Google has unveiled a 'unique' keyboard on conveyor belt! Here is the Gboard

Google has made headlines with a new concept design showing just how unconventional keyboards can get. As part of its annual tradition held on October 1, the company’s Japan team has once again announced a new keyboard design it calls the “rotating Gboard keyboard.”

Google Japan added October 1 to its calendar after the company ended its traditional April Fools’ Day pranks in 2021. The company uses this date every year to showcase its unconventional keyboard ideas. The reason for choosing this date is a reference to the 101-key keyboard concept—the date 10/1 can also be read as “101.” Last year, the company also unveiled a keyboard design reminiscent of rotary-dial phones.

A KEYBOARD INSPIRED BY AN ESCALATOR

This year’s design, however, is based on a very different idea. While users move their fingers between stationary keys on traditional keyboards, in Google’s design, the keys are constantly moving along a conveyor belt.

Each conveyor belt contains 29 keys, and the system supports both uppercase and lowercase letters. Instead of moving their finger to a key to find the desired letter, users wait for the relevant key to come to them on the conveyor belt. The company also notes that the moving keys could make typing with one hand or a single finger more efficient.

For two-handed use, the creation of a second conveyor belt has been proposed. This would allow users to type using keys on two different belts.

However, there is no ready-made product available for those who want to purchase this unconventional keyboard. In other words, Google will not be releasing this keyboard for sale, just as it did not with the version it unveiled last year.

Instead, the Gboard team has released the keyboard’s design and necessary software components as open source. This allows users with sufficient technical knowledge, hardware, and the necessary parts to build their own motion-controlled Gboard keyboards.