Microsoft May Be Preparing LED Screen Keyboard

[Guest]

A few years ago, Russian design studio Art Lebedev made some waves with a fancy keyboard that has configurable keys enabled via OLED displays that are built into every key.

Microsoft May Be Preparing LED Screen Keyboard : Read more

 

[dgingeri]

I like this idea: interface touch screen input device with context sensitive controls. it turns into whatever you need depending on what is selected. This was actually the concept behind the LCARS interface in Star Trek The Next Generation. (Yes, I'm a big fan of LCARS. I want it on my phone, on my computer, and in my car.) Something like this could easily be integrated into Windows 8, which has much the same interface.

 

[alvine]

make it water proof too

 

[niz]

Typical Microsoft: Rip off someone elses idea and market it years late.

 

[dgingeri]

[citation][nom]niz[/nom]Typical Microsoft: Rip off someone elses idea and market it years late.[/citation]
Well, nobody else was making it a reality. it stayed a concept only kind of thing until this filing. Look at so many other things from scifi that stayed concept only for years. Somebody has to make it happen. I'm fine with it being Microsoft. They seem to have the resources to do it right.

 

[niz]

[citation][nom]dgingeri[/nom]Well, nobody else was making it a reality. it stayed a concept only kind of thing until this filing. Look at so many other things from scifi that stayed concept only for years. Somebody has to make it happen. I'm fine with it being Microsoft. They seem to have the resources to do it right.[/citation]

Umm.. wrong. Admittedly they're expnsive so rare, but Art Lebedev has been selling several variants of exactly this (his) design for years.
Microsoft never come up with ideas themselves. Instead they always do this: Patent some tech behind someone elses already existing product then claim it's Microsofts idea, then they make a lower quality version of the original product and mass market it a few years late.
Other examples include the Xbox (copy of playstation), windows phone (copy of iPhone), windows pad (copy of iPad), etc etc.

 

[zak_mckraken]

If they can make it so it can go for $50 or under, they will sell like cupcakes. They would have many advantages over regular keyboards in businesses and governement :
- true multilingual keyboard through layout settings
- dynamic keys that displays the upcoming output (caps, shift, alt)
- keys that doesn't wear off over time

 

[zak_mckraken]

[citation][nom]amdfreak[/nom]wouldn't it be much less expensive to create a touchscreen the size of the keyboard. One could touch the keys over the touchscreen. Problem solved. [/citation]
We're talking about a keyboard with physical keys here, not a touchscreen. Physical feedback is essential and provides less strain on fingers and hands.

 

[kinggremlin]

[citation][nom]zak_mckraken[/nom]If they can make it so it can go for $50 or under, they will sell like cupcakes.[/citation]

$50? Why don't you just ask them to bundle it for free with Windows like Internet Explorer. It's easy to spend $50 or more on a decent traditional keyboard. It's probably unrealistic to think they could sell something like this under even $100, but if they could keep it somewhere near $100, they will have really achieved something.

 

[trumpeter1994]

I remember seeing the optimus maximus years back in a preview by gameinformer. I haven't heard of it again until now though. If Microsoft pulls this off though then I can see them entering the gaming keyboard market where they'd probably compete with Logitech and Razer among others.

 

[dgingeri]

[citation][nom]zak_mckraken[/nom]If they can make it so it can go for $50 or under, they will sell like cupcakes. They would have many advantages over regular keyboards in businesses and governement :- true multilingual keyboard through layout settings- dynamic keys that displays the upcoming output (caps, shift, alt)- keys that doesn't wear off over time[/citation]
Would be nice, but touchscreens that size cost tablet makers about $150-200 already, and $150 is really low quality. I'd say these are likely to be about $300 by the time they reach us.

 

[markdj]

my guess is $199 with lots of fancy color features to go along with the custom key layouts

 

[dgingeri]

[citation][nom]zak_mckraken[/nom]We're talking about a keyboard with physical keys here, not a touchscreen. Physical feedback is essential and provides less strain on fingers and hands.[/citation]
Know what's lower stress on the fingers? Voice input. Forget classic keyboards. interactive touchscreen interfaces and voice input is a much better model.

 

[nurgletheunclean]

Very gimmicky. it's a physical keyboard with customizable keys and has some sort of haptic feedback or even a mechanical key press. I see this going about the same way as ergonomic keyboards. Some people like them, but 99% don't. Rearranging keys is only going to confuse people who are used to a querty layout. People are creatures of habit, it's very difficult for people to adopt new interfaces, such as trackballs, ergo keyboards, even touchpads (glide pads). Function lock for laptop number pads on top of lettered keys will drive most people crazy, much less 10+ variable key layouts.

Apple could probably get their fan base to jump all over this. But I think Microsoft's users are too practical to adopt this product.

 

[Miharu]

Seem to me just different layout just like there is tons of laptop keyboard layout.

No keypad, with keypad, 101-keys, natural keyboard, Japenese, Korean,...
Flat buttons, normal buttons, flat with round end,...

You just buy the layout that you want and docking one "keyboard" layout on a "keyboard" docking.
Buttons and controller on 2 different parts number.
Doesn't seem something all new except it's keyboard and it's should come with OLED.

I want a OLED keyboard so if Microsoft can make one abordable... will surely buy it.
And for the latency, I read few weeks ago that Microsoft build a 0-1ms touchscreen.
If they apply this technology, there'll be no trouble at all.

The real question with Microsoft it's always... "when".

 

[joytech22]

[citation][nom]zak_mckraken[/nom]If they can make it so it can go for $50 or under, they will sell like cupcakes. They would have many advantages over regular keyboards in businesses and governement :- true multilingual keyboard through layout settings- dynamic keys that displays the upcoming output (caps, shift, alt)- keys that doesn't wear off over time[/citation]

Under $50? Dude.. Wishful thinking but this keyboard I have right now was $110 from Thermaltake, A keyboard with built-in OLED screens is going to jack up the price so much.

 

[maestintaolius]

[citation][nom]niz[/nom]Typical Microsoft: Rip off someone elses idea and market it years late.[/citation]
Oh please, the writers for Star Trek TNG came up with the "dynamic keyboard" idea long, long before the 2010 patent application (don't even get me started on the iPad vs TNG PADD). Hell, if you have the "star technical manual" the console teardowns look almost exactly like the current gen tech.

 

[Tab54o]

they already have mechanical buttons you can buy with tiny lcd screens on them. this would just be an entire keyboard made of them. You can buy them off the shelf

see here

 

[Fyrilin]

[citation][nom]nurgletheunclean[/nom]Very gimmicky. it's a physical keyboard with customizable keys and has some sort of haptic feedback or even a mechanical key press. I see this going about the same way as ergonomic keyboards. Some people like them, but 99% don't. Rearranging keys is only going to confuse people who are used to a querty layout. People are creatures of habit, it's very difficult for people to adopt new interfaces, such as trackballs, ergo keyboards, even touchpads (glide pads). Function lock for laptop number pads on top of lettered keys will drive most people crazy, much less 10+ variable key layouts.Apple could probably get their fan base to jump all over this. But I think Microsoft's users are too practical to adopt this product.[/citation]
I agree that you don't want to change your default keyboard layout but consider specialty applications for the users of large programs such as CAD workstations, Adobe suite, games, or even power Windows users. Each of those programs have specific and widely-used keyboard shortcuts or specific keyboard layouts to optimize the tactile interface. Also remember that MANY keyboards have specific function keys that can be re-mapped. If they do the software for this right, you could assign profiles for programs (or users) to that re-map the images for each key to show what their shortcut command would be or hit that key combination with one key or highlight the WASD keys for gamers. Gaming mice are doing this for extra buttons already.
I see this type of interface to be microsoft doing what they're trying to do with Windows 8: create a single product that can modify itself or be modified to fit many different needs. It simplifies their engineering processes (assuming their engineers have the ability to generalize software), unifies products (saves $), and makes the end-user happier because now there is an easy to use but flexible device.
I'm all for it. I would be willing to pay $150-200 if they get the software/hardware right with no lag.

 

[dgingeri]

[citation][nom]Tab54o[/nom]they already have mechanical buttons you can buy with tiny lcd screens on them. this would just be an entire keyboard made of them. You can buy them off the shelfsee here[/citation]

They aren't "off the shelf" items. Sure, they're made already, but they go to a keyboard that costs over $2000. These are custom parts that cost quite a bit. Also, lots of little screens require lots of controllers, bringing the cost up considerably.

In order to cut costs, Microsoft is making this keyboard that has clear keys and a single LCD screen under them. A single screen requires only one controller, bringing the cost down compared to the multi screen type. Also, the little screens cost a lot more than once big screen of the same overall size.

Personally, I would prefer it without the clear keys. a flat panel touchscreen as an interface would be nice.

 

[ceh4702]

http://www.riimini.com/

What is so special about a keyboard that lights up. Could just as easily use a flourescent light to light up the keyboard like an LCD screen uses. These little keyboard can be light up?

 

[ceh4702]

I like the action of pressing a key.

 

[ceh4702]

I am not willing to pay much more than about $25 for a keyboard. I dont care how nice it is!

 

[zak_mckraken]

[citation][nom]joytech22[/nom]Under $50? Dude.. Wishful thinking but this keyboard I have right now was $110 from Thermaltake, A keyboard with built-in OLED screens is going to jack up the price so much.[/citation]
I'm sure your keyboard is very nice, sturdy, flashy, has a lot of macro keys, backlit keys and so on, but it's still overpriced. A regular office keyboard sells for around 10$. The keyboard I suspect they would design wouldn't need any gaming feature or high-definition LCD pannels. Old style monochrome LCDs will do the trick.

Anyway, I'm no engineer and I'm not saying this could be feasible at this price. However, comparing a product like that to high-end gaming keyboards is irrelevant. They're built differently and priced differently because they cater to a gaming audience.

 

[lathe26]

Since patents sometimes are submitted in batches, I did a search on the US Patent & Trademark Office for submitted patents (ones that might not be yet approved). By looking for patents filed around April and May 2009 by Microsoft, noticing some common people listed as inventors, and noticing that the word "Adaptive" shows up a lot, I found 10 patents that might be interrelated:

20100265107 - SELF-DESCRIPTION OF AN ADAPTIVE INPUT DEVICE
20100250801 - HIDDEN DESKTOP DIRECTOR FOR AN ADAPTIVE DEVICE
20100262630 - ADAPTIVE PROFILE FOR DIRECTING GRAPHICAL CONTENT IN A COMPUTING SYSTEM
20100265182 - CONTEXT-BASED STATE CHANGE FOR AN ADAPTIVE INPUT DEVICE
20100265183 - STATE CHANGES FOR AN ADAPTIVE DEVICE
20100271315 - ENCODING AND DECODING ADAPTIVE INPUT DEVICE INPUTS
20100275218 - CONTROLLING ACCESS OF APPLICATION PROGRAMS TO AN ADAPTIVE INPUT DEVICE
20100281268 - Personalizing an Adaptive Input Device
20100281410 - Configuring an Adaptive Input Device with Selected Graphical Images
20100283741 - CONTEXTUALLY ADAPTIVE INPUT DEVICE
20100293499 - RENDERING TO A DEVICE DESKTOP OF AN ADAPTIVE INPUT DEVICE

I also noticed 2 "Adaptive Keyboard" patent filings around July 2010.
20110248922 - ADAPTIVE KEYBOARD LIGHT PILLAR
20110248923 - ADAPTIVE KEYBOARD LIGHT TURNER