A Motion-Sensing Keyboard • Hacker News Board

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#31

Post by zenbowman » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 12:54 AM UTC

FajitaNachos wrote: post #18

I've been messing around with a Leap Motion device lately, and while I was initially skeptical, there are some actions which are genuinely more pleasant than using a keyboard alone. Sure, it may not be ideal for everyday computing, but it can be great for specific scenarios. Think a presentation, or something that has less frequent interactions than surfing the web.

I think Leap Motion is great, but I think that same kind of sensing can be achieved through lower tech ways, like a multi-color glove plus a webcam.

It is a cool idea and I hope they succeed, but I'm working on the low-tech LEAP idea and I'd like to see how far that can stack up to their more complex system.

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#32

Post by gkya » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 12:58 AM UTC

acgourley wrote: post #3

While it seems like it has a long way to go in terms of fidelity and response, the concept is fantastic. Could make laptops even smaller.

I'd be so glad to own a laptop where the touch pad became unnecessary and got removed. I'm a laptop-only user, and the padding between the keys and the closer edge of the laptop is a source of pain for me, as it forces me to place my lower arm at the edge of the computer, which causes my lower forearm and carpus to hurt. A 15-inch laptop can be built with a keyboard that begins from the closest edge of the device's bottom, and the space between the screen joint and the end of the keyboard can be filled with... I don't know, a couple of large speakers and dedicated media buttons? A phone charging unit? A coffee holder. But such layout would definitely help my wrists and arms.

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#33

Post by btbuildem » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 1:01 AM UTC

Hm, I wonder how quickly the sensors would be covered in random kbd crud.. Cool idea, but why not leverage a Leap Motion device somehow?

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#34

Post by jedmeyers » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 1:01 AM UTC

Buge wrote: post #4

I guess "mechanical" doesn't mean the same thing here as it usually does when referring to keyboards.

It looks like a contrast to the "software" keyboard that we find on most mobile devices nowadays.

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#35

Post by jmspring » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 1:02 AM UTC

Buge wrote: post #4

I guess "mechanical" doesn't mean the same thing here as it usually does when referring to keyboards.

I like my keyboards with mechanical switches.

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#36

Post by Patrick_Devine » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 1:04 AM UTC

guelo wrote: post #26

The idea of turning the surface of the keyboard into a trackpad is very cool, you could almost get rid of the mouse. Except for, how do you click the mouse pointer? Accidental clicks of keyboard keys is probably what makes it impractical.

Use one of the keys on the keyboard? Even if you were manipulating the pointer by hovering one hand (instead of gesturing), you could still click a button with the other hand.

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#37

Post by kraemate » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 1:05 AM UTC

What can this do that cant be done with a keyboard shortcut?

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#38

Post by kimonos » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 1:07 AM UTC

This is cool!

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#39

Post by Dwolb » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 1:08 AM UTC

They could probably double their resolution with an IR sensor under the keys, transparent elastomer, and IR-transparent plastic for keys. But they did mention sampling at 300Hz was an achievement so maybe they're running into some embedded issues.

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#40

Post by runawaybottle » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 1:13 AM UTC

Cool, I had the same basic idea at one point to do this with an Arduino. I wanted to have infrared emitters below the keys, and have an infrared sensor somewhere slightly in front of the keyboard (but at finger height). Your fingers should reflect infrared light back to the sensor. Not sure how accurate it would be, but I think it would be accurate enough to capture sweeping gestures such as your hand moving up/down for scrolling. Something like this wouldn't be precise enough to replace a mouse, but definitely useful enough to improve workflow (scrolling, switching between workspaces, apps, shortcuts). If the keys were clear, I'd imagine it would be even easier for the sensor to determine where your hand is based on how much infrared light your hand is reflecting back from different positions.

Very intuitive stuff, I hope to see this in laptops soon.