touchpad keyboard

[Slug Toy]

so im sitting here idle just wondering about some neat things that are probably not practical, and i thought up something awesome... a touchpad keyboard.

i think i saw some heat or touch sensors in a worklog just a while back. so how about this for a mod proposal? take a bunch of those sensors and replace each key with them. the keys are basically closing an electrical gap as far as i can understand, and the sensors would be doing the same thing. i think it would work. i dont think size would be an issue because im pretty sure the sensor i saw was a 4mm square.

so is this a great idea or what, or am i finally going crazy?

[DaveW]

I think this has been done before...could be wrong? It's more than possible. I can at least tell you that it would annoy the life out of me to not have the bounce of a real keyboard under my fingertips.

-Dave

[Slug Toy]

true, nothing beats the satisfaction of clicking keys. it would be an interesting adjustment to make... no sound, and the feel of a rather solid surface. it might bring up some uncertanty as to what key you're hitting for a while until you get used to it.

i personally like the idea though. it can make keyboards look a lot cleaner. it could make them a lot easier to clean too.

actually, what might be another cool implementation for touch sensors is in a mouse. if your hand isnt touching the sensor, there is no response... so maybe you dont accidentally bump the mouse when you dont want to... kind of like those laser tag guns where you have to touch the two leads to make them work.

[progbuddy]

Someone has already made an optical keyboard (man, that thing is awesome) in which a small sensor detects where your fingers land on the projected keyboard.

[Cannibal23]

one issue with heat sensors. do you live where it snows durig the winter? ever get cold hands? good luck typeing anything.

[Indybird]

Someone has already made an optical keyboard (man, that thing is awesome) in which a small sensor detects where your fingers land on the projected keyboard.

There's a difference between than and what Slug Toy wants to do. That projects an image of a keyboard onto a surface and detects the keypresses with optical sensors. What he's doing is making a normal keyboard, but replacing the buttons with touch sensors.

[Airbozo]

Yes it has been done before. They are used extensively in the industrial computer market. Years ago they were marketed to the general computer using public, but what Dave said happens to be why you don't see them in mass. People could not get used to NOT having key movement.

http://www.eaoswitch.com/

[Slug Toy]

well as long as i know its possible, its now on my list. i personally like the idea of no moving parts... no sound... easy cleaning... and the whole being custom part too.

now i need to figure out how to get a hold of a bunch of those sensors.

[Maz]

well slug, you have made this request at the perfect time.

Qprox is the key.

they have application notes showing how to make the sensors too.

im using them for lights, power, and eject buttons in my mod.

[Slug Toy]

beautiful, i like those sensors. im bookmarking that for now. i dont know exactly when ill get around to doing something like this, but hopefully soon.

it must have been your mod i was thinking about then, maz. you have a picture of one of those sensors somewhere.

now im happy... or even more so than before.