Optimus Maximus Keyboard

The Optimus Maximus Keyboard, previously just "Optimus Keyboard", is a keyboard currently in development from the Art. Lebedev Studio, headed by Artemy Lebedev.

The speciality of this keyboard is that each of its keys is a stand-alone OLED (Organic light-emitting diode ) display screen which shows the function currently assigned to it; in other words, it can dynamically change to adapt to the keyboard layout in use or to show the function of the key. For example, when the user presses the Caps Lock key, the images displayed on the keys would automatically change to an upper-case versions. It can easily switch between different keyboard layouts for different applications and could make the switch to alternative keyboard layouts such as Dvorak or Colemak making it easier for people who only have a QWERTY keyboard with no possibility of rearranging the keys. As such keys are slightly oversized, but placed together almost too closely, so that typing might get tricky.

As seen in the video, the keyboard is said to be extremely customizable which allows convenient use of any language on the keyboard such as Cyrillic, Ancient Greek, Georgian, Arabic, Quenya, hiragana, etc., as well as of any other character sets such as notes, numerals, special symbols, HTML codes, math functions, and so on to infinity. One can also use the Utility Configurator Software to change the background, foreground, and make the whole keyboard rainbow-colored if you so wish.

The service life of displays and their ribbon cables has been enhanced by making the screens embedded in the keytops motionless - it’s only the transparent caps that are pressed.

Every button on the keyboard (or, more precisely, a module with a moving cap, a microchip and a display) is easy to remove in order to clean or replace.

Specifications:
Keyboard dimensions
width: 537 mm
depth: 173 mm
height: 38 mm
key: 20.2×20.2 mm

Each of the 113 displays
technology: OLED
visible area: 10.1×10.1 mm
resolution: 48×48 pixels
rame rate: min. 10 frames per second
colors: 65 536
viewing angle: 160°

Compatibility
Connection: USB 2.0
Control: Optimus Utility Configurator Software
Supported OS: Windows and Mac OS X

System requirements:

1. PC with installed OS Windows XP or Vista, with a USB 1.1 (or better 2.0) port; Mac OS X 10.4.8 or higher.
2. At least 20 MB of free space on hard drive.
3. At least 256 MB of RAM.

The Optimus Maximus Keyboard with 113 programmable keys is priced at USD$1564 and will probably be shipped in the second quarter of 2008. Variations of the keyboard with fewer OLED keys are also available, each upgradeable by replacing the static keys with OLED keys after purchase. An Optimus Maximus keyboard with one active key (just the space bar is an OLED key the rest are all static keys or normal keys) costs USD$531.84; one with 10 active keys (the block on the left side is made up of OLED keys the rest being static keys) costs USD$689.15; and one with 47 active keys (only the letters, numbers, and punctuation marks are made up of OLED keys) costs USD$1149.64.

More info about it here and here are the pictures of the keyboard being presented at CES 2008 in Las Vegas, USA.