Optimus Keyboard, From Russia With Love !!! Options

[NickTheGreek]

These Russians made a keyboard with OLED display buttons!!!

Imagine a keyboard where each key is a small TFT screen ; you change the language, the display changes, you press CAPS LOCK, you see CAPITALS, you go to play MAME, you see direction pad signs instead of keys !!!

FANTASTIC !

[NickTheGreek]

Read the interview from the creators :

First Look: The Optimus Keyboard

Author: Alex Petraglia

Date: Friday, July 15, 2005

When a Russian design firm broke the news of its OLED keyboard on Thursday, July 14, geeks everywhere were tickled with delight. Rather than tradition keys that feature printed characters, each key on the Optimus keyboard contains a small OLED display that can be set to display whatever the user requires. Want to seamlessly switch between English and Chinese characters? Go from Photoshop shortcuts to Quake inputs in a flash? Art. Lebedev, the company behind the Optimus keyboard, is the biggest design firm in Russia, with work in website promotion, corporate identities, and product design. We chatted with its founder and director of development for the Optimus, Artemy Lebedev, to get some answers to everyone’s most burning questions.

Primotech: First off, thanks for taking the time to speak with us. The biggest concern that was raised yesterday was whether or not this product will ever see the light of day. Can you allay those fears?

Artemy Lebedv: We're in the process of negotiations with several technology providers and manufacturers.

PT: Any names for manufacturers? If not, can you tell me if they'd be Russian and/or American?

AL: As of now we are going to produce it under our own brand, Art. Lebedev. No doubt manufacturing will be in China or Korea.

[Ed.- To clarify the difference between these first two questions, as of now, the company will hold the rights to the keyboard (as opposed to selling the design) and have it produced by another company overseas]

PT: How is the display of characters handled? Does the board come equipped with built in icons? Are packages downloaded over time?

AL: We've thought about the first "open-source keyboard". There will be an SDK and some user "keyboard studio" application which will allow keyboard to be customized for any mode or application in any way imaginable, from DVORAK to arranging letters in alphabetical order.

PT: In addition to handling the external design, is your company working on the wiring, electronics, and schematics as well?

AL: We do the industrial design and interface engineering on our part. These two are of our specialties.

PT: Will it be wireless, Bluetooth, or USB only?

AL: USB 2.0 for sure…FireWire - probably. Possibly it will have an external power supply. No need for Bluetooth.

PT: Any word on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux compatibility?

AL: I see no reason to make keyboard OS-dependant. As you can see from the current layout we have enough keys for Win or Mac control keys. As well, we made the keyboard several keys larger than usual QWERTY to comfortable fit all the Cyrillic letters (there are 33 of them).

PT: Will it be geared more to industry at first or consumers?

AL: We were keeping in mind typesetting professionals first. But without forgetting all kind of users, especially gamers. It will also be of great use to sound and movie pros.

PT: What kind of material is the Optimus made out of?

AL: The body is aluminum-wrapped.

PT: How long has the Optimus been in design?

AL: About a year.

PT: Any approximations on cost yet?

AL: I can hardly imagine it to be less than $200 to $300 (USD). Sounds like a lot for a keyboard, but most modern mobile phones cost about that.

PT: And a release date?

AL: Hopefully our keyboard will show the light in a year or so.