Super quick Keyboardio update.

[obra]

Kaia and I have been pretty nose-down working on Keyboardio at Highway1 (a hardware incubator) over the past few months. That's meant fewer blog posts and pretty much no time on geekhack.

Yesterday was Highway1's Demo day. I got up on stage in front of a bunch of journalists and investors and spent four minutes telling them that their keyboards suck

And then I got to show them this:


GigaOM covered the event and said some nice things about us. http://gigaom.com/2014/06/18/a-connected-grill-smart-textiles-and-the-perfect-keyboard-make-up-highway1s-latest-startup-class/

(I know that 'the perfect' keyboard is a very subjective thing, but who am I to argue with GigaOM?

[Pacifist]

whoa cool

[CPTBadAss]

0/10. The butterfly shape needs to be switched to the heart shape  . Just kidding, the board is looking sharp!!

[tribade]

Beautiful looking keyboard!  I doubt ergo keyboards will ever be for me, but that one sure makes them look a lot more tempting!

[ninjadoc]

Very nice board!

[dorkvader]

That's excellent! I see a lot of great options there that would be wonderful.

I'll have to read those news stories, but I like much of the design aspects as-is right now. Lots of keys, lots of thumb / palm(?) modifiers, etc. Practically the only downside is the size, but the larger size allows for more keys, which is a benefit to some (I, for one, use a 122-key keyboard as my daily)

[tp4tissue]

Um... hm............

does it need to be "that shape?" 

nothing wrong with butterflies, but is that appealing to the techno-neck-beards.

[obra]

Um... hm............

does it need to be "that shape?" 

nothing wrong with butterflies, but is that appealing to the techno-neck-beards.

No keyboard is going to appeal to everybody. When it ships (with source code and a screwdriver), we'll be releasing measurements and cad models for the keyplates and PCBs inside. If you're not a fan of the gorgeous, precision-milled anodized aluminum + wood inlay look, you'll totally be able to mount it in another enclosure. Or in a desk. Or onto your chair. Or...

[obra]

That's excellent! I see a lot of great options there that would be wonderful.

Thanks!

I'll have to read those news stories, but I like much of the design aspects as-is right now. Lots of keys, lots of thumb / palm(?) modifiers, etc. Practically the only downside is the size, but the larger size allows for more keys, which is a benefit to some (I, for one, use a 122-key keyboard as my daily)

Indeed. We need to start documenting more about the Model 01 design publicly. And yes, those are palm keys.

It's got 64 keys. And 64 individually sculpted keycaps. And an arduino-compatible Atmega32U4 logic board. And bluetooth. And I almost forgot to mention....64 individually addressable RGB LEDs mounted under them.



We're definitely aware of the size/weight issue. Production should be a little bit smaller and a little bit lighter. And I want something that slips into my backpack easily.

[Puddsy]

backlit

whaaaaaaaaaat

[jacobolus]

Looking sweet! How did you make the keycaps?

-1 on the vim arrows though. :-P

[Pacifist]

they look like devlins, where did you get them made?

[Justintoxicated]

Are those keys doubleshot?  Vertically stacked legends though?

[obra]

Looking sweet! How did you make the keycaps?

-1 on the vim arrows though. :-P

We had help with the CAD. We got them made by a model shop in Shenzhen. They're CNC-milled out of polycarbonate, painted black and then laser-engraved. When made that way, they're about $400 a set.

The legends, I did up in Illustrator (In Gotham Rounded) and sent over. The production legends won't look the same, but for a very first pass, I'm pretty pleased with how they came out.

[obra]

Vertically stacked legends though?

I'd love to see samples of _good_ legends with 3 symbols on the keytops

[SonOfSonOfSpock]

Looks really nice. Are the two halves connected or totally separate?

[obra]

Looks really nice. Are the two halves connected or totally separate?

Both, actually

Not quite ready to make the mechanism public, but it's pretty flexible and a lot sturdier than a ball joint.

[davkol]

This keyboard shape actually reminds of this...

...SO AWESOME!!!1!

[EvillePanda]

Man, between you and Axios...  /sigh.  Gonna have to get both.  No other way around it.

[hoggy]

Man, between you and Axios...  /sigh.  Gonna have to get both.  No other way around it.

That's the spirit!

[kurplop]

Good idea with the convex inner caps. Very nice combination with the wood/black keys/aluminum look.

Sorry you won't be in town for Keycon, I would have liked to meet you and your creation.

[nuclearsandwich]

I'm so pumped for this! Can't wait to add one to my collection.

[vivalarevolución]

No big keys for the pinkies?

Overall, quite the evolution from the original design.  It's wonderful to see all these ergo designs coming out now.  Some will survive, some will fail, but all of us ergo fanatics will win.

[tribade]

Seeing those other pictures of it, and how nice the LEDs look on it really made me want one!  Any ballpark what the retail will be on it?

[Findecanor]

Good idea with the convex inner caps.

I don't understand it.. Why?

Very sweet keycaps, still. I love how the index finger keys and pinkie keys are slanted.

[jacobolus]

Gigaom’s picture does a reasonable job showing the keycap shapes:

Crop:

But we want more pictures!

[engicoder]

It's got 64 keys. And 64 individually sculpted keycaps. And an arduino-compatible Atmega32U4 logic board. And bluetooth. And I almost forgot to mention....64 individually addressable RGB LEDs mounted under them.

Are you using the ws2812 LED's?

[obra]

It's got 64 keys. And 64 individually sculpted keycaps. And an arduino-compatible Atmega32U4 logic board. And bluetooth. And I almost forgot to mention....64 individually addressable RGB LEDs mounted under them.

Are you using the ws2812 LED's?

Ayup

[kurplop]

Good idea with the convex inner caps.

I don't understand it.. Why?

Very sweet keycaps, still. I love how the index finger keys and pinkie keys are slanted.

Of course this is just my opinion, but where it makes a lot of sense to have distinct depressions on the keys above and below the home  keys, the high sides on the cylindrical caps could create a slight barrier when sliding fingers across  into non-home columns. This is especially true for those who keep their hands relatively low when typing. There may also be times when you may want to hit the center keys with the other hand making the convex top more appropriate.

You can see that he did the same thing with the thumb keys where the thumb would sweep across the keys and while the pinkie keys are cylindrical they are banked to better match the path of the finger.

I'm  speculating about his design and may well be wrong, but I went through that thought process while designing my latest keyboard and made some similar deviations from the norm.

[vivalarevolución]

Also, I do hope you plan on updating the design.  At this point, the whole butterfly thing is most appealing to tweans.  Most gear nerds tend to be adult males, as you probably know.

[jacobolus]

At this point, the whole butterfly thing is most appealing to tweans.  Most gear nerds tend to be adult males, as you probably know.

Huh? I think it looks great. People who want their keyboards to look like transformer robots or 1960s typewriters already have plenty of options available.

[vivalarevolución]

At this point, the whole butterfly thing is most appealing to tweans.  Most gear nerds tend to be adult males, as you probably know.

Huh? I think it looks great. People who want their keyboards to look like transformer robots or 1960s typewriters already have plenty of options available.

I'm just commenting from the cheap seats here.  I could see a lot of potential customers looking at a design that resembles a butterfly with all the dead space and being scared away because it might be too cute or whatever.  I know that you cannot please every customer, but my first reaction to the current design was "oh, a little too cute." 

Regardless of what I think of the design, I really hope this thing succeeds, makes it too market, and is profitable.  The amount of thought and tinkering going into this keyboard is phenomenal.  The creators seem well placed in the Bay Area tech scene, and I could certainly see that helping with the momentum.

I will be most interested to see what sort of things can be done with all the keys on the edges.

[SonOfSonOfSpock]

I can't stop thinking of the Simpsons and "nobody ever suspects the butterfly"

[obra]

And the video of my pitch is up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h7mVu4ch6o

[tp4tissue]

And the video of my pitch is up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h7mVu4ch6o

Good stuff...

Did you guys set a price yet?

Will there be a budget version without the expensive case?

Does this fully come apart into two halves like the ergodox?

[hoggy]

Congrats!  Looking good.

[obra]

Good stuff...

Did you guys set a price yet?

Nope. We're going to make sure we know how much it will cost us to make it before we commit to a price. It's not going to be cheap. But it's also not going to be a µTron.

Will there be a budget version without the expensive case?

I don't want to make promises we can't keep. But we know the demand is there. And we want everyone to be using an amazing keyboard. If we can get to a reasonable volume, the case stops being the expensive part. Right now, it's kind of terrifying how much of the BOM (bill of materials) the bluetooth chip takes up.

And then there's the tooling cost for the 64 individually sculpted keycaps.

Does this fully come apart into two halves like the ergodox?

Yup! (We're not quite ready to show off how yet. But the two halves separate fully. And of course they have tripod mounts

[davkol]

This is serious. I'm going bankrupt soon. Axios, this, czarek's ErgoDox, the Atreus kit, my own project... T_T

[Latin00032]

It would be cool if it had an ergo curve to it.

[EvillePanda]

Great video.  Really want this keyboard now. 

[kebby]

Been eagerly waiting from the time the last prototypes were posted a long time ago and Model 1 certainly seems like it's worth the wait. Being able to split unlike the earlier prototype will help with pointing devices as well I guess.

I'm guessing that since it's such a modifiable product overall, the excellent stock keycaps could also be swapped.

[obra]

I'm guessing that since it's such a modifiable product overall, the excellent stock keycaps could also be swapped.

Well, Alps caps are hard to find in the best of times. And we've been working with an 18mm spacing (based on a bunch of academic research and our own testing). But really, with a layout this different, traditional caps just feel odd.

[jacobolus]

You didn’t link your video here!

[obra]

You didn’t link your video here!

I totally did! http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=59722.msg1378045#msg1378045.

I just suck at bbcode syntax

[jacobolus]

Oh, somehow I missed it here. Well anyhow, looks good! Have you figured out office space, etc. yet?

[SonOfSonOfSpock]

What made you decide to go with Matias switches? Just curious if there is an ergonomic benefit or just personal preference.  I remember from your blog that you really liked cherry browns.

[obra]

What made you decide to go with Matias switches? Just curious if there is an ergonomic benefit or just personal preference.  I remember from your blog that you really liked cherry browns.

Matias switches are pretty great. But we wouldn't have discovered how great they are if we hadn't run into Cherry's current one year lead time for new volume orders.

[obra]

Oh, somehow I missed it here. Well anyhow, looks good! Have you figured out office space, etc. yet?

It looks like we're about to sign a lease for live-work space.

[vivalarevolución]

Did not notice the Matias switches.  Nice.