Keyboards
Google Japan unveils a conveyor belt keyboard
On October 1, Google Japan revealed the Gboard Conveyor Belt Version (Gboard くるくるバージョン in Japanese): a keyboard where the keys come to your fingers instead of the other way round, riding on four conveyor belts with 29 keys each. It will not be sold, but the design is open source on GitHub for anyone who wants to build one.
How it works
It flips the usual logic of typing. Rather than moving your hand to a key, you wait for the character you need to pass by and press it at the right moment. Each belt carries 29 keys covering upper and lower case, so you can type with one hand, or even one finger, while the other hand stays on the mouse.
The date is a pun. October 1 (10/1) nods to the "101 keyboard", the 101-key layout that became the standard for decades. Google Japan has used the same date for several years to show prototypes like this one, including a dial version and a double-sided version.
What is inside
Based on the published files and coverage from specialist outlets, the prototype uses:
- 116 Kailh Choc V1 low-profile switches and matching keycaps.
- An M5Stack AtomS3 Lite development board as the controller.
- A single gear motor that drives all four belts.
- 157 3D-printed parts made from 18 different designs.
The STL files and firmware live in the mozc-devices repository under the Apache 2.0 licence. FabScene notes that documentation for the electronics and for a Bluetooth version has not been released yet, so for now this is mostly a 3D printing and assembly challenge rather than a ready-to-build kit.
What it says about the keyboards we use every day
It is a well-built joke, and that is exactly why it explains so clearly why a normal keyboard looks the way it does. Typing fast relies on muscle memory: your fingers know where every key is without looking. Once the keys start moving, that memory is useless and every letter depends on your eyes and the speed of the belt. Fun to watch, hard to picture for a full day of emails.
There is also a practical lesson about compatibility. The prototype uses low-profile Choc switches, a different format from the MX mount used by most customisable mechanical keyboards. A Choc switch does not fit a plate designed for MX, or the other way round, and the same applies to their keycaps. Check this before buying switches or keycaps for any build.
For reference, the TESSEN 60% ANSI keyboard (61 keys) has a hot-swap board that accepts 3-pin and 5-pin MX switches, but not low-profile or optical switches. Its keycaps are doubleshot PBT with an MX stem. If you ever want to replace the stock Gateron KS-3 Milky Pro Yellow switches, look for MX-format switches.
Customising without printing 157 parts
The best part of the project is the culture behind it: open designs, shared firmware and people adapting their keyboards to the way they work or play. You do not need conveyor belts to make a keyboard your own.
If you like the design side but want something for daily use, the TESSEN 3D configurator lets you paint every key in 8 colours (Black, White, Grey, Matcha, Blue, Sky, Pink and Red), rotate the model and save your design with a unique Design ID. Questions about shipping, returns and warranty are answered in the FAQ.