donut inspired by Mobius strip

Japan plays in a different league. The most bizarre ideas almost always come to us from there. A great example is Google Japan, which recently announced the two-sided GBoard, a donut-shaped “infinity keyboard.” It’s hard to explain what benefits this brings beyond experimenting with innovation, but we can tell you that it fully functional keyboard in the strictest sense.

This infinity keyboard is inspired by the Möbius strip, a concept where we have a one-sided surface and one edge. The non-orientable surface that Google Japan used to create the keyboard “fixes” the fact that the keys are only on one side. Traditional keyboards can only be used on one side, and so can the Google Keyboard, but the keys are located on its entire surface.

The keyboard is not on sale, but there is something better. Google has released STL files so you can print them at home. The necessary firmware is also available on a special Github page.

Google warns that it does not provide official support to those who dare to create it, but provides all the necessary steps. This is not easy because we will need several motherboards, connectors and cables.

In total we have a keyboard with 208 keysdesigned in a 26 x 8 ortholinear format. Unfortunately, despite its shape, it does not currently have wireless connectivity. The keyboard must be connected directly using a USB-Type C cable.

We encourage you to watch the demo video so you have an idea of ​​what Google isn’t offering with this endless keyboard. A keyboard that was clearly designed to attract the attention of our office colleagues, but is also very attractive.

According to Google’s own description, the keyboard weighs “20.8 donuts.” Translated into the international system, this will be approximately one kilogram.

Another plus is that this is a backlit keyboard as the keys have RGB backlight. The commercial shows us this and also boasts that we can hang the keyboard up as a decoration at Christmas. Instead of a classic garland there is a keyboard. Seamless pattern.

To understand why Google created something like this, we have to go back in time. It’s about tradition which started as an April Fool’s joke and continued for many years. The first was the Gboard spoon. Then they created a keyboard almost two meters long in one row. In 2021, the keyboard cap.

The best thing about all of these keyboards isn’t their extravagant design, but the fact that Google actually provides steps to make them at home. Long live DIY and original creations.

In Hatak | After many years of working with traditional peripherals, I switched to ergonomic ones. I don’t plan to return