Adaptive Hardware: Context Aware Interfaces (2013) | Hacker News Reader

Adaptive Hardware: Context Aware Interfaces (2013)

microsoft.com

111 pointsBorisEm35 comments

I remember seeing it for the first time on HN few years ago and it's still relevant: http://hijinksensue.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/2012-06-1...

OK, before you kill me: I know it's not the same thing and Apple actually brings value to the table with their products (even if sometimes it's 'just' polishing the UI/UX). What I don't like is that most of the world will gladly accept everything that Apple sells as Apple's fantastic and groundbreaking ideas, forgetting about the prior art.

Shipping a product is quite different from a publishing a paper.

It's a shame that keyboards with programmable key images didn't get more widespread usage beyond Optimus [1]. I currently have a Corsair K95 RBG keyboard and it's programmable 18x3 keys [1] are near unusable because I can never figure out what G1 or G2 does. But if I had programmable key images...

[1] http://www.artlebedev.com/optimus/

[2] http://www.corsair.com/en-us/landing/k95-rgb

"Widespread usage" at a $1500 price point? I don't think so. Plus, how the hell did they reach that price? The keyboard looks pretty bland: https://youtu.be/A2RhpllpDn4.

I could just add a few hundred bucks and buy a new Macbook.

If I recall I think the cost was too high for the feature gains.

https://www.engadget.com/2008/02/22/optimus-maximus-at-long-...

The Optimus was also not very comfortable for actual typing use, which probably put off a lot of potential customers.

Do people actually look at their keyboard when typing?

I think tactile feedback is still the biggest possible feature of a (real) keyboard.

Some people probably do, I don't, half my keycaps wore off within a few months.

The programmers's war wounds.

Kind of cool, but I'm trying to think of what this offers over just eye candy. Maybe it could aid key combinations, e.g. pressing the meta key illuminates other parts of the keyboard for completion. Finger DDR, whack-a-mole?

As others have mentioned, looking at the keyboard is generally something to be avoided. The premise for this is sort of a workflow antipattern.

It works best when you have a lot of additional blank function keys, like the Corsair K95 has, that you can both program and assign images to.

There is also another MS Applied Science project that is a mix of Surface and TouchBar-like enabled keyboard:

https://www.microsoft.com/appliedsciences/content/projects/D...

Of course! This is cool in so many different ways.

I can imagine a large touch bar with stylus input (!) would actually be useful.

Also a trackpad at the top of the keyboard would be perfect for working on trains and planes!

What I find amusing is that through the series of videos, the "keyboard" slowly morphs from something with plenty of tactile feedback, moving keys, and other "physicalness" to a tactile-less flashy touchscreen thing that I would not want to be typing on for any length of time. Nevermind the fact that the keys can show images that change; to me, a good keyboard is one I can operate effortlessly and comfortably without looking at it.

At the other extreme, there's http://www.daskeyboard.com/

I've been using a Das Keyboard Ultimate for the past couple of years, I love the feel of it. I've got the Cherry Brown switches so it's a tad quieter than the full clicky ones, too. They're very vulnerable to liquids, though - one teaspoon-sized splash of water on mine and the 'w' key stopped working. In the end I pulled it apart and swapped the switches around (who uses scroll lock anyway?) and it's fine again, but I was surprised how little it took.

I'd rather have OLED keys than the strip on the MBP.

Sure, they would effectively be function keys, but you could see what the keys do for all the various apps without having to learn and remember.

Why not expand the conventional laptop trackpad area into a touch display?

I would guess that the problem is with the angle at which you would have to bend your neck to look over there. But it would be interesting to see a laptop with two integrated touch screens and the keyboard in between the two.

Here's the question I have. If you have morphing context aware keys, how do you avoid the tragedy of disparate iconography across apps?

I haven't watched much of the material, so pointers welcomed. But "ctrl+s in this app saves" seems preferable to "which icon is save in this app"?

Apple (used to be) very good about getting developers to adhere to the standards. Failing that, I'm hoping for an intermediate layer where developers expose the actions but users can customize the presentation.

Icons are on the way out anyway, precisely because unless there's a strong analogy with a widely familiar physical object, an icon really can't unambiguously convey what it does. They'll still be used for applications but the "replace textual menu entries with little pictures" trend is rightfully dying out.

Anyone remember this keyboard? http://www.artlebedev.com/optimus/

Super expensive, but pretty interesting concept.

I own a Thinkpad X1 second generation with a touch bar, its not as sophisticated as this or the new MBP but I really hate it.

It lacks feedback when pressing the button. Trying to find the correct button without looking to the keyboard is quite difficul since the virtual buttons dont have relief. I find it as well quite annoying since moving your sight down makes you feel out of place

If you check online the Thinkpad X1 2nd gen is one of the most hated Thinkpads, because of the touchbar and the trackpad...

So what happened after 2010? It seems like they could have brought that last one to market with a bit of polishing.

Off-topic: I suppose my link [1] did have wrong title or timing to be noticed ;)

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12809915

Happens all the time and IMO it's mostly timing-related.

This is what I was hoping the new MBP keyboard would do.

The last video looks like the Macbook Pro.

Was this the keyboard they built using a touchscreen and a bunch of transparent keycaps?

It's a cool concept, which might help a bit with productivity but it didn't leave the research phase at Microsoft so on this one Apple got there first because they delivered.

I'd assume now that it's out there other manufacturers like Lenovo, Dell and HP will try to copy them.

Microsoft throwing shades at Apple.

How so? This is from 2010.

It's more a case of someone on HN reminding everyone that Apple didn't really 'revolutionise' the keyboard and that everything old is new again. Lenovo did this (adaptive keyboard strip) when they replaced the function keys on the X1 Carbon with something similar to what Apple are doing now. FWIW I absolutely hated it. Edit: Added lenovo.

Mods edited it. I think the date is key. This isn't MS speaking to Apple, just HN reminding us how science gets done.

I also suspect it's drive-by commenting, drawing conclusions based solely on the article title and personal bias.

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