The Luminae Glass Keyboard By TransluSense Is A Thing Of Beauty

DSC01780 001 1 610x458 The Luminae Glass Keyboard By TransluSense Is A Thing Of Beauty[CES 2013] There are many types of keyboards, ranging from your regular rubber dome keyboards to mechanical ones. Then there are also on-screen keyboards, laptop-styled keyboards and etc. But what if you wanted a glass keyboard? Wouldn’t that be amazing? Well it seems that such a keyboard does exist and was demonstrated at CES 2013. This keyboard (pictured) above is called the Luminae and it was created by a company called TransluSense. It features a light pipe, infrared LEDs and regular LEDs to help light up the curved glass, and thanks to three cameras looking up from below, the keyboard will be able to detect which keys you are pressing when you break the light pattern at different points.

This keyboard was apparently inspired by sci-fi movies where we’re sure that many of you guys have seen the characters in the show typing on such devices. In fact it seems that thanks to the use of LED lights, the keyboard can be customized by peeling off the current overlay and attaching a new one. It has also been suggested that one can install a trackpad on the side as well. We’re not sure how well it will type, or if it will be as nice to type with compared to physical keys, but in terms of design it is a thing of a beauty and with it priced at $500, it isn’t completely out of reach. The Luminae keyboard is expected to start shipping in three months – anyone planning on picking one up for themselves?

[Image credit – Amanda Kooser/CNET]

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Translusense clear keyboard eyes-on

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You might have forgotten about this guy. It’s been over a year since Jason Giddings put his clear keyboard concept up on Kickstarter. Well, the infrared-based touch board may not have found enough backers to get off the ground, but some other investors saw potential and now Translusense is making its way towards a reality. The company wasn’t quite ready to show off working prototype at CES — there’s still a number of issues to work out with the firmware. But we were able to get a glimpse of what the final hardware will look like. The main platform is a relatively thick piece of glass with a surprisingly pleasant curve, while the base is a heavy chunk of plastic and metal. The smooth surface feels nice, but we are concerned about the effect it’ll have on our touch typing skills.

The keyboard actually starts completely blank. The “keys” you see above are actually a print out that is laid over the glass and can be peeled off, replaced or customized with a piece of software. This will allow users to create custom layouts specifically for use with games or applications like Photoshop. Unfortunately, Translusense hasn’t escaped vaporware status just yet. While we did see what appears to be a nearly production-ready piece of hardware there are still many software issues to work out. To see what this piece of science fiction (nearly) come to life looks like from a few different angles hit up the gallery below.

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