Apple patent revives prospect of desktop OLED keyboard

Apple is pursuing a new type of customisable keyboard based on OLEDs according to a patent published on the website of the US Patent and Trademark Office on 1 May. The new keyboard is designed for use with a desktop computer, specifically Apple's Mac range.

Customisable
The new keyboard combines a series of 'key stacks' incorporating small OLED sheets and touch sensors to mimic the layout of a conventional keyboard. The advantage of using OLEDs is that the letter or other symbol displayed on each key stack can be modified - allowing for a customisable keyboard.

This would be an advantage over standard Qwerty keyboards which lack easily typable routes for symbols commonly used in languages other than English, like accented vowels. It would also be possible to configure it for non-Roman alphabets like Cyrillic, Greek or Kana (Japanese syllabic script), signs used in scientific or mathematical notation, or the personal preference of the user. Furthermore it could be enhanced to display keyboard shortcuts on the OLED screen in the relevant keystack or other information as individual programs were loaded on the computer.

The patent also mentions incorporating touch-gesture control into the new keyboard; along with haptic feedback - where the sensation from the key can alert the user to a function.

Lebedev's concept
The key concept behind the OLED stack keyboard is not unique to Apple - although including gesture communication is. A Russian design studio Lebedev demonstrated the concept back in 2005 with its Optimus Maximus which has a 48x48 pixel, full-colour, 10 frame per second OLED screen integrated into each of 113 keys in a standard layout. It is compatible with PC and Mac operating systems, but requires a fair amount of memory to run; 20 MB of hard disk space, and a 256 MB RAM computer to drive it.
The cost of OLEDs at the time of its commercial release in 2007, put the price to consumers of the Maximus at $2068 (€1492), effectively pricing it out of the market.

Lebedev has subsequently developed the idea of the Maximus to produce the Optimus Popularis. Released commercially in December 2011, it costs €1096. This price saving was achieved by moving from individual OLEDs, and placing the keys on top of a single large LCD touchscreen.

Right time to market
With major electronics firm now committing to high-volume OLED production facilities, the cost of building keyboards on the Lebedev or Apple model are set to drop. This would place the cost of an OLED keyboard at a label which might reasonably tempt consumers. Apple will also have an advantage as it has a small but enthusiastic community of users for its Mac desktops (7.3% according to one calculation from October 2013) - including many graphic designers.Combined with its ability to promote interactivity between its platforms and bundle products for sale, the Californian company is much better positioned to push an OELD customisable keyboard into the mainstream.