Optimus keyboard seen working

Author: Richard Swinburne
Published: 22nd November 2007
Comments (29) Stumble
The Optimus keyboard in action: Image courtesy of Gizmodo.

The Optimus keyboard in action: Image courtesy of Gizmodo.

Gizmodo has a video of the Optimus Keyboard in action! Finally, it's no longer geek fantasy but actual fact instead. OK, yes, it's still a prototype but it looks as cool as we'd ever imagined it!

Each key is a mini Organic LED (OLED) screen that is so ultra thin it can fit under each key without the need for a separate backlight. The display can also display a wide range of colours, just like a normal display.

The full keyboard will cost you a massive $1,500 dollars, so prepare to auction your organs.

You can watch the video and see other pictures at Gizmodo, here.

Will it ever be affordable? How long will the "cool" zeal last and does anyone seriously look down at their keyboard to type any more? Perhaps that's they best part - you can have little pictures to show all the shortcuts to programs like Photoshop or Office etc, but for actual typing you don't need the letters on the keys.

Still wanting one? Let us know, in the forums.
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Quote neonplanet40 22nd November 2007, 12:36
To expensive and far to impracticle. As if your going to want to pay $1500 on a keyboard only to bash it when you get feckered in UT3. Good idea but at that price it will die of death.

Neon
Quote Naberius 22nd November 2007, 12:48
A good idea, but it is far too expensive, its not even useful enough to justify a price a 10th of that.
Quote yakyb 22nd November 2007, 13:00
i disagree i think our company would love a couple of these in its foyer and many other companies will to
at £700 roughly i could honestly see this thing selling
Quote Clocked 22nd November 2007, 13:03
Looks like a step toward input panels as seen in star trek and every other sci-fi show
.
me want
Quote neonplanet40 22nd November 2007, 14:32
Quote:
Originally Posted by yakyb
i disagree i think our company would love a couple of these in its foyer and many other companies will to
at £700 roughly i could honestly see this thing selling

Why would anyone want to spend £700 on a keyboard? Surely 3 20" monitors all inter connected would look far better and cost the same if not less?
Quote titanium angel 22nd November 2007, 14:53
Although hideously expensive there will always be a market for products like these, If i had the money i would get one, right now though i can think of better uses of £700 tbh
Quote Anakha 22nd November 2007, 15:08
Remember, this is just the first wave of these kinds of products. In time, the price will come down (Not of this model, admittedly, but of the devices this one inspires down the line).
Quote neonplanet40 22nd November 2007, 15:18
I can get that but this idea was developed about 3 years ago and is only coming out now. I dont see it being the norm anytime soon.
Quote <A88> 22nd November 2007, 15:37
It looks really nice and perhaps a viable consumer device when it drops in price (I'm quite interested to see what the $500 version will have), but personally I'd wait for an ergonomic version to come out before I'd consider it properly- after all, I wouldn't spend that much on a device that slows down my typing. Still, pretty damn cool and not the Duke Nukem Forever we expected.

<A88>
Quote BlackMage23 22nd November 2007, 15:55
Shiny:D

but I will never get one at that price
Quote Firehed 22nd November 2007, 16:08
Quote:
Originally Posted by neonplanet40
Why would anyone want to spend £700 on a keyboard? Surely 3 20" monitors all inter connected would look far better and cost the same if not less?
I don't think you've quite grapsed the concept of business budgets versus home budgets.

In this case, it would be for nothing but the show factor. Any company can stick up a bunch of displays, and plenty do. But the keyboard with a hundred screens built in will be the talking piece.
Quote Omnituens 22nd November 2007, 16:16
i would SO like one, but at that price, its for when i have more money than sense.

so thats when ive gone senile then.
Quote Tyinsar 22nd November 2007, 17:31
Just so I don't have to repeat myself read this:

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showpost.php?p=1597146&postcount=13
Quote dognosh 22nd November 2007, 18:11
Is the $1500 to £700 official or just a guess ? In my experience long time ago $1500 was £1500(companies loved the 1:1 ratio) , and more recently,with better exchange rate, it would be £1000-£1200

back on topic, yes I want one, but I wouldn't pay more than £200, so out of my league
I will wait till Logitech and Microsoft somehow manage to get round the patents and bring their own version out.
Quote Dreaming 22nd November 2007, 18:27
Quote:
Originally Posted by neonplanet40
To expensive and far to impracticle. As if your going to want to pay $1500 on a keyboard only to bash it when you get feckered in UT3. Good idea but at that price it will die of death.

Neon

It's more of a design principle / idea though. They're not producing them in great quantities, and will probably take the lessons they learn and re-engineer them for mass production so they're cheaper.
Quote mikeuk2004 22nd November 2007, 18:46
Guys, Its a prototype and not a production model.

They are at prototype stage, so yeah the amount of money it cost to build one will be high and that expensive. Once it gets from prototype to production then it will be a more reasonable price as all the machinery will be there in place to make this specific item and can churn them out in the hundreds and thousands.
Quote Smilodon 22nd November 2007, 19:57
looks nice!

The space bar should have a larger display, though...
Quote johnnyboy700 22nd November 2007, 20:00
Yep, the key word here (no pun inteneded) is "prototype", I'd reckon it would be a good idea to wait until we see a production model before anyone starts frothing at the underpants over something that might not make it past the prototype stage.
Quote Pegasus 22nd November 2007, 20:07
I WANT ONE!!! Have always wanted one. Started to want one in the late eighties!!!
Have been patiently waiting for this long .....and for obvious reasons, will have to be patiently waiting for some time to come.

What I want here and now is lighting in my laptop keyboard - like the new Mac's!!!
Quote Smilodon 22nd November 2007, 20:38
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pegasus
I WANT ONE!!! Have always wanted one. Started to want one in the late eighties!!!
Have been patiently waiting for this long .....and for obvious reasons, will have to be patiently waiting for some time to come.

What I want here and now is lighting in my laptop keyboard - like the new Mac's!!!

I'm not a fan of Apple at all, but the power connector on those are ingenious!
Quote Yemerich 22nd November 2007, 21:02
That's truly amazing!... A pitty it's truly expensive too. But it's a new technology, so it's understandable...

But Smilodon and Pegasus, what's exactly with the keyboards on the new Macs?
Quote wharrad 22nd November 2007, 22:27
I think someone brought it up on engadget or somewhere... but what happens if your computer borks... will cntrl-alt-del still work on these babies with an unresponsive computer.

Also, slightly worried about the 6,000 hour life span of OLED... Could have a comedy 'move the keys around' virus though.

Love them, want them, but someone's REALLY going to have to convince me it's worth THAT many hours at work!
Quote CanadianViking 23rd November 2007, 02:44
Whoa... my planned computer is going to cost that much!

And I thought a G15 was expensive enough.
Quote seanap 23rd November 2007, 04:29
Amazing keyboard, remember reading an article in a Wired mag about these a few years back.. been drools since..

Some day.. some day


@ Yemerich
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs.html
"Backlit keyboard with ambient light sensors for automatic adjustment of keyboard illumination and screen brightness"
Quote tranc3 23rd November 2007, 06:46
Looking at this, and the price, i wonder why they couldn't make the normal keys, back lit with multiple color selections, and then have short cut keys that are programmable.
Quote Smilodon 23rd November 2007, 17:46
Quote:
Originally Posted by wharrad
I think someone brought it up on engadget or somewhere... but what happens if your computer borks... will cntrl-alt-del still work on these babies with an unresponsive computer.

Also, slightly worried about the 6,000 hour life span of OLED... Could have a comedy 'move the keys around' virus though.

Love them, want them, but someone's REALLY going to have to convince me it's worth THAT many hours at work!

I would believe the keyboard part of it works just like normal, but the letters on the keys would probably be gone, or at least unresponsive. (unless it loads char. sets to the keyboard, and just give instructions on when they need to be changed, in which case they would remain unchanged.)
Quote Lazarus Dark 23rd November 2007, 20:06
It's an interesting concept, but just not practical.
As stated, who looks at the keyboard?
A simple, widely available and comparatively inexpensive touchscreen lcd is 100x more practical.
We just got touchscreens for everyone at work and I can tell it has increased productivity greatly.

I just don't see any practicality for the Optimus. I could possibly see a use for a small 20 key programable version for games and photoshop, that might work. And the price would be more sensible for the use.
Quote The_Beast 23rd November 2007, 22:57
the "cheap" ones go for $700
Quote knoj 23rd November 2007, 23:10
Wouldn't it be cheaper to just put a touchscreen in your lap? You could easily develop an app to act as any keyboard/macro combo you wanted to, and for much less cash...

Keys wouldn't react the same when pressed, but would be much more customizeable.
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