design and useless stuff.

I just discovered this keyboard I didn't know, looks like the DK4 Pro or Ultimate(blank keycaps).