Google Japan is having a bit of fun this weekend with the announcement of the Gboard Bar, a physical keyboard that has all of its keys lined up in one row. Google Japan states that there are a number of benefits to its new keyboard, with the most important being that it allows users to find the key that they are looking for faster than ever before.
Like any good product, it all starts with inspiration. For Google Japan, that inspiration came from the fact that for years, many had focused on just the word “key” in the word “keyboard” and never really went further. In Japanese, the word keyboard translates to キーボード (kii-bou-do), so with キー (kii (key)) getting so much attention, it decided to focus on the ボー (bou) portion, which on its own translates to bow (staff/bar). Using this, it was able to come up with a new design, improving navigation when compared to a traditional keyboard by placing all of the keys in a straight line. According to the firm, this minimizes the need to look in all directions like on a traditional keyboard. You can just start at the beginning and just go through each key until you find what you are looking for.
It also states that there are ergonomic and health benefits associated with the new keyboard, allowing the arms and legs to stretch naturally when typing. The device even has added features, like becoming a physical extension of your limbs, making it easier to press buttons that might just be out of arms reach. You can also use it on hiking excursions as a trekking pole or a ruler to measure objects, and it’s even easy to clean, requiring just one long wipe. For now, Google only has plans for a standard layout but is considering a version with emoji and also a gaming model with LEDs
If by now it wasn’t clear, this is somewhat of a joke, and Google Japan has no plans to mass produce this and make it available for sale. But, it does have a Github page set up where it has uploaded all of the necessary data files so that you can make your own if you choose. While this might sound like a fun project, be warned this thing will be long, measuring in at 1650mm or around 5 feet and 5 inches. If that’s just too much, Google reminds us that there is also a perfectly good Gboard app that can be downloaded to iOS and Android devices, offering an impressive set of features that can improve your typing experience in new ways.
Source: Google Japan Blog, Gboard Bar website