Contest

Published on 2019-11-19 in Keys FeatherWing.

So a few words about this project in the context of the contest it was created for. Sure, the design is very simple, and it wasn’t much work, but I think it’s a genuinely useful product, especially for beginners. It lets you experiment with real mechanical keyboard switches (and some nice blinky lights) without large risk usually involved in making a large expensive keyboard. It fits several of the contest categories:

• The Weirdest Feather — fine, maybe it’s not so weird — not as weird as the SpiderWing or the project-168441 . But it’s not your usual “sensor breakout” add-on either.

• You’ll Cut Yourself On That Edge — it so happens that the Kailh chocolate switches used in this design are relatively new — I think the first keyboards using them only appeared a year or two ago, and they are still a rarity in the mechanical keyboard communities. You can tell by how hard it is to find key caps for them.

• Retro Feather — what is more retro than a mechanical keyboard? Those are the kinds of keyboards that were made for computers back when they costed more than an airplane and had the computing power of a watch.

• Assistive Tech — a dedicated macro keyboard such as can be built with this is an excellent usability- and accessibility-enhancing tool. But you don’t have to stop there — experiments with chording, durations, modes, etc. can lead directly to improvements with our current keyboards and other input devices. You can also use it as a component in more complex devices — add an accelerometer and you ave an airmouse with three buttons.

• Wireless Feather — fine, that’s the second category that doesn’t apply to this project.