For anyone curious, I've also documented how to reverse-engineer the USB protocol[2], so you can write your own libraries and pretty much set any buttons to anything (with much more OS control granularity).
[1]: https://deck.surf
It's an LCD and touchscreen with a mask and the buttons are optical-grade-ish plastic with a pad that triggers the touchscreen when the button is pressed. Ford uses something similar in some of their center console screens; there's a wiper under a dial glued to the screen.
They do not use individual screens, despite the author's claim (which is common so they can be forgiven for it.)
It made a lot of sense to me that a keyboard should be configurable to display what's expected on which keys. Switching between different layouts but also quick actions, video game inputs, etc. The macOS touchbar sort of does that.
I frankly would like to see it, even if I suspect that, if it could be done (without expending millions in R&D), it would have been done by now.
I'm a little surprised Elgato hasn't tried. I wonder if the original creators have some kind of a patent on ANSI/ISO keyboards with displays under the keys?
Hmmm, I only recall one previous "proper" keyboard having OLEDs under the keycaps...
Slightly facetious, I know, but I think one key element you missed is the adaptability.
Yes keyboards used to come with calculator and mail and internet buttons, but often times you were stuck with those options only, or worse, the particular apps hardwired in the drivers.
Not only can this solution adapt to what you are doing / context aware, it can give feedback. That mail button can pull and render an inbox count. Online contacts profile pics can display in a select few buttons when they are available.
Price/gamer tax on this type of solution and how useful to the average user, that's up for debate.
Although my normal keyboard does still have function keys and a numpad, I like being able to map annoying shortcuts to individual buttons. For example, Photoshop's "Merge Visible Layers" (default Ctrl+Shift+E) is hell on my wrist, so I map it to a button on the MIDI controller.
It's also nice having extra buttons to access F13-F24 for whatever behavior I want since virtually nothing uses them by default.
Much more ergonomic, I can't say I'd want to have a separate keyboard next to my laptop...
Then there's third party plugins, but I don't really see any security guarantees on how those are designed, there's not a lot of reason for me to be comfortable with those.
The really basic functionality I wanted that the software couldn't change, was the ability to remain functional when the PC was locked.
I like having haptic interfaces, (perhaps too much).
Before a good keyboard tool, I occasionally ran in to keyboard shortcut collisions which produce odd outcomes.
Thanks for sharing this, I’ll have another look.
stream decks have always interested me, but the price has always seemed a bit steep. compared to their XL model, for ~50$ more (with an educational discount) you can get a base ipad, and unless you really want the tactile feedback, i can’t think how that wouldn’t be a better buy.
This guy better be careful otherwise he could be stuck with huge legal fees depending how popular this gets. Seems early enough in product development that he could change it without problem.
