Art. Lebedev Studio

A common problem with multimedia keyboards is that they aren't really used efficiently as they should be. The additional keys are there and usually can be assigned to almost any program, but do you really make full use of them?

The Optimus Maximus Keyboard

So along comes the "Optimus Maximus keyboard" with a unique take on keyboard usability and interaction. It looks just like an ordinary keyboard but that's where the similarity ends, each individual key has a tiny 48 x 48 pixel with 65,536 colours display screen.

The beauty is that the Optimus Maximus keyboard allows each individual key to have its own function assigned to it and can display any image within its display screen. It can also display any language character set as well as notes, numerals, special symbols and more. It is compatible with PC and Mac and has medium installation requirements along with external ports for USB, SD Card and a K-Lock which is optional. The SD Card is where the key's layouts to be stored which allow key images to change quickly.

Each key also features an ambient light sensor to detect varying lighting conditions and can adjust automatically or manually to darker and lighter environments. The keys can also be removed individually with a special tool to allow for cleaning and general maintenance. The keys themselves appear a little large then normal which is to obviously cater for the colour displays.

Price

The Optimus Maximus keyboard comes in four confiurations, from a single key only to the full set. Keys can be purchased individually.

$460 approx - One Active Key (spacebar)

$600 approx - 10 Active Keys

$1000 approx - 47 Active Keys

$1565 approx - All Keys Active

Impressions

One thing I first noticed when I viewed some of the product photos was the left column of keys which had various shortcuts assigned to them. From what I can see in the photo is an array of shortcuts to various programs such as the Firefox browser, Email, Word, Excel, Photoshop and a few others. These can be handy for launch programs quickly but I do feel that it is a lazy method as the task bar does just the same thing. Of course it would be handy to place the most commonly accessed programs there by default but over time I can see those becoming used less and less.

Configurator

The Optimus Maximus keyboard configurator allows you to customize keys within an assigned program. Let's take Photoshop, the most commonly used window is the Tools palette, this palette consists of the most common tools for designing with, the configurator can then assign the individual tools used within the palette to selected keys and assign an icon for each. By default photoshop has commands already assigned to certain keys so assigning an icon to those would really be useful. This is a great option, however when typing within Photoshop pressing the "T" key then clicking the screen starts up the type tool, I'm not sure whether the keys stay illuminated or whether they switch back to normal. It would be great if the "T" key would revert the alphabet keys back to normal when activated and then return to its previous state once the text has been confirmed.

This also can be done for gaming too, you could assign an icon representing the characters action or command for instance, having an icon for characters in crouch, prone, running mode assigned to certain keys could make the game a little bit more immersive.

One thing that I don't know a lot about is when you switch between different applications, does the keyboard automatically switch the key display and commands at the same time? And how long does it take? Ideally it should switch depending on what application is currently active and I would it expect it to be instantaneous as well.

There's no mention of the availability of different icon sets from the website or where these can be sourced from which I think they really need to take care of, for novice users they may find it hard to source good complete sets of useable icons for certain applications or games etc.

Variations

The Optimus Maximus keyboard can be ordered in 4 different forms, starting from a single key right through to all 113 keys available. At this stage the price for a complete (113 key option) is quite expensive and would really appeal to enthusiasts only. Keys can be purchased individually over time which is a great option.

Probable Uses and Ideas

There's no real mention also about what other things this keyboard can do besides assigning keys to use various commands within each application. Here are a few ideas that I had in mind which could be beneficial:

• Act as a secondary screen saver when the main screen saver is active.
• Visually act as a graphic equalizer when listening to music, it could have a host of colour variation options and display modes.
• Be a learning tool for those first timers to using a computer, it could visually guide the user to each key to better their typing performance skills.
• Act as an additional menu display to a pc game, say your playing a fantasy game, the special items you've collected along your journey could be placed in the left column or along the numeric keys. A great way to make blend the game in more and make it more immersive to the gamer. The games themselves could have some additional forms of interaction with the keyboard itself.
• There could be a key health test which runs through the keys and displays in colour which keys require cleaning or maintenance. Imagine all the keys are illuminating green with gradually blends towards red showing the status of each keys health.
• The keys could illuminate in colour to match the application running.

Overall the Optimus Maximus keyboard has a lot of potential and promise, there are so many possibilities that could make this product much more than it is. The Optimus Maximus website isn't really informative and doesn't cover enough for my tastes. An FAQ page doesn't give me much. I hope in time they will add more content with more demos and information which could demonstrate this products true potential.

Do I want one? If I was super rich then I would definitely give it a try. The illuminated keys is a great idea with so much potential, but will software makers and developers make use of this products features? who knows. Having the option to configure keys and illuminate them sounds cool but how long will the novelty hold? The price at this stage is way out of my budget and isn't really worth the investment personally. At the end of the day I still much prefer the curved keyboard as it feels much more comfortable on my wrists during long periods of use which is most important to me.