If you're nerdy enough to care about such issues, odds are you've been following the long-running saga of the Optimus Maximus keyboard from Russia's largest design house, Art. Lebedev Studio.
Pay and display
While it looks like a standard computer keyboard at first glance, closer inspection shows that each of its keys is a configurable, colour organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display. That means you can display almost anything you want on each key. But geek extreme doesn't come cheap. The limited-edition keyboard costs more than US$1,500. Art. Lebedev's online store (store.artlebedev.com/catalog/computer_add-ons/optimus) began taking pre-orders last month, with the first deliveries not expected until December.
Three is the magic number
In the meantime, a smaller version of the keyboard - the Optimus Mini Three Version 2.0 - has reached our shores. The Mini Three features three buttons, each measuring 32mm x 32mm, which are larger than standard keys. Each key is a colour OLED display with 96 x 96 pixel resolution, capable of displaying either static or animated images. You can hook this device to your Windows-enabled personal computer or Macintosh system via USB then use the software provided to configure almost any kind of action or display you can imagine on each of the three screens. (With a refresh rate of just three frames per second, you would not want to watch a movie on one of the keys).
Key decisions
