"Progressive" switches?

[fl0w3n]

My friend brought this question up to me the other day, and it kinda stumped me.

He asked if there is a switch that can recognize "pressure sensitive" presses, much like an Xbox 360 controller.
With the controller, esp in a racing game, you can press the trigger or buttons down just slightly for minimal movement/acceleration.
With keyboards its either all or nothing, which I think is a downfall as far was racing games or driving.

Are there any keyboards that exist like this?
And how does the switch in the Xbox controller even work to recognize the degree of being pressed?

[IvanIvanovich]

They use such switch in synthesizer/digital piano for example use SPDT contacts and measure
the time it takes between opening the NC connection and closing the NO
connection.
I don't know of any typing keyboard with that though. It would be interesting.

[fl0w3n]

Yes I'd assume if it were on a keyboard, the strokes would have to be pretty long.

[vun]

[IvanIvanovich]

Might be possible with hall effect and a lot of controller wizardry to make a full keyboard with that capability.
I wonder if capacitve switch could be of any use that way? Might be a 'cheaper' solution if could replace controller and some custom firmware?

[BlindRAGE606]

That video was EPIC!!

IF ONLY THEY MASS PRODUCED THE WIZARDRY FOR THE LAZIES.

[tp4tissue]

That video was EPIC!!

IF ONLY THEY MASS PRODUCED THE WIZARDRY FOR THE LAZIES.

Not so sure on the marketability though. Why NOT always be at full sprint...

[fl0w3n]

Wow, that video perfectly answered the question.  Thanks.

And tp4tissue, I viewed it more for driving games or racing games.  GTA would be useful, etc. 

[BlindRAGE606]

That video was EPIC!!

IF ONLY THEY MASS PRODUCED THE WIZARDRY FOR THE LAZIES.

Not so sure on the marketability though. Why NOT always be at full sprint...

Stealth, game immersion. For all the same reasons one would want to walk in a console game. It's not a bad thing, and I know I would pay for the extra feature. Just so any console peasant couldn't use it as leverage against me.

[TheProfosist]

Ive seen it done with hall effect switches.

[spacecase]

This would be really cool for gaming. I'd buy it if games would support it. I suppose that might be one of the catches besides the actual tech.

Edit: I don't and have never heard of any switch that could do this though I'd imagine that a heavily modified/completely redone Topre could based on how they work. They key feel would be wrong so that would have to change too though.

[inteli722]

I'm not sure how helpful it would actually be to have analog sensing in a keyboard. For gaming, sure it would be fine, but as far as I've seen, games have 5 settings: walk crouch, run crouch, walk, run, and sprint. Look at Skyrim: Default config is LShift for walk, LAlt for running, and LCtrl for crouch. All that you need is right there. There are enough keys on the keyboard to let you have those commands without having analog controls. As for typing, maybe the harder your press down determines how it repeats, but for a majority of the people on here, that's completely unnecessary. I think that it's pointless for PC gamers and typing, but that's my opinion. As others have shown, other have different opinions.

As for this guy, love his videos, but hate this one because he ripped apart a mechanical keyboard. FOR SHAME

I know I would pay for the extra feature. Just so any console peasant couldn't use it as leverage against me.

If they are using that against you, you know that they are grasping at straws, so you need to counter with "got anything meaningful?"