Google Designs Thin Keyboard That’s Also A Bug Trap—And You Can Build It At Home
By Mikelle Leow, 03 Oct 2022
If your smartphone can perform so much more than making and taking phone calls, who’s to say your keyboard should only be for typing? Google has found a qwerky set of uses for your mundane QWERTY setup, bringing its functionality out of the office to even accommodate outdoorsy folks. Not only that, the company has shared the blueprint online for anyone looking to experiment outside of their type.
Google Japan has introduced the Gboard ‘Bar’, a stick-shaped iteration of the computer keyboard that lines up every button in a row. Its rationale is that users often have to look in four directions (left, right, up, and down) to find the right keys. The linear design, on the other hand, supposedly streamlines this process, quite literally, by drawing the gaze only from the left to right.
“With this keyboard, it is very convenient to know immediately that the 16th letter from the left is ‘G’,” explains one designer.
The keyboard follows a similarly wacky ‘Teacup Version’ Gboard created by Google Japan that wraps the set of keys into a holdable drinking cup to “prevent spills.”
Contrary to what you may have in mind, the Gboard Bar doesn’t stretch much longer than how far you can reach. At around 65 inches across, it stands at about the height of the average American woman, or spans “wide enough for a cat to walk across.”
The tech giant additionally touts the redesigned keyboard’s ergonomic appeal, describing that it enables users to naturally stretch their arms and legs. It also suggests that two people can sit in front of the keyboard and type on it as though they are playing the piano. Collaboration at its finest!
The product’s compact nature makes it easy for it to be stashed away when it’s not in use. And with a width of only 64 millimeters (2.52 inches), it can squeeze into the most cluttered of office desks.
Most importantly, the stick-shaped design opens up all sorts of unprecedented possibilities. Say your eraser fell out of your hand and rolled under the table. You can use the keyboard to reach into the gap, or other less-accessible spaces.
If you’re feeling lazy and don’t have a Google Nest to switch off your lights by voice command, a simple solution would be to use the stick.
Google Japan also recommends doubling the keyboard as a ruler, a chopstick holder, a bug catcher (if you attach a net), and even a trekking pole.
If you haven’t guessed by now, this is just for laughs, but Google Japan evidently knows some might find the accessory useful. As such, it has made the design open-source and uploaded the relevant resources so anyone with a 3D printer can build or personalize this keyboard at home.
Google Japan says it may even create a gaming version that lights up in seven colors in the future, though we reckon reaching sideways to locate the attack button would be a liability instead of a strength.
[via Tom’s Hardware and XDA Developers, images via Google Japan]