this-modder-is-making-the-good-keyboard-ever-by-placing-little-oled-screens-within-the-keycaps

Whereas not the primary try at a keyboard with screens within the keys, the PolyKybd by modder Thpoll is first one I can truly image myself or the broader public utilizing in earnest sooner or later. And as a current cut up keyboard convert, I am particularly on board with this venture. 

The PolyKybd is a mechanical cut up keyboard with OLED shows within the keycaps. The concept is to have a keyboard with common language assist, by having the keys change over to any language. Because it’s OLED, the letters and symbols on the keycap will come out ridiculously vivid, making them simple to learn below any lighting. 

Thpoll has posted concerning the difficulty of including glyph rendering for languages that use Japanese, Korean, and Arabic symbols. “To really assist a number of languages, I’ve to deal with characters past ASCII-⅞,” Thpoll wrote. Thpoll explains that any keyboard structure, together with macropad and Stream Deck-type layouts for makes use of exterior of typing, is feasible.

The PolyKybd can assist quite a few mechanical switches; The little OLED shows are related through these skinny flex cables that don’t add an excessive amount of weight to keys. The keycaps are literally from money registers, so I am curious the way it feels to sort on the PolyKybd. Once I take into consideration superior typing experiences, money registers do not actually spring to thoughts.

The case for PolyKybd was 3D printed, whereas most different parts, just like the PCB, flex cables, and connectors,  can simply be sourced on-line. In case you’re trying to purchase a PolyKybd, Thpoll informed a consumer on Ko-fi that he is “making an attempt to place a equipment collectively” to promote however stated manufacturing prices would power him to promote them for over $200. 

As of now, the {hardware} growth is sort of performed, in keeping with the venture log. Subsequent, Thpoll is wanting so as to add trackball assist to the PolyKybd, and so they’re additionally engaged on a tenkeyless model with the quantity pad as a standalone addon.