Thursday, July 14, 2005

Best. Keyboard. Evar.


This has got to be the most amazing piece of technology I’ve ever laid eyes on. Called the Optimus, it’s a keyboard where each key has an embedded OLED screen on it. That makes it entirely configurable. Entirely, completely configurable.

It takes some time to sink in. So think about it. Say you want to play Quake… Simply load the configuration for that game, and instead of pressing on “A, S, W, and D”, you’ll be pressing more intuitive arrows. Instead of pressing “1″ for “punch”, “2″ for “rockets” or whatever, you can have a clear icon instead.

Or better yet. Say you’d rather be typing, eh, Arabic letters instead of English. Simply switch to Arabic. Or Japanese. Or whatever.

Eh… you get the drift. Better yet, go inside for pictures of what I’m talking about. It makes me almost angry that the website is in Russian, that I don’t know how to get one and that I don’t know how much it is. Yet it makes me happy to know that, no matter what, we will march over the Atlantic as one, and go to the reaches of the Earth to bring this keyboard to America.


Quake setup

Photoshop Setup

The website is here. Story VIA Gearlive.


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permalink Permalink | comments Comments [29]

  • KOT

    I’m Russian and I had checked the website for you. It is a design concept not an actual product. They want to patent it in Russia, this is it. Very short story.

  • http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/peripherals/input/optimus-oled-keyboard-112517.php Gizmodo

    Optimus OLED Keyboard

    Okay, I have a hard time believing this is legit—even in prototype form—but the concept is fantastic nonetheless. The ‘Optimus’ keyboard has tiny OLED screens embedded in each key, allowing it to display context information on the fly. In…

  • RichiH

    perhaps you would like to look at this page instead ;) http://www.artlebedev.com/portfolio/optimus/

  • Tekjock

    My question is, will the display on the key change when the Shift, Ctrl or the Alt key is hit. THAT would make this the ultimate keyboard.

  • http://www.madexperiment.com/archives/experimental_design/new_concept_keyboard_with_oleds.html Mad Experiment

    New Concept: Keyboard with OLEDs

    This is a concept product created by Russian designers. Each key has embedded OLED screen, allowing the keys to be remapped! More pictures: Optimus Keyboard Via OhGizmo!…

  • http://www.epicempire.com/index.html Epic Empire

    Oh! my god..this thing is the ultimate keyboard i would give my two girlfriends away to get my greedy hands on this russians keyboard
    Wow that dirty

    http://www.epicempire.com/index.html

  • http://tintin.blogs.com/nomansland/2005/07/optimus_keyboar.html No mans land

    Optimus keyboard

    On Clopin’s weblog, I discovered a link to the best keyboard ‘ever’!The Optimus keyboard looks like a stylish regular keyboard, the power is in de buttons, or do I have to say ‘displays’? Every button is in fact a display

  • http://www.ohgizmo.com/?p=358 OhGizmo! » OLED Keyboard Update, A Chat with the Creator

    [...] et geeks, creamed our pants yesterday at the news of a revolutionary, fully reconfigurable keyboard with embedded OLED screens on each key. And all we did was say: “Great! Awesome! I want one! Won [...]

  • MARCOS ALEXANDRE

    OLHA SO QUE MANEIRO ESSE TECLADO

  • http://www.teamdroid.com/archives/2005/07/28/optimus-keyboard/ TeamDroid » Optimus Keyboard

    [...] next year for a kings ransom I’m sure, but wouldn’t it be sweet to have one. Best. Keyboard. Ever. keyboard, OLED, Optimus, cool Comments » Th [...]

  • http://www.ohgizmo.com/?p=457 OhGizmo! » Optimus Alternative, The iKeyInfinity

    [...] ith it. So anyway, a while back, geeks worldwide went bozongo at the news from Russian of a keyboard with fully reconfigurable OLED keys: the Optimus. Such a device would revolutionize keyboards as we kno [...]

  • Felix

    By the way, it can be found in English at
    http://www.artlebedev.com/portfolio/optimus
    According to the website, it will be released in 2006 and cost less than a good mobile phone. Good stuff. I want one.

  • http://www.ohgizmo.com/?p=704 OhGizmo! » The United Keys 205PRO

    [...] Well now you can. You can customize the pictures on the keys with the United Keys’ 205PRO LCD Keyboard. That’s right, a little like the Optimus keyboard from a while back, this keyboard has keys with embedded LCDs (not OLEDs, like the Optimus). and software so you can design your own icons. It’s not all the keys, and it’s monochrome, so you know, don’t get all weepy or anything, but at least you can actually own one soon. [...]

  • http://www.mattjonesblog.com/?p=226 Matt Jones’ Random Acts of Verbiage… » Blog Archive » OLED – Organic Light Emitting Diode

    [...] One of the more fun applications (and there has been discussion relating to the legitimacy of this product – especially at Slashdot) is a cool russian keyboard called the Optimus. This keyboard idea/conceptual design/prototype uses a bunch of individual mini OLED screens, one for each key. This is a great idea for customizations as far as which programs are launched for certain buttons as well as indicating special functions for programs like photoshop or video game control. Now these might seem somewhat trivial (which they are), but this could also be used to help multi-lingual families / buisnesses / libraries / internet cafes / schools / etc. With a simple command the entire keyboard could be switched from english to spanish (accents and such) to greek to russian to chineese. How amazing would that be? Of course I would just be using it for the trivial features (well ok, if I was actually doing my Hebrew right now, I suppose it would work well for that). [...]

  • http://www.gadgetell.com/?p=458 Gadgetell – www.gadgetell.com » Optimus Keyboard: Wireless keyboard decked out with OLEDs

    [...] [via OhGizmo] [...]

  • http://www.ohgizmo.com/2006/01/09/the-optimus-keyboard-has-a-ship-date/ OhGizmo! » The Optimus Keyboard Has A Ship Date

    [...] Hot diggity damn, ladies and gents. The Optimus Keyboard is apparently ready to ship, starting February 1st, 2006! In case you were hibernating a few months back, we were one of the first sites to cover the announcement of this great piece of technology, from Artlebedev in Russia. The Optimus is a keyboard where every single key is embedded with a tiny OLED screen, thus allowing you to endlessly reconfigure your layout to fit different applications. [...]

  • http://www.ohgizmo.com/2006/01/23/ohgizmos-year-in-review-our-greatest-hits/ OhGizmo! » OhGizmo’s Year In Review: Our Greatest Hits

    [...] By then, we’d already caught the eyes of the guys at Gizmodo. They were receptive to our tips, and that came in handy when news of the Optimus OLED keyboard broke. To be fair, Andru at Gearlive tipped me off, but the next day, Gizmodo credited us both. People went nuts and flooded the site with traffic, linking from everywhere. What is it? Well, it’s a very special keyboard with a tiny OLED on each key, allowing it to become endlessly reconfigurable, adjusting to each different application. It’s not out yet, and there’s plenty of speculation on “when” or even “if”. Stay tuned for that one. [Best. Keyboard. Evar.] [...]

  • Jeff Oliphant

    What about the action??

    Yes the display is an awesome idea, but what about the key action? We need something better than the mushy non-tactile keyboards we currently have (ie. logitech, microsoft, etc.)
    A keyboard like this warrants a better action with a definite tactile feedback “click” or even a silent “thump” to let you know for sure the key has activated vs the slurpy mush we currently have. Any comments on this keyboards action?

  • http://www.ohgizmo.com/?p=1144 OhGizmo! » Pre-Order The Optimus Mini Three

    [...] Well, no, it wasn’t the long awaited Optimus Keyboard that had aFeb. 1st ship date. It’s its little three-toed companion, the Optimus Mini Three. And it’s not even really a ship date, but more like a pre-order date, as the units are slated to ship on May 15th. [...]

  • http://www.gadzetyreklamowe.info gad?ety reklamowe

    Nice, very usefull in games…

  • http://diyism.com diyism

    The greatest keyboard design:
    http://diyism.com/?action=hardware.keyboard

  • JapaneseDude

    Konichiwa,

    This keyboard seems interesting. Does anyone know of any keyboards like this but with “Buckling Spring” technology. Those are the most comfortable for my hands. :) Thanks / sorry my english very bad

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  • http://pharmacyblog.info/ Leviofan

    Does anybody have crack of PDF+ ( of mbrain) !

    pdf+ (for nokia E61)

    thanks

  • http://www.webrawl.com mel

    I want one, are they made yet?

  • Scotty

    The current Version looks like CRAP compaired to the early design concepts. I wouldn’t pat $49 for one the way it’s turning out!

  • kosmo

    This is not only perfect for gamers. Imagine how many different keyboard layouts you can emulate with such technology. You do not need to make english/german/french/polish separately!

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  • Joe

    This kind of saddens me. I came up with this idea in 1992. :( Wish I had the $$$ to take out a us patent.

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