It's especially interesting because he doesn't dismiss modern software conveniences—he uses them and likes them, and understands their value. But he also uses these old-school drum machines for their simplicity and their physical presence, and often for their visual appeal. It makes me like Moby, so, you know, good job. [Motherboard.tv]

Indeed, designers Yoonsang Kim and Eunsung Park designed this keyboard with true paranoia in mind. They even slapped a "None Bacteria Project" label on there so there's no confusion about the design's true purpose. Bring this Japanese fan of a keyboard around with you, and never have to touch a filthy public terminal ever again. Or something. [Yanko Design via DVICE]

Besides processing power, price and battery life improvements, our preferences for gadgets and the direction of those desires point towards three things: Richer displays, more seamless inputs and smaller packages—the first two being in direct conflict with the last. Looking at where we've been and where we are, I don't think we can keep pursuing these goals without going gadget prosthetic.

Now here's a trip: For the first time, this decade, design choices are being made to limit resolution in screens to show mercy to the human eye. Apple's recent iMac revision increased the desktop monitor's pixels per inch rating to about 110. That's the equivalent of a laptop levels of density, but on a big 27-inch screen, and it was so sharp, it hurt. Any desk jockey can tell you that as displays get sharper, the strain goes up. On mobiles, which are already the most pixel dense of the gadget kingdom, designers are frequently bashing into conflicting goals of fitting lots of pixels onto pocketable devices. Resolution-independent operating systems (that rely on vector-based graphics) are important but if we don't take displays inside the human body, gadgets can't get much smaller—there's no way for them to become as pixel rich as desktops while continuing to get smaller than they already are.

The the idea for hybridized HUDs featuring reality and computed interfaces has been around for ages. Science fiction has already dreamed up what it is we want to see in animations like Ghost in the Shell. But the recent explosion of augmented reality apps—powered by smartphones with directional compasses, internet connections, location awareness, cameras and the power to draw data driven overlays—are simply prototypes for real HUD and in-eye/mind displays. It's not a conceptual problem as much as it is a question of how.

Keyboards and buttons are easier to understand as a limitation, as we type on increasingly baby-finger sized keyboards on smartphones with appendages that look like hot dogs. Keyboards just need to go away. Towards that trend, software keyboards may be error prone but when used by the proficient, the typing is way faster and the devices are way smaller. Further away from traditional keyboards, Microsoft Research's projects point towards gesture and voice commands. I don't see how we could get full work days done that way, though, and there's the rub. There's not even a good concept for controlling a PC to the level we need to without keyboards and pointers now. Mind control is a joke.

In user-interface design, we've always trended towards the invisible. Instead of seams, we want the seamless. Instead of four clicks, any given major task is better with three. Maybe one day, none—the blink of an eye. Funny enough, the only mentally controlled gadgets these days are toys. And usually the low-end QVC valley where high-end tech ends up after dripping down from the peak of military or space program development to gadget fiends, and finally their kids. I would guess the sloppy capabilities of such toys, like the Mindflex Brainwave, make it inappropriate, unsafe and unusable for anything but hovering a ball in mid air.

It's funny looking back at attempts of strap-on computing. We always thought these clunky setups—"wearable" PCs velcro'd to our arms or slung over our backs—were the predecessors to in-body computing. I've long assumed that getting to prosthetic gadgets was an issue of micronization. "When we can fit a computer into the profile of a Bluetooth headset, people will use 'em," we thought. But it's clear to me that it's about the interface; the inputs and outputs.

Gadgets don't have much more room for revolutionary improvement unless we bypass our own natural limitations of fingers meant to peel bananas and eyes designed to spot prey and predators, and get these damn things we love and depend on so much routed directly into our brains.

This week, Gizmodo is exploring the enhanced human future in a segment we call This Cyborg Life. It's about what happens when we treat our body less as a sacred object and more as what it is: Nature's ultimate machine.

[Image from Stuart Moore]

The price you pay is that it's got a single hi-speed USB port instead of a pair, which has been de rigeur on gaming keyboards lately. And of course, it's got space for 36 macros. It's $80, and works with PC or Mac. [Logitech]

The bad part is that 0.01% that it doesn't kill gets to breed and breed and become superbugs—but that's something for our kids to worry about. You can buy your own Vioguard for $900 up in Canada's version of Amazon.com, and if you're the kind of person in charge of a large number of computers, like a University's computer lab, you owe it to your users to try and pass this off in the next budget meeting. [Businesswire via Engadget]

Once your signals hit the receiver, you can support Windows, Linux, Mac or Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii (supposedly). Hard to tell whether or not it can actually do all of these things, since the website looks like one a kid would make for his dad's business over the summer between Jr. High and High School, so we'll have to see for ourselves to be sure. [EFO via The Gadgeteer via Oh Gizmo]

From the concept shots and information leaks, both Microsoft and Apple's feature on-screen inputs for doing a lot of things, but they don't talk about text input. Is it going to be a virtual keyboard? Probably. But that doesn't preclude a USB port for a physical keyboard.

What would you use? Obviously, if you need to take this around town, on the train or in the car, you'd need to use the onscreen keyboard. But what about at home and at work? Which would you prefer to use? And why?

It connects to computers via USB, but also has MIDI in/out connections. The line-in jack is what you'd use for any external audio source, including the iPhone. Away from the desk, the Korg can last about 4 hours on 6xAA batteries.

Sample modes include one-shot, gate, loop, key gate, and auto-next. What you record in is mapped onto the keys for you to play and build up layers. Sampling time/internal memory is 42.66 minutes at 24kHz quality, and half that at 48kHz.

The 21 built-in effects include all the usual stuff (distortion, EQ, reverb, delay, chorus, looper, etc), but there's no vocoder (think Daft Punk "Around the World"). Seems a little strange given the attached microphone begs for it.

$750 is also pricey compared to fantastic software like Ableton Live ($450). But, if you're a hardware purist, the microSAMPLER looks like a very cute little board. [Korg via SlashGear]

For example, font size could be changed based on how much pressure you apply to a key and typos could be reduced by gauging the pressure applied to simultaneously pressed keys in order to determine intent. And, of course, varied pressure on a key could make gaming controls more interesting.

Microsoft will be showing off the technology at the User Interface Software and Technology conference taking place in Canada this October. At the conference, students will be given a sample keyboard and asked to compete with one another in an effort to find applications for the technology that are useful, well implemented or creative. Each one of these categories comes with a $2000 prize and special consideration for a spot at SIGGRAPH 2010's Emerging Technology (E-Tech) demos. [UIST 2009 via CNET]

For comparison, ThinkGeek sells the Optimus Maximus, the great grandpappy of the OLED-in-a-key concept, for a staggering $1600. Obviously, the OCZ doesn't match up to Art Lebedev's Cheeto-resistant masterpeice—fewer keys, limited colors, plainer styling—but come on, is it really 8.5% the keyboard the Optimus is?

The item isn't listed as shipping yet, though OCZ says they're on their way to retailers. [ZipZoomFly—Thanks, Justin!]

What Lenovo has done sounds like a smaller deal than it actually is: on the T400 series, the delete and escape keys are about twice as large as normal, taking an odd, long vertical form. As anyone who has used international keyboards can attest, even a little layout or proportion change can throw your typing off. Now why in the world would Lenovo go and do that? USA Today explains:

In designing the new ThinkPad, [Lenovo] installed keystroke-tracking software on about 30 employees' computers (They volunteered). On average, they used the "Escape" and "Delete" keys 700 times per week, yet those were the only "outboard" keys, or non-letter keys, that hadn't been enlarged.

As you can see, this is probably a practical change. The most fascinating thing about this kind of change, though, is how rare it is. Nearly everything about modern keyboards harks back to the early days of the typewriter, from letter spacing to key layout. This anecdote from the article sums up the problem fairly succinctly:

Tom Hardy, who designed the original IBM PC of 1981, said companies have tried many times to change the sizes of keys. That first PC had a smaller "Shift" key than IBM's popular Selectric typewriter did, and it was placed in a different spot, in part because the industry didn't think computers would replace typewriters for high-volume typing tasks.

IBM reversed course with the next version to quiet the outcry from skilled touch-typists.

When we're all living on Mars, our spacepods will still have Model Ms. [USA Today]

Sadly, it is Photoshopped, as you can tell from a variety of tells and mistakes. Says resident PS guru Jesus Diaz, "the chocolate and marsmallow keys are poorly cloned (clearly seen in the chocolate keys, but also on the marshmallows), the perspectives are fucked up, and everything else is made with Photoshop embossing and shadows."

Indeed. Even with its embellished fakery, I am nevertheless hungry. [Geek Pad via Foolish Gadgets]

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.The first thing you'll notice is that only a small cluster of the Sabre's keys—the numpad, specifically—are given the OLED treatment; the second, that the keys don't display color. OCZ tries to make up for the diminished key count and monochrome color scheme with a clever layered shortcut system and blue LED sidelighting, but there's no use denying it: the Sabre is no Optimus Maximus. Given that the Optimus is incredibly huge and oddly difficult to actually type on, though, this could be a good thing.

Another, better way that the Sabre doesn't measure up to the Optimus? Price. They haven't announced specifics yet, but OCZ says the Sabre, which is ready to ship to retailers, will be "affordable." Of course, compared to the Optimus's $1600 price, that could mean pretty much anything. $200, please? [OCZvia Electric Pig]

There are different two versions of the keyboard built for Windows and Macs, and although they both contain two USB ports, the Mac's version has extra keys that allow you to quickly access applications such as iCal, iChat, Mail, Safari and Front Row. For $150, you can purchase the iConnect sometime this summer. [Lifeworks via CNet via iPodNN via Technabob]

Just slip your computer into the anodized aluminum rails, and you're good to go. Almost. You see, the iStand Notebook Media Bundle does a whole lot more than just holding your laptop.

It can hold your iPod, too.

Holy fuck.

While we know it's difficult to believe, those speakers in front aren't just speakers. They're part of an iPod/iPhone dock. You plug them in, load your iPod and they'll play back music while charging the device. You know, just like a laptop, but with an ever-so-refined mediocrity that only the most tone-deaf music aficionado will appreciate. Still, iHome isn't done yet.

Oh no, they're throwing in a wireless keyboard and mouse as well for the mere $300 asking price. I know what you're thinking, "I could buy a pretty sweet netbook for that much." Well stop contemplating such practical thoughts and hand iHome your money. They've clearly earned it. [iHome Lifeworks via Crave]

It sounds like a good idea, but for those who frequently need to use both a mouse and keyboard, it might become a little less than convenient. [Econo-keys via OhGizmo via BoingBoing

The keyboard houses an entire Atom chipset inside its body which is separate from the touchpanel. But the touchpanel also uses the XP power to run Skype and MSN and serve as a media remote, among other things. Engadget Chinese said it worked pretty well, and if the video is any indication, the 5-inch, 800x480 screen uses a capacitive panel. The keyboard is rumored to launch sometime in June, in either wired or wireless-UWB models, but little is known beyond that. [Engadget]

According to the project page, Keykeriki is intended to enable "every person to verify the security level of their own keyboard transmissions, and/or demonstrate the sniffing attacks (for educational purpose only)". Yes, "educational purposes." In case you don't know, keyboard sniffers allow the user to eavesdrop on what is being typed by analyzing the electromagnetic signals produced with each keystroke.

At this point, the software and schematics are available to download from the site, but a pre-made board is not ready for release just yet. However, they should arrive soon along with add on modules that include an LCD display and an interface that works with your iPhone. Sigh...I'm sticking with wired keyboards for now. [Remote-Exploit via Hack-a-Day]

Inspired by this keyboard pants concept, modder Zach Hoeken scanned a silicone keyboard, programmed key holes to be laser-cut from the pant material and then sewed the keyboard directly into his jean shorts. Since he sliced the keyboard in half, only 50% of its keys are functional (through USB). But hey, YUIOP are overrated anyway. [Thingiverse via NYC Resistor via MAKE]

We're big fans of art deco, even though we're not old enough to actually have lived during the actual movement—septuagenarians we are not. But, with BioShock being such a great-selling game recently, we suspect that art deco could be coming back in style. At least, we hope so, or our art deco bedroom furniture set would look pretty dorky. [Datamancer]

If you've ever looked under or between the keys of your keyboard, you'd probably find a collection of sunflower seed shells, hair, toenail clippings and boogers—just think of all the bacteria those can trap. Now just imagine all the semen, blood, urine, excrement, vomit, mucus and chemicals a hospital keyboard could be hiding. The $140 Medigenc comes with a completely sealed body and tough exterior that won't trap bacteria and will allow you to clean it with super strong disinfectants. There's also a single button you can push that will "lockdown" all the keys so you can rub the keyboard down without sending out any e-mails that say, "SKDFJ#$%^&(@&#;@SDFJOIQOIERY(!I)_*&#;YUHEJFKDNFKJAOID OPO{PKLSF!!!!" Moreover, for those who are nostalgic for old hospital technology, the Medigenic outfitted with a silk-screened 3D keyboard design that is sure to give you that vintage, older-than-life feel. [Medigenic via OhGizmo via BBG]

Holy Crap, There's a Monitor in My Keyboard
The 320x240 LCD display that hovers over the keyboard is really the G19's raison d'tre. After incarnations of its G15 keyboard with a monochrome display for game stats and system info, it was really the only place left to go, and for the most part, it's a comfy place with silk sheets and free Coke in the minibar. I mean, you can watch YouTube or movies while you frag.

The screen's size and resolution are good, but not exceptional—it's okay for watching short video or YouTube clips with the built-in client, checking the time, scoping your CPU load and anything else you'd be peeping at a glance. The bezel around it is gigantic, so there'd definitely be some space to make it larger.

What makes it impressive is the fact that it's its own mini-computer, so matter how intensive the game you're running is—Left 4 Dead, for instance—you can pop up a YouTube video or your rip of Dawn of the Dead with no slowdown at all, and every applet runs quickly and smoothly. They're all pretty to use and configure as well.

There are a few annoyances with the video software. The YouTube client, for instance, doesn't let you hunt for a specific video, you're stuck browsing through a list of feeds, like top rated and most popular. That said, it's really fast and easy to use. With the video client for your local files (which monitors a single folder), in my experience it played anything ending in .mpg, but when I tried to play .avi videos it said more codecs were needed.

What's frustrating is that so much of the display's potential is still untapped. Logitech so far only provides a handful of applets and "can't comment on unannounced projects/products." It doesn't even do cool things with other Logitech products, like their G35 headset. It is open source, so anyone can develop for it, but we are talking about trying to build a development community around a $200 keyboard. The list of PC games that take advantage of it isn't mindblowing, so you might wanna check if your favorite is on board (mine weren't). So the currently anemic selection of software you can run on it might be a dealbreaker, at least for now.

Hardware
If you've used a higher end Logitech keyboard before—especially the G11 or G15, you roughly know what you're getting. Logitech's keys are a perfect balance of punchy and squishy and just really feel fantastic—it's why they haven't messed with the formula in a long time. Overall the G19 a solid piece of hardware, though you might expect something less plastic-y and more tank-like for $200, if only so it felt more likely to survive the onslaught of sweaty hands pummeling keys and Cool Ranch Doritos. The wrist rest is unacceptably cheap and crappy, though.

But Logitech adds a lot of value with little (and big) touches. There are a total of 36 possible macros (you can instantly switch between three sets of 12, which are color-coded. There are media controls galore, as you'd expect from Logitech. I really love the heavy spin wheel for volume, which matches up with the one on their G35 headset (more on that soon). You can make your backlight any color of the rainbow you want (or turn it off). And there's a toggle to deactive the Windows key, so you don't accidentally crash your game by popping up the Start menu.

It's got two high-powered USB ports on the back—standard for gaming keyboards. It works pretty well if you're just plugging in a mouse and a USB headset, but what I'd like is some audio jacks, so when I plug in my gaming headphones, I don't have to reach around to the backside of my desktop.

One of the tradeoffs for having dual high-powered USB ports and a mini-computer inside is that you're going to have to free up a space on your power strip for its power brick.

Game On?
Even with its handful of flaws, it's a fantastic keyboard that builds on what Logitech's been doing well for a long time, and it'll get better as more software is developed for it. But it's also $200, and its headlining feature isn't fully fleshed out yet. I love it, but practically speaking, I'd wait a couple of months for the price to come down and more software to make it more excellent.

Take a look at mine. Just awful. I started playing Super Mario Bros. in '86, and my digits just went downhill from there. I write for Gizmodo on Sundays in constant pain, but my love for the craft, and you, gives me the strength to tell this sobering story. I started writing that warning on the little card at 10 a.m this morning, if that tells you anything.

Tomich, armed with a quiver full of photos with lines drawn on them, takes the video games industry, Congress, and even the OLPC project to task for ruining hands and fingers with their skeleton-deforming devices and policies.

To his credit, Tomich doesn't ask that we drop technology or Crayola for good. He only asks that we ban children from playing any kind of video game until age eight, and that we deny them the pleasure of coloring inside the lines up until age 5.

"Children develop the injuries because their bones are too soft (not calcified hard) and readily yield to the strong repeating forces," writes Tomich on his web site (itself the result of 5 1/2 years of unofficial research). "The permanent and accumulative damage from these forces is silently inflicted without pain because of the numbing effects they deliver to the soft bones."

The results of premature gaming can be seen in these pictures, which purportedly show curved fingers—some allegedly the result of only three months of playing Nintendo 64. I've never heard of this before, but Tomich does call it a "Silent Epidemic," so maybe that's why. Can anyone provide a little more medical info on whether this is bunk science or not? Having typed, colored or played games from pretty much age 3, I'm a prime candidate for this, and yet my hands, arms and everything else feels fine. Weird.

P.S. Yes, that last sentence means my earlier one about feeling excruciating pain while writing here was a lie. However, I still write for you. That part was true. Mostly. [Mike Tomich - Thanks, Owen]

OK, Joel Johnson's comment on this video was funnier than mine.

Every time I hit "Save" in Movable Type I pause and mouth "Bingo".

It's true, too, though I've seen him jazz it up with a squinted blow to his finger guns.

UPDATE: For whatever reason, Current video doesn't like our site. So either check out the clip HERE or over at bbGadgets. Your call. [via bbGadgets]

Each of the six hammer drills is linked keys on the main body's keyboard. When a key is pressed, it causes the drills to start operating, producing a terrible calamitous sound. The keyboard is sensitive to pressure, so pressing down harder causes the bit to drill faster. Like so:

It's like the world's most aggressive piano ever. [Makezine]

As you can see in the TechFlash interview, the Vioguard works by automatically retracting into the monitor base for a germ-killing UV bath. Obviously, this could be a matter of life and death in a hospital but, by the looks of things, the average Joe could benefit from this technology as well. [Vioguard and TechFlash]

Let's see how many of you are dirty too.

The mouse is not a mouse at all but a Chunky bar that melts to conform to one's hand. And the monitor, well that's still a monitor, silly, because you could never build a monitor out of sweets.

I mean seriously though, what are you, stupid? [Fecklesss via bbGadgets]

A study by The National Labor Committee, which is a worker's rights group that actually is not associate with the government, found very crazy (and very cruel) working conditions in a Meitai factory in Dongguan City. Here's a very small subsection of cruelties employees were subjected to:

• Workers are prohibited from talking, listening to music, raising their heads, putting their hands in their pockets. Workers are fined for being one minute late, for not trimming their fingernails-which could impede the work, and for stepping on the grass. Workers are searched on the way in and out of the factory. Workers who hand out flyers or discuss factory conditions with outsiders are fired.
• The assembly line never stops, and workers needing to use the bathroom must learn to hold it until there is a break.
• All overtime is mandatory, with 12-hour shifts seven days a week and an average of two days off a month. A worker daring to take a Sunday off-which is supposedly their weekly holiday-will be docked 2 ½ days' wages. Including unpaid overtime, workers are at the factory up to 87 hours a week. On average, they are at the factory 81 hours a week, while toiling 74 hours, including 34 hours of overtime, which exceeds China's legal limit by 318 percent!
• The workers are paid a base wage of 64 cents an hour, which does not even come close to meeting subsistence level needs. After deductions for primitive room and board, the workers' take-home wage drops to just 41 cents an hour. A worker toiling 75 hours a week will earn a take-home wage of $57.19, or 76 cents an hour including overtime and bonuses. The workers are routinely cheated of 14 to 19 percent of the wages legally due them.

Workers are also routinely penalized for random things, including these, which BoingBoing highlighted:

* "Infractions" punished with the loss of over two hours' wages (fine of 10 RMB—$1.44), including for-
—"Being 1 to 5 minutes late to start a shift…"
—"Not periodically trimming fingernails, which will affect product quality."
—"Not lining up correctly while punching time cards or at the cafeteria."
—"Wearing work shoes outside the work room after work."
—"Putting hands in pant pockets while inside the factory or workroom."

* "Infractions" punished with the loss of 4 ½ hours wages (20 RMB fine, $2.88)
—"…answering a personal telephone call in the workroom."
—"Not diligently working or raising ones head to look around when guests or cadres come to visit."
—"Putting personal objects on the work desk."
—"…listening to the radio while on the job."
—"Not parking bicycles according to company regulations; riding bicycles in and out of the company in a way not in accordance with company regulations."
—"Returning to the dorm after regulated hours [curfew]."

* "Infractions" punished with the loss of nearly seven hours' wages (30 RMB fine—$4.32)
—"Switching beds without authorization." (Dorm beds are assigned by management.)

* "Infractions" punished with the loss of nearly 1 ½ days' wages (50 RMB fine—$7.20)
—"Workers who arrive over one hour late…"
—"Riding the elevator without permission."
—"Plugging in electronics [using electricity] in the dorm room for personal use."
—"Using the company phone to make personal calls."
—"Producing products of low quality…"
—"Workers who…go to visit other workers during working hours."
—"Chatting at the workstation during work hours…"
—"Entering or leaving the factory area without allowing door personnel [security guards] to inspect [search workers]."
—"Treating supervisors with an arrogant attitude…"

* "Infractions" punished with the loss of nearly three days' wages (100 RMB fine—$14.40):
—"Leaving one's workstation without permission…"
—"Putting up personal notices…or handing out flyers."
—"Revealing confidential company or production-related information."

* "Infractions" punished with firing:
—"Violating labor discipline…and not obeying the company's work arrangements."
—"…Taking part in illegal organizations." [In China, this means independent unions; human, women's and children's rights organizations and non-state-sanctioned religious organizations.]
—"Not following the procedures spelled out by government regulations on stopping work, slowing work down, encouraging others to stop or slow down work."
—"Missing three days of work."
—"Disobeying China's one-child policy."
—"Not obeying company arrangements or directions or…collectively causing trouble as a group…"
—"Any behavior similar to that listed above or helping or colluding in such behavior."

If you think these conditions are obscene—and I think most of us should—contact details for the companies that contract Meitai for manufacturing are located at the bottom of the link. [NLCNet via Boingboing]

BGR's sources didn't have much to say about the device, except the easily-guessable fact that it would run either Windows Mobile or Android (you can imagine which one we're hoping for). The keypad, as pictured, looks kind of bizarre. A portrait-mode QWERTY may be all we're seeing here, but if Acer has managed a swivel system by which the keyboard can work in portrait and landscape modes, the form-factor could be an instant winner.

The tipster also claimed the Acer would display an iPhone competitor alongside this handset at MWC on the 16th, which—assuming the conventions of the last few years hold—just means that they've got a full-touchscreen handset. [BGR]

Since he's a touchtyper, like any true nerd, he didn't need to see the letters. One can of white spraypaint later, and he has, as he calls it, "the most pretentious keyboard in existence." That's probably true, but it's damn nice looking. [Essel.org via NotCot.org]