Google Japan has come up with a new keyboard invention. This time, it is a DIY, 165-centimeter, single-row keyboard that is so long it looks like a mini piano or a fishing rod. If users want to know the width of the keyboard, Google Japan best describes it as long enough for a cat to walk on, and the team adds that it has a load capacity of up to three t-shirts on both ends of the stick keyboard. It is easy to store since it is thin and long, so shelving the stick keyboard into a corner or letting it stand on its own is not a problem. Fans of the long keyboard can also make it themselves since the team has uploaded the schematics, boards, and software as open source to its website. ‘Let’s make your own one with a soldering iron in one hand,’ the team writes. At this point, that is just not impossible. Unfortunately, Google Japan has no plans yet to release the keyboard to the market, but fingers crossed for keyboard lovers!

images & videos courtesy of Google Japan

The stick keyboard seems to pose as a problem solver for different workers of various industries. For example, Google Japan thinks the stick keyboard can be shared and used by two programmers at the same time since they can now input characters at high speed (although they might need to strategize who to type what). For those who live in areas where insects and mosquitoes turn them into snacks or meals, they can attach a net on one end of the stick keyboard and transform it into an insect catcher. If office workers need to stretch after sitting for a long time, they can easily stretch their arms by reaching for the other key on the other end of the keyboard. Users can also turn the stick keyboard into a ruler or an object that can use to switch off the light if it is too far from their reach. 

Google Japan says that what they have developed is a simple, straighter keyboard with a single-row key layout, so users do not need to ‘look around’ when they type. In addition to the one-dimensional QWERTY setting, users can also benefit from the team’s ASCII code array in ABC order if they want. A total of 17 boards – 16 boards for the keys and 1 control board – are connected to the stick keyboard. The design idea of a stick comes through since the team was thinking it would immediately make an impression on people and let them remember its style right off the bat. The team also says that with the stick keyboard, they are hoping it would be considered and become the keyboard of the future.

Since designboom had to scroll down for so long before we could see the end of the keyboard, so should you.

if you have reached this point, congratulations

it can also be an insect net or catcher

two people can now type at the same time

Google Japan’s stick keyboard

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