Optimus Maximus gets a numeric keypad test

Hot on the heels of the recent single-key Optimus Maximus OLED key test comes the highly anticipated multiple-key test, a demo of the numeric keypad. Yes, it's a whole bank of the custom-built buttons, flashing in a veritable parade of holiday-season-worthy light. Sure, that exposed PCB and those little plastic keys don't look like they're worth $1536, but we're sure once it's all said and done you'll still feel like it's money well spent. Check the video after the break to witness the dancing lights for yourself.

[SuperFly @ Aug 10th 2007 9:51AM]

Edge of the seat stuff.

[mentalsticks @ Aug 10th 2007 9:50AM]

yawn

[mlody11 @ Aug 10th 2007 10:11AM]

Wow, how very unexciting. In the future... we'll have displays that are less than 6 inches thick and money that is made of plastic and we will all have computers at home!

[Rusty @ Aug 10th 2007 9:56AM]

A fool and his money are soon parted.
I can't believe, other than a kids video game, a kiosk at a mall or something similar, where this would be "worthwhile"
Other than the "cool" factor, it is overpriced BIG time. Just with
any 1.0 version, if/when it becomes mainstream, and the price comes
down to a reasonable level, will this be more likely to succeed.

[Pc_Madness @ Aug 10th 2007 10:10AM]

How is it overpriced big time? It costs that much because thats how much it costs to make. The screens are expensive.

[turb0d00d @ Sep 2nd 2007 2:58PM]

that sounds like a Bible quote to me (definitely not a bad thing)

but remember, they aren't requiring anyone to buy it. it is
innovation like this that drives our technology edge forward!
why do you think there are different brands of cars? some are
geared towards luxury, some are geared towards economy. while
perhaps you cannot justify spending the money on this, there
are plenty of people out there (with more than enough money) who
can. i suppose you could call this a maybach

And as far as the cool factor, this product is gonna be off the
chart. but i wish the video showed actual rendering of macro
icons or numbers...

[daedalus @ Aug 10th 2007 9:55AM]

Having just seen Daft Punk last nite, I think this keyboard could use some umtz umtz...



and by umtz i mean sick beats... not UMTS

[Mathieu @ Aug 10th 2007 10:02AM]

Hmmm we're far from a real product if they're still playing with their oleds and make them flash...

[relacks @ Aug 10th 2007 10:19AM]

This keyboard does seem like it would be a lot fun customizing and what not. However, in the video, those screens clearly do not line up perfectly within all of the keys. I would consider that aspect unacceptable for the price tag.

[Mile @ Aug 10th 2007 10:15AM]

Can they make them bigger? A lot bigger? I picture a dance floor made of these, with the lights changing colors as people step on them. A visionary, that's what I am.

[JHVH-1 @ Aug 10th 2007 10:23AM]

@mile
sorry man, it's been done before...
http://www.lightspacecorp.com/products/lightspacedance/

"ain't nothing new under the sun"

[strider_mt2k @ Aug 10th 2007 10:26AM]

I don't even care anymore.

[Firebird @ Aug 10th 2007 10:34AM]

@JHVH-1

Sarcasm. It's the quicksand you didn't notice, and now you're drowning in it.

[Nick @ Aug 10th 2007 10:26AM]

This just in.. artlebedev's revolutionary, yet poorly named, Optimus Maximus OLED Keyboard ranked as a close second on the list of most hyped gadgets ever.

I've been watching this thing for like at least 2-3 years now... and it still isnt out on the market.

[Nick @ Aug 10th 2007 10:33AM]

The pricing on this thing actually makes the iPhone pricing seem quite reasonable.

[Alexander @ Aug 10th 2007 10:36AM]

snooze-fest. They connected each screen to the same data lines as all th other ones.

Will the fun ever stop?

How about showing, oh, I don't know--a fade from each color with each screen being controlled individually?

And no Linux support makes this even less of a deal for me.

[Blahhhh @ Aug 10th 2007 11:04AM]

WTF! I can't believe I am even stopping to comment on that piece of c. Oh wait I am at work. I can believe I'm stopping.

Anyway, cure cancer or something. Stop wasting time and money on stupid.

[jkleemann @ Aug 10th 2007 11:18AM]

As i first saw this keyboard i thought i would love it...that was 2 years ago...now i have cooled down a bit.

But, what effect does it have on work ? exactly none - i do not look at my keyboard anymore (except for the function keys on apples new aluminium keyboard).


My guess is its all about patents-> Have an idea, patent it, at least put *some* effort into developing it. Maybe some other dorks try to build it when OLEDs get cheaper, get rich of the license-fees....

So, when they are finished with the optimus ... multitouch is probably geek-mainstream (and oled-keys have outlived the hype made about them).

[Miles @ Aug 10th 2007 3:08PM]

Think if it this way.

When you are in photoshop, press Control or Command and then the keyboard shows all the shortcuts you can do.

Also if I had one of these I wouldn't have to memorize where stuff like µ and π are.
I could just press Alt Gr and it'd show what symbol I have to press.

[jkleemann @ Aug 11th 2007 8:03AM]

Of course there are some domains for which such a keyboard would be great, but as a professional in such a domain i would rather switch to something different like the lemur with its multitouch interface and fully programmable UI (via some strange tools and apis) and thats where IMHO those features belong.

And for the proposed 1200 bucks of the optimus, the lemur provides more geekyness for the money.
(http://www.jazzmutant.com/lemur_overview.php)


Don't get me wrong, i don't want to argue that the Optimus is not worth the 1200 bucks ... but i think the excitement (once we get our hands on that) would wear off too fast. Ok, i would find the x&$% "tilde" key on my Mac Keyboard faster ...


Have you ever seen KeyCue ? Thats a nifty tool to display the current active key shortcuts of MacosX apps ...i guess it could also provide a virtual keyboard to show the shortcuts on the screen.

http://www.macility.com/products/keycue/

[Chuck @ Aug 10th 2007 11:31AM]

Does anybody besides me think this will go into the vaporware hall of fame?

[Locus @ Aug 10th 2007 11:48AM]

er, so if these keys are supposed to be able to display different images and stuff, shouldn't we be seeing fades, perhaps more keys doing diffferent things at the same time, and maybe even one key doing something other than change colour?


@JHVH-1:

Sarchasm:
the gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the recipient who doesn't get it..

[AG @ Aug 10th 2007 12:02PM]

From awesome to disinterest, so quickly.

[nollie @ Aug 10th 2007 12:56PM]

> i do not look at my keyboard anymore

Hey, me neither! I guess I'll just buy some overpriced RAM instead.

[DarkAardvark @ Aug 10th 2007 1:24PM]

wasnt something like this already released a few months ago? i remember seeing it on yahoo... hmm... sounds like a good time to patent troll!!!

[Donald @ Aug 10th 2007 2:04PM]

QWERTY bots, transform!

chee qoo qoo qoo............

[james @ Aug 10th 2007 2:19PM]

The original concept renderings are the only things worth anything. Everythign since then has been a big pile o crap.

[scott @ Aug 10th 2007 2:38PM]

Whoa!!!! Someone needs a nail cutter badly!

[n_shakuras @ Aug 10th 2007 7:57PM]

is there any reason for him to only use solid colors in his "test?" what exactly is this proving, that the LCDs weren't dead on arrival? let's see this do something mildly interesting.

[scott @ Aug 10th 2007 9:18PM]

If you look carefully, the 3 colors used are Red, Blue, Green (and all 3 mix = White). They're the primary colors for making up any color. Probably only for Demo purposes.

[Juaquin @ Aug 11th 2007 1:29PM]

Hooray flashing solid colors...errr...no. Still as much vaporware as it was before, until they actually get those keys to do something. I would have though that if they had a full PCB and the keys, they would already have the software to do something interesting with the keys...?

[Solomon @ Aug 11th 2007 3:04PM]

What do you suppose will become of the double-length keys: zero, enter, and '+'?
A double-wide screen would be nice, but in case that does not happen, they should at least give them wide plastic covers, just to keep the finger-footprint.

[Linson Chan / 09198774095 @ Sep 15th 2007 9:51AM]

Still a waste of money... not even worth for those stupid dancing light.... how stupid can this be? its not even creative.... let along for its price... and yeah, better to spend the money on research for cancer or other diseases... its a lot better help for the world.