Flux Keyboard - Typing demo with Analog Hall Effect Switches and no CGI
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How does this guy hit 113 wpm typing with the two finger hunt and peck approach?

not me typing but i have no idea either

Hes one finger on right hand, proper technique on left.

I hate to admit it but I type fast AF and have the same technique.. not sure how it started to be honest. But I can type just as well, even without looking at the keyboard at all. I've tried to change but I can't lol

I was the same. If you play a lot of PC games, thatā€™s probably why. Hunting down all the keys for games makes you pretty good at finding them for typing lol

I had to no idea that I did this. I watched the vid. Thought it was odd. Saw these comments and then did some type tests paying attention to how I typed. I am the exact same way. Wild. I learned how to spell and type because of needing to talk to people on battle net for starcraft 1 back in the day.

same but for Minecraft and Team Fortress 2 haha. seems like it's a classic typing scheme no matter what game we started with

Ha ha that's pretty interesting!

Damn I thought I was weird. I have the same typing. I suspected it was due to using keyboard and mouse at an early age. Played every genre at a pretty decent level so I got a good base for left hand for typing but not right since it's on the mouse.

Yup, the OG counter strike plugin taught me to touch-type.

I wonder if righty pecking has to do with grabbing and releasing the mouse between messages?

Same here. PC gaming for 25 years made me amazing with my left hand but awful pecking with my right. Problem was that I was using the default WASD rest position on my left hand so wasn't even using the correct fingers with the left hand. I started learning to touch type from scratch 3 months ago and I'm already at 95% of my max speed from my old method without needing to look down. So definitely never too late to change over.

Same here, been WASDing for 20 years, now im typing home row on an ortho ergo split 58keys with column stagger. Still can only do like 65% of speed after two months, but itā€™s getting there.

Biggest hurdle is recovering after a misstype

Old school MUDs (think World of War craft) but the game is 100% text based and all command line controls) taught me type real quick lol

I grew up playing PC games so that makes sense

Your left is on WASD while gaming and pressing other buttons so more familiar with pressing other buttons with diff fingers. Your right hand is used to being on the mouse and just left clicking.

I think this is spot on

I'm gonna go with "close to proper technique". It's pretty rough on the left, but big LOLs on the right šŸ˜„

I use this technique too. Iā€™m not fast (like 105 wpm) and feel like I could improve a lot if I would type normally but yeah I feel similar in the way that this feels very hard to unlearn.

Same, I've been typing like that for a long time. Tried going to touch typing, it is far too slow compared to what I'm used to.

QWERTY moments ngl. Right side of the keyboard only needs two fingers max to reach 130 wpm.

Late to the party because I just learned about this keyboard, but same same haha, this is exactly how I type and I average at about 110 WPM as well.

This typing method is a sign of an MMORPG player. Typing to chat with the left hand while clicking to walk long distances with the right.

I'm guilty of being left hand dominant too but not quite this bad!

I was thinking this same thing but upon watching it a few times, I noticed they have a weird hybrid typing style: Left had does the traditional Touch typing while the right does Hunt and Peck.

That's roughly how my "nobody taught me how to type but I type enough that I got really fast at it" typing style is. It tends to favor more comfortable motions.

But I've actually been practicing my touch typing lately. Some keys just feel really uncomfortable to me, in particular the p key since my pinky does not like stretching that direction. Tbh I've been considering looking into an Alice layout...

Same for me. I use a slightly modified touch type where right pinky is pretty much never used. It's more comfortable for me to move a bit more to use middle and ring to hit the upper right keys

Ditto. Got an Arisu board and now I'm just contorting my hands because it seems my pinkies just will not work on a keyboard.

Also the ā€œmy right hand is mainly on the mouse playing games, and having to lay all 5 fingers down for the half second I type in chat just ainā€™t gonna cut it. Also screw school typing, Mom! I DONā€™T WANT TO TYPE LIKE THAT ITS NOT A PHASE!ā€.

The stretch to P is partially caused by row stagger which Alice still has. I found the most comfortable layout to be column stagger (e.g. Sofle, Corne), followed by ortholinear since the row placements are uniform for both hands. There's a bit of a learning curve, but it's totally worth it!

Yeah I was just thinking that the more natural hand position on an alice layout might still make it more comfortable but I'd probably have to try it out. I have to say that learning touch typing has really opened my eyes to how unnatural the standard keyboard layout can be. Part of me wants to learn Dvorak. :D

I've been using Dvorak for about 10 years now. It's awesome, and very, very comfortable. Your hands will thank you.

There's also colemak which seems like it'd be easier to learn.

Stick to it. Eventually, the pink will feel comfortable to use. If anything, you might want to practice actually slightly rotating your wrist to hit it.

I like to imagine thereā€™s a magnetic force between my pinkies and the p and q keys

Don't half-ass it, get yourself an Alice and switch to Colemak.

Your typing speed, wrists, and pinkies can thank me later.

This is my typing style after 20 years of gaming. I learned to type by playing StarCraft, and then primarily RuneScape typing "Flash2:wave:selling raw lobbies 250ea ~~~~~~~ beznia" over and over and over again.

On standard typing tests where I am typing out sentences with punctuation, different capitalization, etc like in that video I average about 80-90wpm. Typing tests like the one the OP was using, I get about the same.

I also use Caps Lock each time I need to make a capital letter.

My typing is pretty much all muscle-memory, and switching keyboards really screws me up for a bit so I'll have to actually look at the keyboard when typing.

I do the same thing, but recently have been having to breal the habit with my Moonlander. It's a tricky thing to break, I mostly picked it up from playing old online games, not nearly that fast though

Omg, I'm in the exact same boat and was literally just talking to a coworker about this keyboard and these habits. My left hand types way better than my right. I didn't notice how much better until I got my moonlander a year or so ago. I truly believe it's because online PC games. I played wow for years and my left hand was always on the home row and my right was always on the mouse.

it's probably because the left hand is always on the keybaord while the right hand also switches to the mouse

And also cause QWERTY is bad

Try out Workman :)

I assume you mean the keyboard layout?

Bingo

I'll check it out

Also try work, man

Thanks, boss

Can confirm, also got it from years of wow. I still to this dat rest my left hand on wasd. I got it because i learnt to type while holding the w key when moving

Is there any reason to break the habit? I thought of it at one point but I figured if I can type fast and it's not causing extra strain then I didn't have any reason.

So when I got mine I switched to Workman at the same time. Try taking a look at other layouts that have the keys in a more sensible layout than QWERTY

I had to do the same thing when I built my Lily58, it wasnā€™t viable to hunt and peck because of the distances between the halves so I had to pull up some 3rd grade typing exercises online and force myself to touch type. Itā€™s so worth it though I feel so powerful.

The Moonlander is such a weird keyboard for me. I'm slow as hell when I use it but when I switch back to another board I'm all of a sudden touch typing quicker and with more accuracy than ever before.

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That's got to be it. I've never seen it before but I understand why one would develop the style via gaming.

Yup, I have it too.

Also notice how the right ring and pinky fingers stick out. That's a hand more comfortable with gripping a mouse.

I noticed even though I am right handed, the ring and pinky fingers on that hand are weaker and slower in response time than the right and pinky finger on my left hand.

On my left hand those fingers constantly strike keys to strafe left, lean left, sprint, crouch, and change menu. On my right hand they just stay still to maintain a grip.

All the good letters are on the left hand side anyway.

pretty sure it might come from gaming, while playing fps games u use your whole keyboard with your left hand and your right hand is used to only click one mouse button

Gamer stance. Left hand on wasd and other game keys. Right hand on mouse

I do the same thing, I'm usually around ~110 WPM.

I do the same thing, mine is due to growing up with a pc gaming and it just became a habit. I still donā€™t know how he is that fast though, my average speed is around that 65 wpm range and the highest speed I can reach is about 79 wpm.

This is what I do and I type over 120+ I think it helps that QWERTY biases to be more left hand heavy anyways

I use 3 on each hand due to wearing a cast while in typing class when I was in 6th grade. I'm at 80 wpm. I haven't been able to change that muscle memory... I'm 36 now. Lol

I find that I can often do about 75% of my typing on a qwerty keyboard left handed so I feel like it's not super uncommon.

me realizing this is how i type ā˜ ļøā˜ ļø i do 150 wpm but it's hella scuffed

Cause he is right handed (just not for typing) šŸ¤£

Lol I was thinking the same thing. Like man I type barely faster than that and I use all my fingers to type except my right thumb. That right pointer finger is mad accurate!!

I'm willing to bet they play online PC games.

I type like that as well and that's exactly why

Ditto my girlfriend thinks I'm a freak for it

Same, and I see no reason to change it. I can hit 120+ wpm with good accuracy if I have to, and even just casual typing is still easily at least 100 wpm. I donā€™t think I could match it switching to the ā€œbetter,ā€ proper style. And itā€™d probably take me years to adjust anyways, because it feels unnatural for my hands to sit and my fingers to move like that.

Then add switching between typing and gaming hand placement (or even for keyboard shortcuts while coding), it just seems inefficient, for me at least, to use home row. But everybodyā€™s different ĀÆ\_(惄)_/ĀÆ

I was the same exact way till I tried an ortho split board and forced myself to learn touch typing, I see myself typing for a ton of years in the future (dev/gaming) and Iā€™ve already noticed differences in my wrist and finger comfort

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Iā€™m a bit confused by what you mean with your comment.

When you have been doing it all your life, one would assume that you get good at it. I mean, I still suck at it, but surely some people get better?

When you have to trash talk nerds after a pvp match you get fast at typing :^)

I touch typed for the first time at the age of about 35.

It was when I got a maltron keyboard. There's no other way to type on it.

I realised the other day that I type quite a lot like this. Right hand uses middle and index finger only pretty much unless I'm hitting punctuation keys or shift etc. I even use right hand index for space between every single word. I definitely make more mistakes with my right, but it's just how I've learned and I'd find it very hard to change now.

My left is far better, moves far less and uses more fingers, but then it's always ready for WASD.

I type exactly the same way, but I can type plenty fast, 100 WPM no problem.

100 is a comfortable speed for me. I guess you just get better and what you know.

His hunt and peck typing speed is more impressive than the keyboard.

i think that most english heavily favors left hand so doing hunt and peck with right probably doesn't slow you down as much as you would think

He is using more than just 2 fingers.

As someone whoā€™s been a daily PC user for 15+ years, and has never taken the time to learn the conventional typing method. It really isnā€™t too difficult. Itā€™s just like anything else in life, if you practice hard/long enough you inevitably get really good at it. Not to say itā€™s superior (or even equivalent) but certainly not the worst!

I'm pretty retarded and never learnt to type properly, but played too much runescape for almost 20 years. I use two fingers for 90% of keystrokes and do about 120-130 wpm

monkeytype isn't very "real" because it uses random words and no punctuation- i type around 100wpm but can hit almost double that on monkeytype

I haven't played around it much, but you can change it so it uses punctuation marks and numbers.

Yea, I was surprised when I saw how many people use it for practice. Something like Typeracer is more realistic.

It has a random quotes mode. That's basically all I use it for because the others aren't representative or very helpful.

They literally have a whole quote section of customizable lengths that has real world punctuation and styling. That's what most people honestly should be using to practice, but with modern grammar and spelling correction it almost irrelevant now sad.

This is how I type somewhat and I can hit 115

If you count when he started and how many words he typed he would be at around 46wpm. Itā€™s just some advertisement bull

Sorry for the ancient comment reply but the person typing got about 27 or 28 words in 15 seconds by my count. Thatā€™s 108 or 112 wpm. The score screen says itā€™s a 15 second test meaning the whole test was shown.

I do this and hit those speeds pretty easily, it's weird .

He probably didn't.

Hunt and peck typists are an abomination

It's almost what I do, but I do sometimes use other fingers on my right hand. At least for me, it's caused by growing up on WASD and only using my right hand for typing when necessary.

I used to use hunt and peck at like 85wpm. When I became a programming tutor at school students would make fun of me for it so I worked to learn home row. Now I'm the same speed home row as I used to be hunt and peck. One thing about hunt and peck for me was that learning new keyboards took awhile, whereas with home row it's not really an issue

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRWWhxnP/

This dude straight up 2 finger types and in the comments he said he could get 80-90 wpm.

Yeah that's a wild typing method, I just keep rewatching it, lol

His eagle-talon hand position makes my hands feel cramped just looking at them.

This is how hipyotech types and it drives me absolutely insane

That's pretty slow tbh.

This is exactly how I type and my wpm is 120-130 depending on the day

Simplest answer: he doesn't make a mistake.

More detailed answer: he doesn't make a mistake meaning he doesn't get penalized for using backspace, and it's a 15-sec test meaning the typing ends before the WPM (which tends to be high at the start a run) can drop.

The different approaches have little impact on typing speed.

I do the same, he probably plays video games.

I type like that too and get around 90-120 wpm on my apple keyboard. On my mechanical keyboard however, I can only type around 70-95 wpm. It's the low profile that makes the difference

I never learned to type properly either and hit about 100-120 as long as there's no punctuation.

my boss does this exact same thing, drives me nuts. 108 WPM typing like heā€™s never used a computer before lol

From selling Rune Scimmy in Varrock/Fally.

Haha I am finally represented!

I have a friend that hits 125-140wpm with basically only two fingers. If I hadn't see it in person for myself I wouldn't believe it

Easier typing test for one. But the typing technique we are taught in school isn't necessarily the fastest.

Look at his wrists they are dancing. That wonā€™t age well. I been learning ergo and itā€™s amazing how fast I can type without any hand /wrist strain.

I type the same or higher on certain typing tests. My left hand gets used more than the right but mostly itā€™s 5 fingers in total. Pointer index pinky left. Index Pointer on right. I tried learning the ā€œcorrectā€ hand placements when they taught it in school but I was always the fastest typer using my own method (what you see in the video) so I never committed. I do often wonder how fast I could get using the more efficient methods since when I type 120wpm~ it feels like my hands are flying all over the keyboard and my finger sometimes hits a key next to the intended on accident.

Hahaha I type the same way and have an average of 128wpm

I never realized I type that way, and then now that I noticed Itā€™s impossible for me to break the habit

I basically type the same. Two fingers on one hand, three on the other 130wpm sustained.

THANK GOD SOMEONE SAID IT

Was gonna say... He's not typing right...

I do the same and can type pretty fast with about two fingers if I want to. I tried to learn touch typing for a few weeks but it just never caught up to my own way of typing and eventually gave up on it. Iā€™m just better with about two fingers.

I also type like that šŸ˜‚

15 secs are easier to speed through . Probably why they only care about 60's run for discord badge .

I have palsy that renders one hand completely worthless for typing, and rules out the standard typing technique. I mostly have to hunt-and-peck with one finger. Eventually you just somewhat memorize the keyboard and get fast either way.

I type this way from years of playing CS. chat typing with one hand while still using the mouse.

I hit 120 only using my index finger on each hand

It's funny you say that because I type with the exact same method as him. I use all of the fingers on my left hand to type and only my index finger on my right hand and average between 110-116 wpm. Never thought I'd see someone else using the same abhorrent typing style as me

You both are obviously young. Youā€™ll have carpal tunnel before the age of 45. Itā€™s not a sustainable typing posture. I was trained to type 25 WPM using home row method before my school let me complete the 4th grade. I grew up using the best keyboards that came standard because people used computers regularly versus now with phones and hunting and pecking is normal and voice to text is ā€˜good enoughā€™ most people never see or touch a keyboard; and when they do itā€™s like ā€˜wow this is just like my phone keyboard how cool!!!ā€™

My friend does that and he doesn't even practice lol

same approach here, 125 wpm average

I prefer the hunting spider technique personally

Myself and 8500 others got scammed I Believe. No update for December, no photos , with a release in March. They say it's just factory issues with molds. Idk.

Update on our analog hall effect keyboard. The keys are each suspended by two pairs of magnets which also act as the spring providing the returning force. This allows the keys to be transparent and set above a display with the hall sensors behind the screen, detecting key position with 0.1mm precision at 1000hz. It also features 4 slots for interchangeable modules to add dials, extra keys or change bezel color. It is also super easy to hot swap and clean as you can just remove the whole frame of keys in one go. See www.fluxkeyboard.com and www.youtube.com/@fluxkeyboard for more demos and details.

Previously there were lots of questions about whether hall effect sensors could work through an LCD screen. I hope this demo addresses those concerns, if you have any doubts I encourage you to download a Gauss meter app for your phone which uses the hall effect sensors in your phone compass to detect magnetic field strength. You can use any magnet or even your earphones to find the sensor by passing it over your phone screen and observe the measurable changes with minute movements of the magnet, demonstrating that these sensors can work through screens. (If the reading gets stuck high just shake your phone in a figure 8 pattern to recalibrate the sensor) The magnetic flux density of the neodymium magnets in each key is about 100x stronger than the earth's magnetic field at the distances at which they are sensed in the keyboard (60 gauss vs 0.6 gauss). [1]

Another concern people had was that the magnetic field would be blocked by the aluminium backing on the LCD panel and machined aluminium case forming a Faraday cage. While they do in fact form a cage, the bandwidth of frequencies that a Faraday cage blocks is related to the thickness of the cage wall. If you were to mash a key 10 times a second the wall would need to be about 25mm thick before it would be a problem (a panel backing is about 0.5mm). [2]

References

[1] https://www.kjmagnetics.com/fieldcalculator.asp

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Skin_depth_by_Zureks.png

he keys are each suspended by two pairs of magnets which also act as the spring providing the returning force.

Does this emulate tactile or linear switches? (I presume it doesn't do clicky... :)) If you can modulate -- or at least modify -- the magnets, it seems like in principle the user could adjust it. That would be AMAZING: instead of installing, say, a set of tactile switches with such-and-such actuation and so on, I could tweak it from some configuration. "Hrm, I want it a little heavier".

It would be like the UHK Agent software but it would be configuring the physical response of the keys.

Is this something that's possible? From the website, it sounds like some bits are configurable, and some are permanently determined by the magnets used for each key.

There will be tactile and linear frames available at launch. The frames are either tactile or linear depending on the position and polarity of the magnets, with approximate force curves in the tech specs on the website. You can definitely switch out the magnets for stronger and weaker ones to vary the weight, not in software but by replacing them.

So maybe this is a silly question, but wouldn't the tactile "bump" defeat the purpose of the analog switches? I can't do linear switches but I've always wanted a hall effect board...

the full benefits of analog are certainly more a linear switch and gaming oriented feature. The bump is quite broad so you could still get some meaningful variation out of it

I have no idea why I'm still reading this comment chain lol I haven't understood a word of it.

I do like magnets tho

fancy keeb not have perfect clicky clacky on your fingerballs

Thank you for making this thread understandable

Maybe you should try eating those magic beans, you don't know for sure that they won't transfer an intimate knowledge of fringe keyboard technology straight into your brain?

Oh god what have I done!!!!!!

Dude. I just thought, literally the same thing! Looking back now I just think all the words sounded neat. Faraday. Neodymium.

I suppose you could also encode velocity with that info, although I'm not sure how useful that'd be for general PC use.

Will we be able to buy both frames at launch and just switch them in and out as we feel?

I'd say the tactile bump can also be used to have a similar effect to the GameCube triggers. There's a bump before you can bottom them out

That's a cool idea. Not really what I'm looking for (I like a high bump) but I could definitely see uses!

Could you use tiny electromagnets to somehow dynamically change their strength?

In theory but that would increase complexity and power draw significantly

I'm just imagining people factoring their keyboards into their PCs PSU power budget

CPU 300w

GPU 600w

Keyboard 1400w

300w for a cpu? 600w for a gpu? what kind of monster pc are you tryna cook up?

13700K at 260W (with higher spikes) And a 3090 OC card can reach 600W

(12900K)253w CPU and (EVGA 3080Ti FTW3 Ultra Hybrid w/XOC VBIOS) 550w GPU hereā€¦..

The rtx 4090ti has a tbp of 800 watts.

You donā€™t have a triple 5800x3d and double 4090 setup??

More like single 13700k and single 4090 setup

Tell me you donā€™t have a small unlicensed thermal nuclear reactor as your power supply without telling me you donā€™t have a small unlicensed thermal nuclear reactor as your power supply.

There was a vid where LTT was pulling 650 watts on a 13900k alone. My WHOLE system uses less than that, and I have a very nice setup. (5800x3d, 6800xt)

I'm starting to think those 1600w psus might not be so crazy nowadays.

šŸ„² oh man...does anyone remember the R9 295x2? Try quad-crossfire & put a watt meter at the wall...

(Yes I know. Long dead technology grumble grumble

600lbs of holding force for an entry door is created with a whopping 6w or so at 12v, I'm sure the power draw for tiny magnets that won't be doing nearly that would be pretty minor.

Fair enough, I'm not an engeneer. That said, you need roughly 100 little magnets running constantly.

There's going to be more loss in that system, and more electronics to fail. More cpu time just running the thing constantly on a chip that's not designed for the sole purpose of doing this task, so more waste.

I haven't studied magnetism a great deal, but doesn't a wider magnet's field lines extend further than a smaller one for the same strength of the magnet? Ie for a big industrial magnet, you're going to get higher Flux at a longer distance, than one that's maybe 5mm across?

In any case, this thing already has a big screen over the whole thing. Even if the total draw of the system is 5-10W, if its on 8h a day, that's not insignificant

Likewise on the not an engineer thing. I would love to know how the science and math work work out on that though!

Ok, so the lower the resistance of the electromagnet (thicker wire, larger magnet) will yield stronger field due to higher voltage through the magnet.

So in any case with that alone, 100 tiny magnets with thin as fuck wire is going to be a lot less efficient than a big door one.

Lets take an average of 100g of force per magnet, and 100 keys for simplicitys sake.

A typical key is ~50g actuation force. Now with an ideal spring described by hooks law, that force is linear.

With a magnet, it falls off with diatance^2, so it will need to be stronger becuase most of that force will be at the bottom. Again, for poor geologist math skills lets call this 100g peak force.

That's already 10kg total force. This gives us ~newton's

A typical keypress takes ~10ms and is ~5mm long.

This nets an acceleration of .5m/s. 10 newton's, .5m/s -> 5 watts, if the entire board is powered such that the keys are always on. That would be with perfect efficiency. Lets be somewhat generous and assume an electrical efficiency of ~33% for the entire electrical system.

We are at 15 watts. Thats kinda a lot.

Now I pulled these numbers off of quick googling, and my math could totaly be wrong. But that's not insignificant.

Uh, I know Iā€™m late to the conversation, but:

  • It is possible
  • I am trying to do it

I tried making it as a keypad for a switch proof of concept, and it is the power of a full-sized keyboard for just 3 electromagnetics switches...

You could do effectively the same thing just adjusting when the click is detected. Deeper depth with magnets requiring more force

Is it realistic for customers to expect to be able to swap magnets? How easy is it to take out magnets and put new ones in? Are there compatible magnets generally available or does flux have plans to sell extras?

I'm curious on how you guys define as tactile.

Must not be that great if you didn't include it on the demo.

Based on the force curves provided, it appears the tactility of the tactile frame will be rather large and rounded. That said, are you able to provide some impressions on the keyfeel in practice relative to current options on the market (eg: U4, Zilents, Topre, or even tactile Alps varieties)?

Additionally, may I also inquire as to why an IPS panel was chosen over something with greater contrast such as OLED? I realise burn-in is a concern, but there should be relatively simple workarounds and/or means to prevent it, no? After all, higher contrast would enable more minimalist options (eg: white "legends" on a black screen). MiniLED is another alternative, but that technology is still in its infancy, so I'd understand why it may not exactly be feasible for the time being. Perhaps this option could be considered for a second revision?

All being said and done, certainly a very interesting and innovative project, which I plan to keep an eye on going forward. Best of luck.

What design are you guys going for? With the magnets I'm imagining that you have a mechanism to provide the "click" for tactility, which the click happens at less force than the actuation perceived by the hall sensors.

Any chance of one that ends at the function keys?

Anything taller than that won't fit on my desk :(

Either way it's stunning šŸ¤¤

Will there be frames with different layouts? This looks awesome but I can't imagine ever going back to one spacebar for gaming.

How well does it cope with dust or debris getting into the keys? Seems like it would jam them fast.

My friend has a Hall Effect and it's linear by nature; I wanted to get one myself but I'm a tactile enjoyer. If they could find a way to add tactility; I'm 1000% in.

Edit: On the website it shows graphs for both tactile and linear. Please forgive me wallet but (another) endgame has appeared!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0BMkV8P9a4

Supposedly they already exist, but the tactile feedback is inconsistent.

It emulates the Corsair or Razer or SteelSeries Top of the line Switches.

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haha yea the branding is just an image on the screen, go wild and switch it to whatever you want

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Buy me one too.

And me, thanks!

Yeah me three, it'll be like 800AUD for me to get one of these on release haha, oof.

So if your buddy gets one of these keyboards and you're at their place you could theoretically draw a big veiny dick on their keyboard

I'm sold.

So that does mean if we're friends you'll get me one of these? You can just mail it to me with a huge dick on it, that's fine.

I'm not your friend, guy

Whoā€™re you calling guy, pal?

Assuming this takes off, would you be willing to make a wider version that would be able to accommodate a numpad? I could also see modules like a touchpad that could be placed in the same location.

yep the 2 USB C ports on either side are for exactly that, to extend the base keyboard with a matching numpad on either side or even both.

Came here looking for this answer! I love this. All of it.

Do you mean the charging ports on the top left or right? Or are you saying there will be additional ports on the left and right edges of the device?

so 1 port on the top to connect to computer and it acts like a hub for 2 port extra ports, 1 on either side

Honestly it really needs a full size layout for me, but then I'd snap it up instantly. I would consider a TKL with added numpad but a 75% just isn't for me no matter how many numpads are added to the side.

I could see myself purchasing the current size with a compact/70% key layout and then being able to get a NumPad/Arrow Keys addon, but it wouldn't be the "Shut up and take my money" that a Full Size would be.

Ya make this shit full sized and Iā€™d order one right now

This right here. I would throw money at this immediately if it were full size. I use those keys way too much to use something smaller.

I mean I'm pretty sure their numpad contain the rest of the keys. The main keyboard already has all the f keys and arrow

the only part missing are some utility keys (home, end pg up down) and numpad, since their keyboard is so tall, I think it can fit all of them, creating a compact 100% of sorts.

Have you got a link/anything for the numpad?

They could release another layout for the existing frame that was a 60/70% without the bunched up arrow keys, as well as the utility keys/numpad addon and I would consider that. But if it had a proper full size I'd be buying it today.

The issue I have with a 75% is the layout, its squashed to fit everything in. They squash the lower right hand segment to fit the arrow keys in, but they are useless there for me as they are in wholly the wrong position.

It has Home/End/Etc but they are to the right of the enter key, which means the layout is squashed horizontally also.

It may be possible to add layers to this keyboard, in which case you could hit a key or shortcut to swap to a totally different keyboard. So you could in theory have a second screen with full numpad and whatever else you could possibly want. If that's not a feature, it really should be. The possibilities could be endless.

Whilst that would be handy, I kinda need them all at the same time.

That switchable numpad is such a fantastic feature.

I'm really hype on this board.

Any plans for an ergonomic layout? My arthritic hands will thank you so much.

I never knew that I could want a left side numpad so badly

Numpad on the left would be a game changer, switch to a bunch of macros on the fly or back to numbers for Excel

Yeah, I have to have a split keyboard. Single keyboards are a deal breaker for me.

I want this keyboard though. So sweet. Especially from the cleaning standpoint.

I suspect that if they let you add your own images to the keys there will immediately be overlays for video game specific keys.

It'd be great for FPS because you can see that you "w" key is rocket launcher and your "E" key is machine gun, etc. instead of just having to memorize. This is especially important for new games or games your rarely play.

This keyboard seems like a game changer.

If they make this thing happen, I don't think it'd be all that tough to make a split. They already have a modularized plan to allow for numpad users. They could also offer different key layouts (Ortho vs normal) if they wanted. I hope this becomes popular. It's my dream keyboard.

if you weren't dead set on having a separate numpad i think a good compromise would be to have it show up somewhere when you hold down a modifier, like right alt with your thumb, then having the i, o, p keys act as 7, 8, 9 and so on

i don't know how their software works but doing that with autohotkey is easy enough, then it would just be a matter of making the numbers show up when the right alt key is held down

I really hope this isnā€™t a limited run and actually becomes something ongoing and perpetual. This is something truly unique and rather revolutionary in its implementation. Others will want to copy, so take advantage of your breakthrough!

What is the estimate price for something like this? Very interested

preorders from 300-350 USD with MSRP around 450 USD

Are you able to share a target pre-order date? Like this year, next year?

preorders this month and aiming to ship at the end of the year

I've fallen so far down into this damn rabbithole that my first and immediate thought was "damn, that's cheap!"

r/mk will be the end of me

I just remember the Optimus Maximus OLED Keyboard that was supposed to release @ $1k+.

Technology advances and prices go downā€¦ also remember that OM had one little tiny screen on each key, I think that needs a lot more circuitry and many small screens also should cost more than a single large one

The base version of the Optimus Maximus keyboard retailed at $1,600 USD. And that's just the basic version. The premium model with color OLED keycaps in the main typing field retailed for over $3,000 USD.

SOURCE: A random commentator from Chyrosan22's brutal review video where he viciously roasted the Optimus Maximus keyboard.

Last time I thought that I was out $100 for that stupid flapping, clacky train style sign that ghosted with everybody's money.... this DOES seem legit though.

Oof, I'm sorry to hear that

What was the clacky train sign? It does sound interesting

I'm guessing a split-flap display board like something Vestaboard or Oat Foundry would make.

Apparently I completely forgot about the thing, it's an LED sign, the only reason I even bought into it, besides it being cool, was it was like $100. Should have been a red flag but honestly it looked NICE and like they had it together...
There's not much left of their online presence but their instagram still exist, https://www.instagram.com/nyctrainsign/?hl=en

Oh shit yeah I totally would have gone for it too - and besides the wooden case that's pretty on the money got a dot matrix display and the required electronics

Sucks you got scammed tho

Considering what we pay for a gmk group but, yes, it really is šŸ˜‚

Don't remind me - I've got one incoming now (after two years) and I'm already dreading the customs fee

I want one.

Will there be software to do dynamic visualizations? I want a water surface that ripples under my keystrokes, or a mouse that follows my fingers around, or something.

holy shit it's over im buying this

Where can we preorder?

this is the news we're here for.

if for nothing else except the absolute cool factor, i want one of these. it's one of those "oh, the future is coming..." products.

How do we get on the preorder list?

sign up on the website fluxkeyboard.com and we will let you know when its live

Whenever I try and enter my email on the website, the page just refreshes and doesnā€™t give me any confirmation I have signed up. Just wondering if thatā€™s normal?

This is incredible.

Let's see a full size with numpad and it sounds like a perfect Christmas present from me to me

Will it also be available in the UK? If so, what would the price be?

How does it do with liquid? Probably once a month my pet bird manages to shut on my keyboard.

Seriously? I expected this to cost much more

Jesus. Welp, I'm out.

Thatā€™s definitely cheaper than I expected, it looks so freaking cool

Are you going to ship them outside of the US (Germany in my case) too?

Can I ask, is this shipped from Australia? since I am in the UK, I am worried about the extremely expensive shipping

this is neat and all but what makes my dick hard is imagining the feeling of typing on keys suspended by magnets alone, woudl be suck a satisfying feeling.

very cool work my dude

But does it make you cum fart?

I've only ever had jizz in my bhole once, and it was from my own D, and no farts were involved, so I can't say that it does

Did you cum fart, or did you fart cum?

Finally, someone asking the hard hitting questions. Thank you for having the courage I did not

Youā€™re welcome, mate. Someone had to do it.

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noted, the board itself is running linux to drive the display so its not that far off but cant make any promises at this stage

While a Linux agent would be great, I'd argue it's far more important that the protocol through which the driver communicates with the keyboard to be open source.

Software will eventually no longer be supported; a protocol specification can be implemented in whole or in part by enthusiasts. I strongly suspect that you'd see an explosion of third-party software to scratch various very specific itches, and that some of that software would end up itself driving hardware sales - and it should certainly be cheaper to publish the protocol spec than it would be to write the software and deal with ongoing support for multiple distros, CPU architectures, etc.

100%. I'm also all-Linux, but if the board will only work with a closed source driver binary, I know it's a matter of time before it doesn't work at all. That applies just as much to Mac and Windows, too.

Agreed.

I work on a variety of hardware and OSes - MacBook Pros for work and personal stuff, iPadOS for most media consumption, Windows 11 for gaming, iOS for my phone. I also have Android on an 8" tablet and a small phone that I use for development projects from time to time.

It's totally unreasonable to expect a company to support all of the above, but it's not at all uncommon for me to pick apart software for MacOS and either port it to *nix or write a utility that provides the subset of features I need.

Yep. You could just publish the protocol/api and let the FLOSS community develop the support for Linux if you really can't afford to do it yourself.

It would be a deal breaker if Linux had no support at all, as I'm Linux only, but it wouldn't be a problem if i can implement support myself.

That's cool! Would you mind sharing the hardware specs? I wonder if it would be possible to use the keyboard as a kind of a standalone cyberdeck. (/r/CyberDeck would be all in the moment it releases)

Though I'm 100% sure that no matter the hardware it will be possible, it just depends on the software restrictions.

That's what I was thinking, lay the interface on the display. I'm wondering if the key layout is set or if you could swap on an ortholinear keyset and use it as a massive macro pad

Their FAQ says it won't support ortho layouts due to the sensors' fixed positions.

I'm with OP. I only use Linux so if I am going to part with my money, it needs Linux support.

Good luck to you and your team, I'll check back often.

Accidentally replied to the parent comment, but check out WebHID (see my other comment). I'd be happy to help

Darn it. I would love to have linux support. I have been runing Gentoo for years and now do all my gaming, Elder Scrolls Online, using the steam linux client. All my game run on linux now. Not just some no-name, I am talking about major triple A games.

Not supporting linux mean you miss out on all the great stuff SteamDeck has to offer.

Not using windows means you miss out on all the great stuff Linux doesnā€™t offer.

there is literally dozens of you

Consider using something like WebHID for configuration, etc. Then you just have to make it once, host it somewhere and Linux, Windows, Mac, ChromeOS users can just use that (equally). I made a very simple demo grabbing analog values from my Wooting keyboard (and they even made a full web based utility they host)... My simple demo: https://github.com/larsgk/webhid-wootspace

Hardware specs are on their website

I would love their program to be fully supported on Linux too since I don't have Windows or MacOS

https://fluxkeyboard.com/

Hi! What about European layouts? I use Nordic (or German) ISO layout but would love to get this keyboard! Will you produce these in ISO?

Site says

Frames will be available in: - ANSI 84 Key layout - ISO 85 Key layout

Edit: formatting

Any chance make the software open source to create custom modules?

Probably not for a while. I mean you can't fault a company for wanting to corner a market niche for a bit before giving away the farm. Make money while you can right

Whoah! I love this! Canā€™t wait to get one!

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there are 2 usb c hub ports on the sides to connect an external numpad if you cant live without one

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ā€œFull-Size is the most popular layout for a reasonā€

First time in r/MK?

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In fairness most of that was manufacturers of typewriters needing to pack in literally every possible use case in the smallest layout possible and everything forward in the design history following suit because keeping things the same makes them cheaper and the general population only seeing one layout and going, "yeah okay, don't fix what isn't broken I guess"

Yo shut up science nerd!

Just kidding, thanks for the write up and this keyboard is seriously cool!

Holy crap this looks so unique and neat. I noticed on your product page that it comes with custom software macros for certain programs. Would I as a user, be able to code and supply my own macros for specific programs. Additionally, would this use keyboard be programmable via QMK/VIA/VIAL?

Again, this looks super cool and I can't wait for the release.

has its own configuration utility to work in conjunction with the display but with layers and full per key remapping and macros

This looks amazing!

Any chance of a version with a split space bar?

$450? Iā€™ll get the alibaba knockoff.

I wish this was a split keyboard like the ZSA Moonlander

Love the project! Watching forward to the preorders. Is there an option to add custom hotkeys later on? I use Jetbrains programming IDEs (Webstorm, Rider, ...) daily and those programs also have a lot of hotkeys (running/ building projects, debugging hotkeys, ... Actions that a macbook touchbar shows for example). Could imagine that a decent chunk of your target audience are programmers, besides being a gamer ;)

Isnā€™t finalmouse coming out with something almost identical?

This Wooting keyboard uses Hall effect sensors to allow for variable analog input like a joystick. (i.e., slightly press W to walk slowly, hold it all the way down to run.) Is that possible with your keyboard?

Any plans on ever making a full size (if itā€™s already in development any rough timeline)? Also any possibility for wireless?

What is "hall effect"?

This should answer your question

Do you plan to ever release a 100% layout version? I know you said that you'll probably release a numpad module, but the spacing will still be all squished together. Maybe if this were a TKL, then a numpad module would just then convert it to a 100%, but it's not.

Any plans for that? that's the only thing stopping me from loving this product completely and pre-ordering as soon as it becomes available.

How are you preventing the keys from binding when pressed?

Ortolinear layout support would be amazing but i guess that wont work with how the Hall effect sensors are placed below the screen right?

Unfortunately I have to use a split ergo keyboard. Any plans for a split version?

Super cool. I signed up for the email. Have you considered also selling a smaller macro pad?

Any plans to make a split version?

The price for this is very reasonable. Are you selling at a loss? Donā€™t change because Iā€™m going to buy it.

I don't think the bill of materials is anywhere near the price. A seemingly identical display (probably not that exact one) is $30 per unit, and I would think is among the more expensive components. Of course you have all the magnets, custom acrylic, controller boards, etc. that I don't feel like estimating, but I would think that they have a pretty healthy margin at $350 a pop, let alone $450 (which I think is justified given that this will probably be a low-volume product).

I appreciate you taking the time to give me the short version. It was enlightening

Is there a PS/2 version? Reason I ask is PS/2 support N-key rollover while USB does not. Note I said N-key, not x- or [number here]-key rollover. Also, just a bit less lag due to interrupts instead of polling.

do you have a price for the official release?

you need to get one of these on Linus Tech Tips, pronto!

I have wanted something like this for a PC gaming controllers. Playing different games and emulators and they way the Nintendos, PlayStations, and Xboxes of the world have not settled on a uniform button layout has frustrated me to no end. Add the ability to swap left d-pad and joystick to mimic either Xbox or DS5 would be amazing.

I will very likely be picking this keyboard up at some point. Great looking product with truly ingenious design decisions.

Is Flux Polymath cross platform? Mac/win/Linux?

Does it run qmk or a fork of qmk?

Can it run qmk?

Is it possible to edit configuration via text file or embed qmk scripts?

Is there a download for Polymath available? Or manual? Demo? Would like to see the functionality

Cheers

Shut up and take my money already

I want to replace my laptop keyboard with this. I'd love to work with the design team to see about doing that. How would I contact them and try to get that going? I feel like aftermarket laptop conversion kits would be an amazing market sector for these. Just saying.

I saw someone post asking about in-software adjustable strength; has there been any discussion towards using solenoids as the second magnet behind the screen? Sounds like an awesome feature, but I worry about the practical implications.

I feel like either the required amperage or number of turns would far exceed what's realistic, but I'd be interested to know what you think.

Is the protocol to the keyboard open source? Because I think it would be very interesting to fully customized the keyboard like this on our own.

I know it's early, but any possibliy for a split model?

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you could reconfigure it to just macros and use it as a giant macropad

The thing is, this product is vastly superior to something like a streamdeck except in terms of size. I'm sure it doesn't make sense for you to make a macropad and you've already considered it, but there isn't much out there for digital/customizable keys that is very good

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Right, this would be expensive but it would be worth it if the macropad version also had a modular design that allowed similar customization of dials, buttons, etc. Just thinking about that makes me say "wow" lol

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It really would be incredible. Something like that has potential to hold a place in my workflow even; it would be fantastic for presentations, desktop management, the list is infinite. I'll have to watch this one!

I use the Loupedeck S for web development and just my day to day computer crap. Worth every dollar. Even have my home automation hooked up so I can control my office lights from it.

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Hotkeys for a lot, especially software Iā€™m not used to yet and Iā€™m trying to implement the hotkeys into my workflow without memorizing them. I also have hotkeys for a few powertoys tools. Screen ruler, color picker,

Day to day stuff would be HDR toggle (for games that donā€™t support it), media controls, audio controls (can click one of the buttons and it takes me to a screen with individual volume controls for all the programs I have running. Especially nice for windows 11 where itā€™s a pain to control programs individually).

I have one of the scroll wheels for my default screen dedicated for monitor brightness (using flux), can also click it to disable flux temporarily when Iā€™m working with something color sensitive.

Obviously most of this can be done through hotkeys and software but I like it all to be physical and within reach, less to think about.

They also have pretty good profiles for photoshop, illustrator, excel, etc. Pretty endless what you can do and the software is a solid 8/10.

If you can cut the size and the price in half, and sell it as a macro pad, it would be extremely successful. Steam deck, and it's competitors are really kind of garbage.

With that said, similar to my other comment of being able to press a key and turn part of the keyboard into a numpad, it would be cool if it had a hotkey for switching it into a giant macro pad. Basically being able to program different profiles with different layouts and then being able to seamlessly and quickly transition between them depending on your use at that given time.

Probably something you could do if they use VIA

You would have to change what is displayed on the screen as well, so while the input could be changed in VIA, the screen would have to be through whatever software he develops. So, the whole thing might as well be done through the first party software.

True, didn't think about that

use it as a giant macropad

You mean like... a macro macropad?!

Yes but, give me ortho. Nothing beats purposeful design.

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I have three keyboards mapped to different three-modifier combos each. Itā€™s the closest I can get to just a big array of macropads, but even at a 60% size, itā€™s too big for a lot of desk setups. Also canā€™t tilt them.

A stream deck sized one of these, given the screen is good, and ideally with some adjustable tiltā€¦ Iā€™d literally buy 6 in a heartbeat.

Seriously dude, sim players spend time, effort and money making complex, labelled button boxes and dashboards for their sim rigs, and at the end of it all, it usually only matches a single model of aircraft/tank/ship/tractor/train.

I'm sure a number of those sim players would be willing to trade some realism for a button box with tech like your keyboard has, allowing them to change their setup digitally.

My dumb ass has been reading sim players as people playing the Simsā€¦

Would take up a lot of desk space, though. I would definitely be interested in something that's smaller and costs less at that. Something I can put to one side on my tiny 1m wide IKEA desk.

I don't have need for a full glux keyboard as i like true mechanical switches and pbt gmt keycaps. BUT, a macropad i would buy in a heartbeat, especially if it still had that hotswap knob option. Seems like the best thing ever for streamers, musicians on a daw, remote workers, etc.

How about a different key Layout? Having a Grid instead of the usual keyboard pattern.

Yeah me too. A high resolution screen that is covered under my hands most of the time seems like a huge waste of power and money. Of course it's neat for different layouts or languages and custom stuff like macros but here we go: It should rather be a macro pad that can sit somewhere in my viewing angle and - when not in use - either displays time or weather or something useful.

Streamers already have this! It's called the Streamdeck and it's pretty cool. Some simracers also use it.

The keys are horrendously mushy, makes hitting them unpleasant and you donā€™t feel confident if your keystroke goes through. The LCD is terrible, low resolution, and smaller than each individual key. Some of them have problems with yellowish tints.

This concept, if successful, promises to solve all of thoseā€¦

This concept is a full keyboard. Not a macro pad.

Why you need that many customizable keys for The Sims?

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No, "The Sims"

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In your defense I did forget the word do at the beginning of the sentence. English is my first and only language, but I am from the deep south (us).

Sim gamers would buy them in droves.

Oh yes!!

Exactly what I was thinking. I would love to have something like that for my sim racing rig.

On the product page in the FAQ they mention they are looking to possibly bring a numberpad attachement in the future - so that could possibly work?

Same. A full keyboard I probably wouldn't go for. A numpad/macropad I definitely would.

I assume key don't touch lcd?

yep there is a mechanical stop in the frame surrounding the keys so they dont hit the screen

Is key panel acrylic? I'm worried about scratches mostly. Also any future plans to add hdmi so it could be straight up second display?

yeah its a hard coated acrylic, so it should be similar to plastic prescription glasses lenses in terms of scratch resistance. No current plans for HDMI display input.

Couldn't you use a USB-C spec that supports display data transfer? šŸ¤” No need to use HDMI.

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Burn in and cost presumably. Hall effect boards can last ages and ages and ages, but most OLED screens I've used will have issues within a few years of intensive daily use with static screen elements. With monitor tech the past few years, replacing every 3 or 4 isn't out of the question, but on a keyboard that's terrible.

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keyboard display turn off until you put your fingers on it

A keyboard like this is a showpiece, it doesn't make sense to only have it visible when you're using it.

[deleted]

I think its just hard to find one that has been manufactured, and this seems like a start up company so I doubt they have the money to invest in a custom oled display.

Yeah, burn-in is not the issue it once was. I'm thinking this is to save on cost. It looks like they're using something like this display, which is \~$30 per unit. I can't find a similarly sized OLED display at anywhere near that price per unit. I'm not even sure they make 1080p OLED displays near that size--they're all higher resolution. So that's probably the real barrier.

Burn in still is an issue. Itā€™s a smarter decision to remove that problem entirely especially for an initial product.

Burn in?

OLED burn in. It's basically a problem with OLED screens where if you're on one static image for a long time, some static parts of the image are permanently burned on to the screen; you can see it a bit. For example, letters of keys.

easier to find an LCD that won't interfere with the hall effect sensor probably

Look into Display port. No license fees. Adding HDMI will add about $10 dollars of license fees.

This is incredibly rad. I'm 1000% this will be something I can't afford but dang if it isn't cool as hell. Kinda wondering how scratch and ding resistant it is, though? I generally just shove my keyboard in my bag without a case, so it would be nice to be real tough, but hey...this might just be something better left at home.

the keys are an anti-scratch coated acrylic, but yeah would probably need its own laptop case to carry around.

I have sweaty palms, doest it get visibly dirty quick in my case?

probably not from the sweat itself, in terms of dirt and skin check out the cleaning demo at the bottom of the website where we pour sugar over it

in the name of love?

in the name of diabetes.

But what about liquids, is the screen beneath the buttons protected well enough?

Could there be a sapphire keys upgrade?

Good God that sounds expensive. Kinda baller but sounds like overkill unless you have metal nails or are carrying it around a lot.

K1 would work as well but in my experience acrylic scratches easy.

I'm not familiar with K1, when I look it up I get info on ferrite materials, but I'm guessing that's not what you mean.

Is the acrylic cast or CNC?

I appreciate that this is probably a topic for after the first version has done well, but I feel like this would suit the idea of smaller keyboards such as 60 and 40% as when you hold down a layer button, the keys will change to exactly what their new function isā€¦ that would be very coolā€¦ but I see why youā€™d start with 75%

Yup I've imagined a keyboard like this for a long time, should be a 40%. Missed opportunity!

Keep in mind this is most likely a stock 16:9 LCD panel, and it's unlikely that anyone is manufacturing a screen that would fit a 40% keyboard.

So it's not a missed opportunity, but no opportunity at all.

Other, smaller panels exist, such as this.

https://thepihut.com/products/8-8-ips-hdmi-side-monitor-480x1920

Sorry but, whilst they aren't gonna be able to have their custom size made to order, there are plenty of smaller screens like this that exist that they could choose from.

Drop even have a keyboard(ish) size screen for sale on their site right now.

They seem to be a small company, I doubt they have the money to make other versions yet. 75% is the perfect first product because it fits the largest demographic, compact yet enough functionality.

For a normal keyboard, yes. But this solves the problem of visualising layers to casuals (of which, I include myself, 60% is smallest I've dared to go).

Will this be sent to third party reviewers? tbh this seems to good to be true. Probably wonā€™t buy if it doesnā€™t get sent to reviewers

https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/11mqlgy/flux_keyboard_typing_demo_with_analog_hall_effect/jbjjdb8/

It's vaporware until I hear a review from somebody I trust. I'm sure some suckers will buy it but if it's real they'll want to get hands on BEFORE the group buy or else the sales will suffer.

Thanks for the link! Saw this after I posted :P Ya they def need to send review samples to third party reviewers. It looks like a super cool concept, but I can't get behind it without those reviews.

I found this thread via Google, and I fully agree with this notion. Even more so since they just announced that this will be Kickstarter funded! Since you can't get refunds from Kickstarter projects, people need to be extra wary before dropping hundred of dollars.

buy with credit card

Sure, but assuming everything goes fine from my credit card company that's still $350+ that could be gaining interest but instead is doing nothing for a year until I charge back.

I mean if you want it for 350 instead of 450 then thatā€™s all you can do.

Or... They could just let a third party look at it.

I won't be pre-ordering unless I see some proof. There are many others who will do the same. Sales will not be as good if they don't get somebody trustworthy to look at it. It's not my problem, it's theirs, especially if they miss the minimum order quantity.

Definitely gonna wait for reviewers and stress test before I open my wallet for this. It looks absolutely beautiful, yes, though I have very little knowledge about reliability and durability of magnetic keyboards though.

I'm almost certain this is vaporware and will be a money grab. Either that, or it will be a product released not close to what is advertised.

They have no presence outside of this Reddit account and their website. Their Instagram is a dead link, and their YouTube channel is edited more than anything you would see on Douyin.

They apparently "offered" to let anyone in Australia come to them directly to test it out in-person. Given that there should be plenty of people who had seen that comment/offer. Suspiciously nobody has posted any thoughts on it (aka nobody was given that opportunity even if they may have DM'd the creator of the keyboard).

The guy is not even active in his own subreddit that he has made, there's a "lounge" there with 6 comments on it, which is hardly enough to "overwhelm" him. But yet he has not looked in it since 1 year ago when it was created. Posts are disabled there as well, so nobody can post in it. The more I type, the more red flags are popping up.

Given how easy and cheap (free) it is to whip up a site, and exercise some video editing (even easier if you are just a web designer/video editor with big ideas) these days. You can whip up a site using any site template, and then slap on all the other good stuff with it.

More red flags, if you watch the videos. "They" present it in a way that makes it seem like the screen is reactive/interactive with the "keycap tray" that rests on top. In one of their shorts, they have it "react" to fireworks. Here's what's really happening. There's a video that is playing on loop, and the video creator has memorized exactly down to the milisecond when and where each firework is going to shoot. His arm covers the firework firing from the bottom of the screen, so it will seem as if they were really materializing out of a keypress.

Another example is when they overlaid a "timer" and the race car wheel changing video that goes from LINEAR to TACTILE, the impression is that the act of switching the covers will automatically give some sort of feedback that will know when it is tactile vs linear. It's all in the magnets, the screen will have no idea.

At this point, I was mentally exhausted from staring at the videos on repeat and looping for the really bad typing videos. But I wouldn't put it past me that the guy is typing on a blank screen that has been overlaid with an actual typing test done by the same exact person who has memorized the video recording of him typing the original test, and is just typing based off of that memory.

A 13 year old Reddit account, zero activity until suddenly 3 months ago. Zero presence ANYWHERE online or the internet or even on their own website. The responses are pretty much all canned replies. The whole thing is a red flag.

tl;dr I'd skip the "pre-order" and see how many chargebacks there will be.

Thanks for your effort. I hadn't investigated as much as you but have similar concerns.

One more thing I want to mention: There was another fancy keyboard years ago: The SonderDesign e-Ink-Keyboard. Of course it was a scam and cost me round about 200 USD... But the interesting coincidence is: Both we're from Australia. (I don't want to blame all Australians, but raise concerns, they could be the same people)

It's unlikely that they're the same people. The main difference between this one and the one you mentioned. Is this is not a scam, it's just a legitimate attempt at a product, but with zero clue on scalability and production timeline.

The issue is, that Flux Keyboard is extremely adept at deception of what it can and can't do, and how it really behaves. I believe of the 4 people on the team, 3 of them are graphic designers or video editors, and one of them might be a programmer. But they are not even doing the programming themselves, they hired a third party to do the programming, and everything. So they actually haven't done anything, but sold a concept (not even a proof of concept, since there's no indication of any of the important functions -- magnets, actual typing experience, the NFC/or whatever hardware to get the knobs working, etc -- actually being functionable or possible to function) of what they're trying to do.

Their Kickstarter is just full of red flags and shows their lack of understanding of what they are about to fail to deliver in a timely manner.

new tl;dr: The group making it are genuinely trying to make a product, but they have actually not made a product, and resorted to deception and a fake timeline to inject hype into a hardware that they have no production timeline for.

OP deleted a previous post here where someone concerned about vaporware made top comment.
His name from the kickstarter returns nothing but empty profiles on linkedin and UQ School of Medicine.
For all of the polish on the marketing, there's a distinct lack of any assurance around the identities/experience of team members. It's too obvious, really.

How easy will it be to create a new layout, like the photoshop/excel ones already on the website

There will be a configuration app so it is a simple as just filling in the labels and picking icons for each key. What sort of layout were you thinking?

How programmable are the keys themselves? For instance, multi-key macros, tapdance (tap vs longpress), or support for things like QMK's layers?

Does it require drivers on the host side (like Stream Deck)? Or full-standard HID keyboard with the video stuff handled internally?

multi-key and layers yes, tapdance i am not sure. Video stuff in internal. You need to utility to set it up but after that it will retain the configuration for use on work computers etc. with some limitations on advanced features like autoswitching layers.

Sounds pretty legit. I do hope you'll consider an advanced (source-code level) programming option. I've got the budget and appetite for a keyboard like this (ever since that Optimus vaporwares), but I've also got old wrists that are falling apart and I need a lot of customization to keep hacking without pain.

Linux compatible?

Only sorta:

Linux / Android / iOS - Limited compatibility (see FAQ regarding operation without installed software)

So their custom software doesn't work on linux, but once configured it doesn't need a driver or anything.

In order to customise and configure the keyboard, the provided Flux Polymath software must be used. However, once a configuration is loaded onto the keyboardā€™s on-board memory it can be used even on computers that do not have the Flux Polymath software installed. Shortcuts and custom macros consisting of combination keypresses will also still function as well as manual switching between profiles. However, more advanced functionality such as automatic layout switching based on the active window and certain application specific features such as album art and track information for music will not be available if the utility is not installed.

So windows VM with usb passthrough should be fine

yeah, probably. Hell, if the program is standard enough maybe even WINE could work (idk if you can have USB passthrough on WINE but it should probably be pretty easy anyway).

Only if the device uses a COM port in windows. I have a AJA device that uses a USB connection for configuration. Turns out the software will work in WINE sense the Linux kernel has the USB serial port drivers for it already. And WINE supports COM ports.

Interesting, thanks!

Aw, thatā€™s a shame.

Being able to magically create a numb pad on the right side of the keyboard with a macro key press would be pretty dope. And then be able to disable with a click and go back to normal layout.

Key spacing would be all wrong.

I use a custom layout i created on macOS. would this board allow me to show my unique layout while i use it?

Will you open up the firmware etc to allow a Linux app to be created? This would be great for programming. I could imagine having nice macros and layouts for vim, emacs, bash and many others..

I would love a layout of all the symbols someone might need. Mathematic symbols, the little circle for temperature, etc. NOT emojis. But symbols like that I never know how to find and usually google + copy/paste.

[deleted]

I gotta say, that's no where near as bad as I thought it was gonna be. Still way outta range for me, but not as much so. Lmao

I was picturing 1000+ 450 is pretty reasonable, especially for new tech.

i'm still reeling from the $1600 optimus keyboard

OPTIMUS. Fuck I was pondering about ā€œIā€™ve seen a similar thing years ago, how was that called?ā€

THANK YOU!

I think Art Lebedev making the choice for the Optimus Maximus to have separate individual OLEDdisplays within every single keycap pushed the mechanical complexity, manufacturing, and price over the limit. This over complex engineering and design choice also forced them to downgrade their initial concept of the screens taking up the whole keys by forcing every key to have the same small square that had to be customized for their niche product. So the majority of the keyboard's surface ended being mostly gaps between the displays.

OLEDs were even more expensive then. Barely affordable. The technology was new on the market and their burn in was not improved until later.

What Art Lebedev did with the Optimus Popularis by having a single large display underneath transparent keys cut the complexity and price by several magnitudes. It also looked more aesthetically pleasing by not having gaps and bezels.

The $1,600 only covered the basic model of the Optimus Maximus.

The one with color screens in the main typing field cast over $3,000.

Not really new tech

How is it not new tech?

New take on old ideas.

Someone else mentioned the Optimus keyboard, which was back in like 2007 (and absurdly expensive), but it had tiny lcds in every key

It's different, I'm sure some people will buy it and actually utilize it as intended

Is there another product out there like the Flux I can go and buy right now that's been out for the past several years?

I'm not familiar with any other keyboards using magnets as springs and Hall effect through an LCD for an uninterrupted background.

That's new tech.

Exactly my point. Some people fancy themselves smarter than they actually are.

Yeah this is too much for me but I want it. And it's surprisingly reasonable given the cost of similar things in this market.

The way they hot swopped the panels and the dials light up and react to it. Actually pretty cool. If I had the money I would definitely buy it just to play around with it.

Yeah I fully expected above $750 price tag

" The keyboard will cost between US$299 - $350 after discounts for pre-orders with a retail price of US$450. " https://fluxkeyboard.com/

Well might actually buy if I can get it in the 300 range that's pretty amazing

damn that's actually pretty solid. I'll wait for reviews but definitely interested.

It's only really solid because the standard here has been paying hundreds of bucks for key caps and switches with bad quality control and waiting months for them.

Is it? Wooting has been selling keyboards with hall effect switches for under $200 for years now.

Yes but this has a few features that the Wooting does not; The screen working well with the hall effect sensors is pretty crazy, considering that the guy who made Void switches documented his experience with changing the rgb slightly on switches and the hall effect sensors going wild. In addition, the fact your can change languages of the lettering on the keyboard itself and also swap out modules on the forehead is pretty cool.

My gripe with this though is that they have not sent it out to reviewers. I need it to be proven good and reliable enough for it to be worth the 300 dollars.

the guy who made Void switches documented his experience with changing the rgb slightly on switches and the hall effect sensors going wild

My understanding is that that an entirely different problem. He also tested reading the magnet distance through a screen and said it worked well.

the fact your can change languages of the lettering on the keyboard itself

Maybe that makes the learning curve less steep, but you typically don't look down as you type.

My gripe with this though is that they have not sent it out to reviewers.

Yup. Big red flag.

Ah, makes sense. Should've dug a bit deeper before commenting about the void switches.

Although for me the changing of letters is appealing, you do have a point; in the long run, if you want to be an effective type you'll need to learn how to touch type with the other language.

I guess what's so appealing to me is the maglev switch design and forehead; but I really need reviews before I purchase.

to be fair.... thats not a terrible price for the amount of engineering that went into it.

not sure its a trade off for the level of customization (spring weight, switch modding, caps, etc) in the mx world - but its definitely worth a look.

Damn way cheaper than I expected

They mentioned it though

The finalmouse keyboard is a steal then at 300 for the same thing

Come on.

  1. FinalMouse has not officially said what the price will be. And if it is anything like their mouse sales most people here will not get one due to it being sold out in minutes then you will have to buy it from flippers for hundreds over the retail price.

  2. HypeBeast annouced the CenterPiece board by FinalMouse will retail at $350... you werent wrong saying $300 because that's what everyone was saying back when FinalMouse first hyped it up. So with that said for all we know it could become more when it's actually announced... and even then it'll be sold out in minutes then flipped by scalpers.

  3. Im going to assume this will beat the CenterPiece to the market as FinalMouse has still said nothing since December's "early 2023" claim. Well "early 2023" is Q1 2023; which ends this month. So unless the CenterPiece comes out this month they missed their Q1 timeframe already with still nothing from FinalMouse since their December announcements.

That's a no from me dawg. $400+ . . . Ludicrous

I was guessing it would be $400. That is actually still decent.

Huh...I was expecting like...three or four times that.

The idea with the switchable top bar is really cool. I would also love a module with small piano keys/more knobs/sliders so you could customize it for daw and other audio applications. Not sure why you went with tenkeyless format as this thing could actually benefit a lot from swappable modules instead of the numblock. Especially cause you could switch the numblock to the left side which might be cool for some lefties and I'm almost certain doesn't really exist in the market.

a drawing surface for digitizer pens for example would also be a great addition to put in the numblock slot.

There is a USB C port of each side of the keyboard to attach an external numpad on either side and we will make a matching one with integrated display in the future. The form factor was mainly decided by the available display sizes.

That actually makes a lot of sense. Yea I worked with screen suppliers in the past and its surprising how constrained one is if you want something that has guaranteed runtime of 5+ years and runs of less than 10k-100k pieces per year and don't want to overpay like crazy for a custom thing. For our project we basically had to resize our screen to something volkswagen used in their cars to get something affordable that met our specs.

Yeah our original concept used a more conventionally keyboard shaped display used in the ASUS pro duo but since that product line isnt going too well supply of that panel has really dried up

Funny that you mention that. I thought the ZenBook duo variants were selling well, since they still seem to have given it periodic updates for the past three years now. (Although a new update is a bit overdue.)

I think this will still be an epic companion to the zen duo if you guys supply a fold up folio like on the Nuphy Air 65 or a ā€œlaptop sleeveā€ style sleeve. Mainly just something that holds all the parts together when vertical in a bad and provides minor impact protection.

P.S. I have dreamt of a keyboard like this ever since I was 10 (8 years ago). The only difference is that in my head it would have a tiny display on every single keycap. This is even better! All the power to the Flux team Iā€™d say.

Wait, in one of the top comments someone asked for a macropad. Why didn't you mention you are planning a numpad? That is exactly what they were asking for, sans 45 degree angle.
but you could just sell an additional stand that attaches magnetically or people can 3d print stuff.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/11mqlgy/flux_keyboard_typing_demo_with_analog_hall_effect/jbjbmqz/

Not sure if you were saying the LCD ~~but~~ doesnā€™t exist much or the modularity (including moving numblock to left) doesnā€™t really exist. I havenā€™t seen to much of how it turned out but the Mountain Everest keyboard has a ton of modularity and allows for it as far as Iā€™m aware. Sorry, not trying to contradict you, just thought you might find it interesting or might want to take a look!

Edit: removed a stray but

Been seeing this on Instagram for a year and no ETA for release yet. Will you guys ever sell these?

GB to start this month but shipping will be towards the end of the year.

I'll be honest, that still seems like an aggressive timeline. I'm very much hoping this isn't vaporware though, because it's incredibly cool!

I will buy the second version.

agree. i will gladly pay 450 for it once the bugs are ironed out by the first batch release.

Yeah if it turns out to be good then i'd be happy to pay extra to have the more mature (and instock) version.

No disrespect to those backing crowdfunding campaigns. Their contribution and risk taking is what enables these projects to become a reality. Just remember there's always risk involved.

Preordering before the design is actually finalized is crazy

Kickstarter/indiegogo vibes are strong here, GL to everyone with chargebacks in a year when the inevitable "unforeseen" delays occur because no one's ever tried to mass manufacture something like this before 3 year string along game.

It's not a scam, it's a group buy. Way different šŸ™ƒ

Wow!

Please consider making a fully 1u ortholinear layout.

and split.

But to be fair, if they try and give everyone what they want with the hundreds of possible layouts, nothing will ever be made.

That and also the biggest hurdle will be finding appropriate screens. Unless you're samsung or LG (or automotive) it is basically impossible to get custom-size screens.

I also think this type of keyboard wouldn't look very good split, because you'd have to tilt your head to read.

This, please! Assuming it would "just" require an ortho key frame and some software tweaks. Easier said than done, I know, but man wouldn't that be nice!

edit: reading further down indicates there are still sensors that are aligned with the keys, so this wouldn't work anyway. F

Yes!!

I would definitely kill for a low-profile 40% 1u ortholinear version of this keyboard! Maybe in the future we'll even have a version with bluetooth, but that would likely require ePaper or some other less power hungry screen

The hardware seems super cool but I'm afraid it'll be held back by software. The faq says it's "infinitely customizable", which is a bold claim. Can I do things like "hold caps for fn, tap for escape"? Is it open source? Can I flash my own firmware?

After building a keyboard with QMK I said I'd never go back to proprietary keyboard firmware, just for flexibility.

the linux distro driving the display will be naturally open, i think the platform would work great with an API for user made extensions in the future but I cant guarantee too much in that regard.

wait there's a linux distro driving the display, but no linux version of the config program? That feels pretty ironic lol

[deleted]

I mean, theoretically, you could make a similar keyboard DIY.

Buy a cheap monitor and dismantle it or just buy an LDC panel on Aliexpress with a microHDMI connector, it's like $100. Buy a bunch of hall effect sensors (they're like $5 for 10), buy a Raspberry Pi Zero with GPIO extenders (allows to connect more sensors). 3D print housing.

The most complicated part is the transparent keyboard frame. You could probably find a professional to do laser cutting for you. But you'd need some tight tolerances to have a nice fit for the keys, and the slots to put magnets is also quite tricky. Also finding the right magnets would be tricky...

This board is begging to become a cyberdeck

Seriously mount this in a suitcase with a laptop motherboard and a small screen and go hack some megacorps

That right index finger is doing some heavy lifting

This is definitely touchbar on steroid. I wouldnā€™t mind to have one just to play with it (the price on the website is pretty justifiable), but I just know I wonā€™t look at my keyboard while typing for 99% of the time.

What do you mean you donā€™t care how your keyboard looks because ā€œi wonā€™t look at my keyboard while typing for 99% of the timeā€. Everyday people buy a 200ā‚¬ keycaps set and wait over 2 years for it

I presume that personā€™s not the type to splash hundreds on key caps just to wait for a couple years. He wasnā€™t voicing the opinion of the entire community, just his personal preference.

I don't think that's what they said. They said they don't look at their keyboard while typing. For example, I use blank keycaps on my work keyboard - so I don't care about legends, I don't look at them - that aspect of why someone might want this keyboard doesn't apply to me. It's definitely a big strength if you need different legends/want to change it up often. Perhaps they were thinking similarly.

This doesnā€™t make sense either. You bought blank key caps because they give your board a unique look, thatā€™s the exact reason someone would buy this board. If not looking at your board when typing means you donā€™t care how your board looks you wouldnā€™t have a custom board.

You guys need to start reading better. They're not talking about the board aesthetics, they're talking about the key legends changing dynamically. If they aren't reading the labels anyways why would they read them on a keyboard that changes functions on the fly. They could do the same with any other keyboard that has fully customizable functions on a toggle.

Yes exactly. Not that there is zero use of something like this - I mentioned elsewhere that I would purchase a macropad version of this - that is a place that I do care about customizable or dynamically changing legends. However, this is too big to be used like that. A smaller one would fill the niche gap between macropads and streamdecks beautifully. Maybe it wouldn't even be that niche - it's essentially a much much nicer streamdeck. Especially with the interchangable modules!!

Thatā€™s the point. You arenā€™t buying this keyboard because it has more functions than another keyboard. You buy this specifically for the board aesthetic.

A smaller format would make an amazing scientific calculator keyb. Math legends aren't so easy to find.

I was saying elsewhere in the thread that a smaller version expands on the stream deck idea, combines it with a macropad, and then amplifies itā€™s usefulness. I would never have thought of the calculator - I thought of anything from simple desktop management to having something easy to bring when presenting. And if it could still keep the interchangeable modulesā€¦ damn. Iā€™d pay an absurd amount for that product.

Yeah, Its already a cool product, but a macro pad would be sweet.

Even beyond a spiffy calculator... I work on controls for particle accelerators and between legend switching and the use of knobs, I could see something like this used in our control rooms too. People love more tactile controls for manipulating real devices. Scanning a magnet current or driving in collimating slits? Turn a knob. Want to change the resolution for knob turns or change the device you're manipulating? Macro keys. Need an e-stop button for the beam? Done. There's so much you could do. Id be curious if there's a way you could control the LCD from the control system too... device interlocked? Give the controlling key or knob a red background.

Even just the keyboard as is.. let's say you have a visiting experimenter from another country... They can change the legends to their native language. As long as the experiment itself went well, they'll rave about the added luxury.

I can think of so many use cases for this kind of thing.

not me spending extra for a cool looking weight on the bottom of the keyboard that i'll actually never see

What do you mean you donā€™t care how your keyboard looks

dude never said that. not sure why you're replying to something that was never said.

Big guess here but...maybe they're not one of those people?

Just because other people do that doesnā€™t mean OP doesā€¦

People buy a lot of things they don't need or use.

The idea sounds great - configurable actuation - but I probably would be tired of trying to get it right real quick :D I believe there are cheaper boards with hall actuation keys though, just not with the pretty LCD and shit.

Yep. Looks nice, I'm sure there's decent use cases.... But ultimately I simply won't use it as anything but a normal keyboard.

Sound: šŸ¤¢šŸ¤®

Looks: šŸ¤ÆšŸ¤©

The sounds on this prototype are not fully representative, also reddit compression butchers the audio. Overall will be relatively quiet.

You mention the GB is starting this month, are there any content creator that has the final build for review?

Just an idea for V2 or a module or something, but integrate a speaker into the board and control the sound the switches make via software

Some people might hate that but I think it could be cool if done well

This reminds me of the Optimus Maximus keyboard, except the hundred or so tiny OLED displays got replaced with one big LCD screen

This is everything the Optimus Maximus couldn't be

What got me into mechanical keyboards was the customization options of QMK firmware combined with using RGB to help indicate function changes.

I can definitely see the advantages in being able to change the legends so you have my attention there.

How adaptable is the software? I assume function layers with changing legends is a thing?

Yep can be fully remapped in layers along with the legends. Can also switch layers automatically based on active window.

Are you sending any prototypes to reviewers before the pre-orders start?

the prototypes are a bit too early to be shipped for review but if there are any reviewers in Sydney who want to check it out and give their impressions DM me.

Ik it's not Sydney but you should honestly reach out to LTT. The team would absolutely love something like this and it'd be pretty good exposure. Plus if it's truly a good product, LTT is very on top of making sure stuff is quality.

Also I second the macro add on. Or even selling the numpad module as a macro pad. Could add a function swap key to it and have it quick swap.

LTT production schedule takes multiple weeks minimum before they release a video and if they plan on having their GB soon it won't likely be in time before it's over. They've done multiple keyboard reviews (zoom65, promise87) and the GB was already over by the time it aired.

Also this seems like a smaller sized project, having that much exposure to a project and an inexperienced team could easily doom the entire thing if they decide to take too many pre-orders.

I would rather them take a reasonable and doable amount of orders, get the product out in provided timeline and get some in-hand customer reviews and feedback. Proceed to improve and run multiple rounds if demand is there.

I think if this product is real, LTT might be willing to push this up into a quick production cycle. This is certainly in the right type of product that would totally make several of their team members drool. They've done quite a few keyboard specific reviews and have some really serious keyboard aficionados.

Nah, I would imagine they only change the schedules for sponsored video, they have no obligation or incentive to do so for a prototype review from an unknown company especially for a Kickstarter campaign.

Seconding that, i trust LTT for "tech guy" opinions and Unbox for "regular dude" opinions, everyone else depending on niche

I feel like I trust MKBHD pretty highly too

I don't think you should be worried about it being too early. Even if it's a rough prototype you're going to want somebody the community trusts to tell the truth to get a hands on before the group buy. There's a lot of products that never existed in the first place. There are some that are not as functional as claimed. You can address that easily by just having somebody take a look. I think your sales numbers will be much better if people know it's real.

We know that programmatically changing keys, hot swappable components, hall effect sensors, etc all exist. Any of that being buggy or low quality can be worked out later, all you need to do is prove that the product exists and is partially functional.

I really don't think you should put up your group buy this month and target shipping it this year if you couldn't send a final build to a third party for review yet, you will probably still get pre orders but it's not right that everything you show so far is this prototype that you claims the final version will be much better while wanting to ask for preorder this month

This more than anything, the fact that they don't even have a final build and will be taking it to GB is screaming kickstarter vaporware. I understand the importance of first to market, especially with finalmouse that seem to be prototyping as well.

Taking orders before independent reviews and outside input combined with no other previous successful projects seems like another moneygrab for a hype product proceeded by 3 years of lies.

Honestly, the price seems too good to be true as someone who has spent multiple thousands on a single board. I would rather pay the $450 MSRP extra/instock than gamble on a $300 pre-order that seems overly ambitious.

I would love this keyboard, even if not to use as a daily or rotation but just as a statement/show piece but from what I've seen at this stage, I wouldn't put money on it. I would rather pay double the price with no wait and knowing it's a working and reliable product.

So so so many people are against group buys that this hobby has normalized but as soon as the next shiny gets prototyped we everyone is back throwing money at another company to take a multiple year loan and asking why their stuff is delayed. We're talking about a new type of product, no one knows what mass manufacturing issues could come up.

If I had any input for the flux guys, it would be : If you do end up taking group buys soon, I would make as many extras as you can reasonably scale as well because you will sell ALL of them at $450 retail price instantly with a product in-hand.

Seconded. You need to get this to Linus tech tips asap. Preferably before your preorder launch so they can have a video made when it's available to preorder.

ctrl + f "linus" did not disappoint

Optimum Tech lives in Sydney, I reckon he'd be perfect for this!!

Yeah. He would probably love this

Gear seekers are based in Australia as far as I recall.

I'm no reviewer but I'm in Sydney and can upload youtube videos haha

(but seriously though getting it out to anyone who can get a review out before the pr- order is over, because that discount is looking good atm)

Hardware Unboxed might be an option. They mainly do Monitors, CPUs and Graphics cards but I think they'd be completely down to review this kind of keyboard. They're in Australia, not sure where though

I assume Finalmoose is doing something similar for their LCD screen keyboard

Yeah the main difference here is the stem of the switch is not obscuring the centre of the key so you can change the legends to whatever you want. Also the removable frame helps a lot with cleaning and allows for hotswapping.

I just looked at their announcement video again and I see what you mean.

in a demo you pour sugar on it and then pour the sugar off, what happens if sugar or a hair get in between the keys and the frame or works its way under a key, how easily removable are the keys themselves

Not OP (and the lack of reply is concerning), but it seems like the keys are only held on by the magnets, so probably pretty simply to remove them.

The magnets are at the side of the switches instead of bottom/top (like in the 3d printed hall effect switches https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/pf6rop/glowing_success_riskeyboard_70_with_void_switches/ ) ?

yes that is correct, gives you a nice clear view of the screen

Is the screen sensing the position of the keys? You can use any tablet or only the provided one?

The screen isn't doing anything except being a display; it doesn't have touchpad functionality. Basically there's sensors under the screen (under each key) that detect how close a magnet is to them, which can be used to know if there's a key pressed.

Would you accept my kidney as payment?

depends on renal function and comorbidities

Rough estimate of 80% in overall health

According to their website it'll be around 350 dollars for the pre-purchase, which is crazy cheap to me, I'm going to grab one

I hope you'll enjoy it!

I hope so too!

This is super dope.

Say you were to release other layouts, such as ortholinear, or even just ansi with a split space bar. Would it be as simple as buying the new key plate and laying it over an original screen body?

Also when are preorders charged?

The sensors are aligned with the keys so the only options will be ANSI, ISO which you can switch between on the same base (We will put the extra sensors in to do JIS as well which you could maybe remap to work like a split spacebar) Preorders to be charged at the end of the preorder period of 1 month if MOQ is reached.

I am aroused

Looks like the pre-launch is in 2 days, and I haven't seen any reviews yet. I want to buy 2, but without trusted reviews is a no-no for me

yes, hope u/sebsd can respond on this one, without reviews this is a fantastic concept and CGI, but I cannot see they will achieve to have a final polished product in the next 8 months (as they allegatedly will ship before this year ends) if they currently dont have something tangible

There is no CGI at all in this video or on the website, they are all shots of functioning engineering prototypes which are not yet ready for review

What makes it not ready for review? Software?

Wouldn't it still be worth having a third party check out? Not a full review but at least an initial hands on?

You are right, have reached out to some in the past but they were not keen at the time. Will try again now.

Literally in the same boat. My wife and I want one badly but that's a significant investment to make when there's no sense of trust only having one person's word.

"Eureka ! That's incredible !" Scrolls due to empty wallet

Anyone remember the Optimus keyboard from ohh, about a decade ago like this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimus_Maximus_keyboard

Came here just to comment the same! I wasnā€™t even into the hobby but remember the keys sounding super clunky despite how freaking cool it was. Individual OLED screens was nuts. OPs implementation seems very innovative, with less moving parts for a similar effect and keeping costs down. Iā€™m rooting for them!

Optimus Maximus keyboard

The Optimus Maximus keyboard, previously just "Optimus keyboard", is a keyboard developed by the Art. Lebedev Studio, a Russian design studio headed by Artemy Lebedev. Each of its keys is a display which can dynamically change to adapt to the keyboard layout in use or to show the function of the key. It was launched initially in 2007 and is no longer available to new orders.

^([ )^(F.A.Q)^( | )^(Opt Out)^( | )^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)^( | )^(GitHub)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)

Oh man. I wanted one of these so bad. Completely forgot about it, super cool.

really wanted one of these too, but the price point and manufacturing shenanigans turned me off.

Seems like a much better execution of the Optimus Maximus. Looks awesome.

u/sebsd, if you manage to send it to a trusted reviewer (I'm pretty sure that if you contact LTT they will manage to cover shipping costs, as this is a really interesting product) before GB, you would cover pretty much all the production you can handle atm.

​

btw, do you have an estimated production you could handle at this moment? I'm really interested, but I don't see enough information to be sure you'll be able to handle this type of launch

Would it be possible to make custom frames, with keys in different places? Will the firmware be modable?

The sensors are aligned with the keys for ANSI and ISO so a different key layout is not possible. The keymapping and legends and wallpaper are all modifiable. Also the 4 modules up top can be combined in any way you want.

Bummer, whish i could run this with an ergo layout. Also i was talking specifically if it would be possible to flash your own firmware on it, or modify the existing firmware with scripts & plugins to be able to implement custom functionality like double function keys, combo keys etc.

and ISO

Oh thank you, if there's an ISO layout I can do ABNT2 on it. I've been using an ANSI board for the past couple of months and I hate the layout

In theory you could make the layer with the sensors customizable as well in a future version, just saying.

Will there be some sort of ortho module?

not at launch

I assume this will need its host app on your PC. Any plans for Linux?

as long as you set it up first on windows/mac you can then use it on linux with keymapping and layouts retained on the keyboard. Some more advanced functionality such as automatic layout switching based on the active window and certain application specific features such as album art and track information for music will not be available if the utility is not installed.

Sad to hear. Will at least the communication specification be documented so that linux users can roll their own thing if needed?

big fan of linux the board itself is running it to drive the display, we will do our best to provide support

Sold. Take my money.

so fully Mac support since the beginning right? then, Im more than in xD

Amazing! Will there be future plans for ortholinear frames as well?

This would be great for pulling up software hotkey graphics.

[deleted]

The irony innit

How dare you accuse OP of lying??

CGI = Cranially Grafted Interface... Aka a brain computer. Which this isn't.

CGI= Constipated Giraffe Insert.. Aka an animal enema. Which this isn't.

CGI= Corvette Gunship Immolater... Aka a boat-killing flame thrower. Which this isn't.

CGI = Crafty Gypsy Item... Aka a Romani good/bad luck charm. Which this isn't.

CGI = Cortana Goes Indigo... Aka master chief's mistress gets nervous. Which this isn't.

CGI = Chaotic Guitar Interlude... Aka a wild mid-song riff. Which this isn't.

CGI= Corporate Grift Innovator... Aka a new white collar crime creator. Which this isn't.

CGI = Charles Goes Inward... Aka Chuck finally attends therapy. Which this isn't.

CGI = Colored Green Ice... Aka viridescent frozen water. Which this isn't.

CGI = Crappy Garden Image... Aka picture of Steve's shed. Which this isn't.

CGI= Castle Gargoyle Irratator... Aka David Xanatos. Which this isn't.

CGI = Cum Gargling Imp... Aka a tiny slag. Which this isn't.

CGI = Caustic Gallon Imbiber... Aka an iron stomached drunk. Which this isn't.

Bet you feel pretty silly now, don't you?

[deleted]

Bodacious babe?

Bumbling Buffoon?

Bucking Bronco?

Beat Boxer?

B-boy?

Buxom Bitch?

Blabbering Brit?

Bland Brand?

Black Bug?

Big bat?

Brandishing bard?

WHAT DO YOU MEAN?

We're watching the future of mechanical keyboards evolve right in front of our eyes.

Yet it still hangs onto the legacy staggered layout.

Yeah I'd be excited if they did an ortho one.

Hopefully, itā€™s a Hall effect matrix more than just one per key - then it should be possible from them to make an ortho frame and it wonā€™t be ridiculously expensive

At least for this iteration, it is not. OP confirmed it's setup specific to the layout.

And I will die supporting it like the cave dweller of a man I am.

Except this isn't a mechanical keyboard...

Now I'm all for new tech and innovations. Take this "pre-order" with a massive grain of salt. Given how many upvotes this post has accumulated.

The website is most likely a throwaway, as they copied/pasted a template and replaced it with pertinent information regarding the Flux.

Their Instagram link goes nowhere, their YouTube only has one video unless you count their highly edited shorts. They have zero social media presence.

Nobody other than themselves have this keyboard. They made an offer for people in Sydney to review it, and apparently "nobody" has so far (impossible to imagine).

They advertise that the screen is not touch screen, and the videos make it seem like there is "interaction" between the keys pressed and the video that plays, as if it were a touch screen.

They managed to get hall sensors working beneath the LCD, which may be possible. But they also kept it at a price point that seems a lot lower than what you would imagine.

The last time something like this happened on this subreddit, I saw a person make a comment that was like 9 pages long doing a deep-dive, and I'm glad because the product ended up being a cash grab and I avoided it altogether. They "delivered"a product, and it was barely functioning as it was intended.

The OP's post history for 13 years, indicates nothing about this keyboard until suddenly 3 months ago. Everything prior to that is completely unrelated to keyboards.

I appreciate the skepticism. While this keyboard is extremely cool, I feel like at the very least they need actual reviews to come out before people should feel confident enough to preorder.

I also want to note that something like this, if it is good enough, should receive a new iteration or a "V2" in a couple years. I'd be happy to buy that.

Really hope this project turns out to be a success. This thing just screams "future".

Yeah likewise. Since it's apparently going to be an in-stock. There's less risk just waiting it out and seeing if they really do deliver. It's such an exciting idea.

Well I want it

Looks awesome, but sounds absolutely horrid.

yeah, the prototype noises will be improved for production, will be more quiet

So it'll still sound horrible.

How do you plan on doing that?

They have plans on going into GB this month but don't have the final version or 3rd party review. Taking what seems to be a "to good to be true" GB price on their first project. Looking forward to the 3 year bait and switch, broken product after ghosting the community and discontinued support on a proprietary platform.

Sure, I could be wrong and I'll gladly pay "retail/aftermarket" price for an in hand product but this seems way too many unproven factors in play here.

I hate loud keebs so that sounds perfect for me. Any timeframe on when you might have the production model ready and would be able to share a sound test?

I'm interested!

"The sensors used in the Flux Keyboard do not act like on/off switches but rather can sense the precise position of each key."

So each key has degrees of actuation?

yep the sensor measures the strength of the magnetic field so you know exactly how deeply it is being pressed at any given time, so you can set at what point it triggers the keypress in software for earlier or later response among other things.

Does the Flux software allow setting keys up for analog input, ie a half-press of the W key letting my character do a slow walk forward?

This is a massive benefit of hall switches, it probably wouldn't be too hard to implement if they didn't offer it by default. The disconnect is getting devs to use it in games though. At least without some janky controller emulation

in theory for typing could you have like a full press be a capital letter and a partial press be lowercase?

Please consider split backspace support - from what it looks like it should be quite easy to have custom layouts, right?

ANSI and ISO at launch, the sensors for JIS will be in in the base for the frame to be introduced at a later date, which has a split backspace

so It would just need 2x 1u keycaps instead of the 2u backspace to make an ANSI split backspace board?

hmm it would be missing the part of the frame in between the 2x 1U keys, i think you would have to wait for the dedicated JIS layout for a split backspace

Just so I understand this correctly - it wouldn't be possible to just put two keys into the 2u hole as with normal mechanical keyboard plates?

Also, if I preorder the kb in ANSI and buy a JIS frame later, how much extra cost can I expect?

Disregard the second question, just remembered JIS has ISO enter which is not an option for me.

imma a sweaty man when i type this isnt for me but all the power to who do grab this

This is incredibly interesting. Iā€™m down to purchase one!

You got me, I love this, it's beautiful and efficient.

I need a num pad so hopefully the launch of the accompanying num pad isn't too far out, but I'm definitely interested in a tactile purchase. A way to "connect" the num pad to the board would be good too just to keep things in place but not a deal breaker either.

[deleted]

there are some approximate force curves on the website tech spec section, the tactile does not really build up resistance in the way a spring does but there is the mechanical end stop is damped if you bottom out.

You can set the actuation point, but is possible to add a solenoid actuator to the base PCB to also adjust the force needed by the finger to press the switch?

probably would interfere with the fields too much, but the weight can be changed by switching out the magnets for different strengths from the default.

How hard would it be to find suitable magnets, as well as switching them?

thats a good questions, finding ones that fit would be easy enough the problem is most magnet resellers randomly label strength. so you never know what you are going to get. Will consider selling packs of known strength if there is enough demand

Damn it now I want this

These look nice especially useful if one use multiple layouts and they can just show the current layout thats dope

Neat so you could from a software point of view make the video screen change to show key typing effects based on location coordinate wise like any hardware LED keyboard while also having the option to do other Fullscreen things. Like showing only the keys you want WASD and have the rest be video.

yeah some interactive wallpapers for sure, you should be able to customise the legends in that way

Well this may very well get me back into a wired keyboard.

what about an ergo split version? it looks amazing already - had to check the year on the calendar again after watching the video!

I WANT THIS !!!!!!!!!

God damn I'm hoping you do worldwide shipping

Any plans on a OLED screen/Base? I like the idea but the imagination to look down all day/night on IPS glow and no pure black makes me cry in advance

its so small :/ i tired of people making keyboards smaller and smaller

As someone who uses Live and Resolve, the shortcut overlays seem supremely convenient.

HOW WILL IT ONLY COST 300

I EXPECTED LIKE 700

PEOPLE SPEND MORE ON KEYBOARDS WITH MATRIX DISPLAYS ON THIS SUB

SIGN ME UP

LCARS

Rapid trigger is also a really good feature I saw on your site it should bring a crowd of rhythm gamers to your door

When those knobs lit up I went straight to heaven. Wow that looked good.

Absolutely unreal. Nice job engineering around your complications

Ah man Iā€™d love this in a full size.

I need one where can I get one?

This technology could be really cool for a synth/instrument/DAW controller, or to give tactility back to in-car interfaces.

TBH I think i'll crack open the wallet the second I hear reviewers I trust talk good about this keyboard. With both ISO and ANSI layouts available, matching numpad that hopefully will also hit the market, this could definitely be the keyboard endgame.

450$ feels like an appropriate price, I'm ready to pay for it - again, as long as this gets solid reviews from professionals -

Btw for this price, are the add-in boards at the top of the keyboard like the dials included, or do we need to buy them separately ?

The typing part was incredibly fake, but the keyboard looks lit.

the most impressive thing about this is that dude typing 113 wpm with two fingers

No way this is as affordable as advertised...

Will you be sending out review units?

Wow this is almost like my dream keyboard!! Clear, swappable, Hall Effect. (I was looking into Analog keyboards before this)

I'm definitely interested.

I'd already be throwing my money at it if you guys made an ortholinear layout. But I know that's a much smaller niche than normal staggered.

This seems like a ripoff of the Finalmouse Centerpieces, but since neither are launched, not sure who ripped off who.

Also, Hall Effect Switches are nothing new - Steelseries has been using them on their Apex keyboards and now Wooting with its 2 keyboards

However this thing is way different in its implementation, which is also part of my skepticism (along with the 113 WPM) - it appears to be just a top plate of acrylic with the magnets suspending the keys - but how does it capture the signal? Where is the sensor for WHERE the keys are? Maybe I am missing something, but this seems like a scam for now - at least in terms of the actual keys working...

You seem to not understand how hall effect sensors work. They just detect a change in magnetic field and are non contact so they can be under the display part of the board. So as the magnets on the key moves down the sensor would pick it up.

No I do understand how the sensors work, but nothing in their marketing material, nor anything on their site describes what you are saying.

If they are in fact under the screen and can work through a solid IPS display, then great, but nothing shown or said from flux has proven or even shown this.

The only thing that is on the keys are the magnets suspending them to act as 'springs'. So please explain to me what magnetic field change would be detected for each key, because the magnets shown are shared between each key.

Like I said, if the sensors can work through the LCD, fine, I can believe that, but what are they sensing? The plastic switches moving down? There is something missing and there is a reason Flux haven't given any specification on the sensors or how they work, or even shown under the screen...

So this looks like a scam

Why even pretend that these "switches" would even come close to replicating the sound of a mechanical switch if it's just a magnet system? The typing video looks super unnatural, like the head is green screened in front of a CGI video of someone typing with their arms folded up like a T-Rex.

When can we expect to see this product in the hands of independent reviewers?

Lol, an ad disguised as post, and countless shills

[deleted]

yeah, the sound on this prototype is not completely representative, the final product should be relatively quiet.

One person is here that appreciates quiet! There are dozens of us, dozens!

Thereā€™s thousands of us. Except weā€™re all pretty quiet ourselves. The loud ones are the literal vocal minority.

I mean this sub ain't into quiet really. We want thoccy keys and this doesnt deliver

I think its kind of unreasonable to be dissapointed that this board doesnt have a deep thock sound that a 3kg foamed and tape modded board would. It has to store the electronics for the ips panel in a relatively normal sized board and be reasoably priced, maybe as this technology matures sound can be tuned aswell

Of course it is. Just OP seems to think that quiet = good on this sub which is not true at all

thatā€™s fair, i donā€™t think quietness is necessarily bad but in this sub it is a miss yeah

You seriously need to patent this. I want one.

yep patent is pending

This is not patentable here in Germany so I sure do hope you don't get a patent for taking concepts that have already done before and mashing them together, but from taking a brief look at AU patent law it seems ridiculously lax for applicants.

Hall effect keyboards have been done since at least the 70s.

There have been commercial keyboards and macropads with displays used for relegending.

"Rapid trigger", a major feature you taut, was invented by Wooting.

Your "module" system has been done before, one example being the Mountain Everest.

The only feature that is new to me is the hot-swap key frames.

In any case as this product is obviously iterative rather than inventive, it could not be granted a patent here in Germany, and I don't think it should be either. If the key-frame design is actually new feel free to patent that, but expect people to hate you for it. The keyboard community is a very libre one and I doubt you would be welcomed back any time soon. Patents have only ever held the space back, as the expiration of Cherry's Patents proved.

Found the patent - it seems to focus more on the hot swappable frames combined with the hall effect: https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2023035029&_cid=P12-LFL61O-12551-1

Just confirms what I was saying. unpatentable anywhere with sane patent law.

Keyboards with a "frame on sensor" design also already exist (primarily in the membrane & ec space), just not hot-swappable ones. It's purely iterative and as such would not qualify for a patent under EU patent law, as EU patents require an inventive step, not just (multiple) iterative steps. Unfortunately due to international agreements, garbage patents like these have to be adhered to all over the world (except if you're in China and the patent you're violating is non-chinese)

Wooting already sells hall effect keyboards and they sound great too. I use them at work and for gaming.

https://next.wooting.io/wooting-two-he

r/wootingkb

so whenā€™s the kickstarted where you dont deliver and run off with the money

Yes

That mf needs to learn how to type.

Omg, that guy typing with only his index finger on his right hand but all the fingers on his left. Why would you pick that guy for the demo video???

Followed on IG. Once it launches imma grab one of these babies.

This is extremely cool

But I can't imagine the typing experience to feel that good ngl

Wait, I'm not the only one who only uses the pointer finger of their right hand?

They really should have picked someone who used mavis beacon teaches typing in 3rd grade

This keyboard is less mechanical than the rubber domb keyboards we all hate.

The spring inside the switch is a defining factor of a mechanical keyboard, but this uses the magnets themselves as the resisting force instead.

I find it ironic that this community would be interested in this keyboard, since there's literally nothing mechanical about the magnetic / Hall effect stuff. :)

The term "mechanical" has always been applied broadly, and we've always accepted hall effect to fit the broad concept, even back when the only hall effect boards around were mainframe keyboards from the 50s and 60s.

Some people are here for the customizability of keyboards. Not so ironic.

.

OMG - learn to type before doing a typing demo.

This is what RSI looks like.

Cool, I hate it.

You'd think they'd know how to properly type with a keyboard like that, no?

Thatā€™ll be $5,000.

The keyboard will cost between US$299 - $350 after discounts for pre-orders with a retail price of US$450.

Source: https://fluxkeyboard.com/

Watching qwerty users type just looks painful. Look at the stress in his hands as he types.

I donā€™t care what ya useā€”colemak, dvorak, whateverā€”get off qwerty.

Take care of your hands, friends. Its 2023, were typin all day. It takes a couple days to adjust for lifelong injury risk reduction.

Any recommended resources?

If and only if you are an English typer, https://colemak.com

It offers first class support in macOS and Linux, requires a one time install in windows.

Iā€™ve been a user for 7 to 8 years, and after that first week of hardship, Iā€™ve simply been delighted. Everybody has their quirks, find something that works for you!

Will it clean the ocean of all of the plastic particles, lower inflation, and prevent nuclear war? If not - itā€™s pretty cool but we got bigger issues.

use keyboard to learn solidworks shortcuts and design ocean cleaning machine

Lol - nice reply - take my upvote you sales-master

Do you know what Subreddit you're on?

Yes. There was kind of a point being made there but w/e

Already set my kidney to sell for when you guys release and Ortho linear

Ortholinear ought to just be a new frame away reallyā€¦

Please tell me yall sell the key caps separately.

you will be able to buy replacement frames with keys

Oh dang that's expensive then

Where's the integrated display?

the whole surface under the keys is a display

I saw in your previous tech video there was a whole display on the top right that's what I was referring to

i think you are thinking of the 3 key module it, uses the same display as the rest of the keyboard and can be attached to the top right (or anywhere else along the top)

So this looks really cool, obviously but how reliant is it on software running on the computer? To put it another way, can you set it up a certain way and then it remembers so you can use it with a computer on which you canā€™t install software, i.e. a work computer.. so something like an advanced QMK to set up one or more default keymaps with associated gfx, macros etc and then the more dynamic stuff if youā€™ve got the software installed?

yep, in order to customise and configure the keyboard the software must be used. However, once a configuration is loaded onto the keyboardā€™s on-board memory it can be used even on computers that do not have the software installed. Shortcuts and custom macros consisting of combination keypresses will also still function as well as manual switching between profiles. However, more advanced functionality such as automatic layout switching based on the active window and certain application specific features such as album art and track information for music will not be available if the utility is not installed.

Will you have different key layouts? I for example like to use a layout where the spacebar is split into 3 keys (2 spacebars, with normal key in middle)

ANSI and ISO only at launch, there will be some extra sensors in the base to support JIS in the future which does split the spacebar into 3

Cool, that would be some nice upgrades, to be able to buy and swap to different layouts afterwards.

Can it switch up languages on the fly? I would love a keyboard that I can flip between qwerty and azerty, with the flick of a switch

yep absolutely

Are you guys thinking of doing any other variations? Would love a normal hotswappable board with the screen on top, keeping the modules.

no plans but you could probably make your own pretty easily the keyframe comes off and just replace with a PCB

So you would lay on top of the screen, a pcb? Wouldn't that maybe overheat from the direct contact on the screen, or the foam that would lay on top of the screen?

Is there any intent to have a full sized option, I love the style and Idea of this but have a hard time giving up my numpad.

there are usb C ports on either side so you can attach any external numpad or wait for the matching one we plan to release down the line

I understand it may be to early to say, but will the matching number pad be flush mounting or will it be free floating attached via cable?

What?

There's going to be so much furry porn used on that keyboard

ISO layout??

yep ISO available at launch

Any IC form, or somewhere where we can sign up for a GB notification?

yep sign up on the website fluxkeyboard.com

Will the display be pulling resources from whatever device itā€™s plugged into to display images/videos or is there some sort of onboard gpu to handle the display?

onboard GPU (arm SOC) driving the display, no significant bloat for your system

Awesome thanks!

the changing picture and videos. are those loaded to the keyboard it self or is it powered by computers cpu and gpu?

loaded on the the keyboard itself, it has its own processor

great ! thank you

How loud is it? It sounds loud from the video, but I know the mic is probably really close.

final product will be relatively quiet, reddit sort of boosts the audio to a normalised level

Thatā€™s what I figured. Iā€™d like a mass hall keyboard just to see what it feels like, but Iā€™m super sensitive to audio levels.

Anyway to build samples?

Is there any chance of split keyboards down the line?

I love the look of this, but I'm not going to switch away from split :(

there is a chance but this one has to sell well enough

Oh so I am not the only one who uses just there right index finger while typing

I don't know if it's because of me being spoiled with model f and m keyboards, that keyboard makes the most horrible switch sound I've ever heard.

God dammit, time to get back into keyboards. My wallets about to have a stroke...

no offense, but can you find someone who actually knows how to type for your next demo? thanks.

Fuck mate. My wallet is in so much danger

WTF. I will save my opinion for after it comes out. Looks cool.

They honestly sound pretty terrible.

And from the sound they feel terrible in terms of tactile feel.

Okay, this is really cool stuff! Very clean design. I dig it!

Wow, if we integrate this with some open-source standard that programs can use this might be a game changer for creative tools. All shortcuts now can have icons right on your keys.

Canā€™t fucking wait to overspend on this baddie.

Wait I have an idea for this! This could change the game for dual screen and foldable laptops! If it was made a bit thinner and integrated in such a way that it could be removed when not needed it could be incredible!

Will we be able to change the layout to something different, like ortholinear by just changing the addon?

As a followup question, are the magnets behind the display set in their places for this exact layout, or are you using longer horizontal magnets that would allow for horizontal changes in key placement? I'm wondering if the hall sensors you're using are per key or per multiple keys and would just need additional calibration in case you want to change the layout šŸ¤”

Any plan for supporting a Spanish frame layout? That's one thing that holds me from buying keyboards I want, because it's difficult to find something I like in my layout, so buying the standard logitech or razer is my go to

That type sound is disgusting

I mean I'd buy at least one if it holds up to what you're showing.

When can I buy it?

Lmao the final mouse keyboard got beat before it even got released

Alright take my money

I wish you guys a ton of success.

I could see this finding a market as a macro deck / streaming deck or a video editing deck.

The smaller format might let you use commodity cellphone parts too.

Is a slide potentiometer possible?

There are probably 1,000 niches where this could be really useful to people, niches where people make money & are willing to pay for high margin products.

All 1,000 niches have slightly different needs so extensibility could go a long way.

I think QMK might make this very attractive product which lets those niches fill themselves

Now this, this is worth the title of something new and innovative in this hobby. The performance aside, it is the new design and willingness to innovate that counts

I've left Reddit because it does not respect its users or their privacy. Private companies can't be trusted with control over public communities. Lemmy is an open source, federated alternative that I highly recommend if you want a more private and ethical option. Join Lemmy here: https://join-lemmy.org/instances this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev

does it have a keyboard thingy for vim?

Reminds me of the Optimus Maximus but so much nicer.

Note: This comment has been edited and REDACTED in protest of Reddit's draconian decision to effectively ban third-party apps (like Apollo) and spez's horrible choice to lie, try and spread false information, and slander the dev of the app Apollo. I have done this to all my comments. Only by removing Reddit's value (our data) can we effectively target their pocketbook in protest of this asinine decision by their CEO. Because they have said they will not budge or change their minds, I'm taking it to the next level and removing my content. To many of us, third-party apps ARE Reddit.

Tool used: https://github.com/j0be/PowerDeleteSuite

Good question !!

Any plans to do a 60-65%? would be nice as a gaming board/macropad

i throw money at my screen yet nothing happens....

ohh it costs $350, that may be why.... something else to dream about

Poor guy lost the use of 6/10ths of his fingers.

This is the coolest looking thing I ever seen in my life

Yay.. more vaporware!

What will the price be?

Take all my money

the fastest two fingers in the west

This is the coolest shit Iā€™ve ever seen

What would the price point be roughly?

Very cool but wouldn't be interested without an ergo layout possibility.

My dream scenario would be a CRKBD-like split with this tech for each half.

Product looks like a fully-realized version of the old optimus keyboard.

I commend you for daring to try something different.

Iā€™ll buy one

hmmm not blocky enough, im gonna stay with my original PCjr keyboard

No number pad??

Nice to see someone else types with only their pointer fingers like me. One of us!

Any plans for ISO support?

I'll be honest, I have never lusted after a keyboard posted on here this much. I've always been content with my Logitech G610 with its cherry browns.

Today, I have lost that sense of satisfaction.

What do the three nipples on the right at the end do? And are you going to milk them, Greg?

Well, fuck everything else on the internet and just take all my money.

Subscribed.

This about to cost more than my first PC

I made a masterpiece ASMR.

Pre-order is tempting but without any third party reviews I won't risk it. I don't think I'm willing to spend $450 at full price either though. I like having a numpad as well so that probably puts it all at well over $500 for a keyboard, a very cool keyboard, but still just a keyboard. I hope it does well though so it comes down in price

Whoa looks very interesting! So much customising to do

Ortho/ergo layouts?

While this looks like it will cost $1000+ā€¦weā€™re interested

I'm wondering what the travel distance for the keys are. Can it be adjusted via the keycaps or is there a set distance? My key preference is short distance for my keyboards. It normally means I need to do a custom board instead of a prebuilt.

I love the image effect of the keyboard btw, looks amazing and trippy.

looks cool but i just couldnt deal with that sound the keys make...

Whatever I just watched looked expensive, awesome, Id never buy it but god damn is it cool

I don't care how much this is I'm buying it, lightroom is gonna be really fun with this

Is there any plans for ergonomic split boards?

I will be preordering, def need a numpad though

Does it support ā€œlayersā€ for the legends? For example, if I hold ctrl, the keys will update with what that hotkey supports? Bonus for combos of modifier keys, ctrl alt, ctrl shift, etc

Would be nice to get more details about the configuration software.

Is the position of the legends adjustable, can wallpapers change on events, can wallpapers have a color/wallpaper overlay (equivalent to per key rgb or indicator lights) which is event driven... short, on a scale from 0 to QMK, how much is possible?

That keeb looks like it'll end up costing my than my pc.

This is gonna be fucking brilliant for flight and mil sims

I subscribed for updates on this. It's cool to see innovation in the keyboard market.

I need this

Was gonna complain about the lack of full-size options. But at that price I may as well look into becoming an art thief to afford it.

The keyboard will cost between US$299 - $350 after discounts for pre-orders with a retail price of US$450.

At this price can I expect an option where I get to pick anyone from OnlyFans so they can give me oral as I type?

Shut up and take my money. This is brilliant.

This guys right pointer finger is carrying the right side of the keyboard hard lol

Lol we're gonna get hall effect switches before controllers do (which, imo have more of a need for this currently), fuck yeah.

I love the idea! Sent you reddit award and waiting for final product!

laughs in poverty

This reminds me of the finalmouse keyboard

Is the "keycap" surface textured in any way, contoured, or just flat & smooth?

This is actual porn, wow.

Does FM use the same tech

Ughhh just stop

It's nice enough, and very interesting, but the lack of ability to customise and modify it (apart from what's on the screen) kind of makes it more of an off the shelf product. And all that light in my peripheral vision would annoy me I think, and turning the screen off defeats the object of it.

I'm sure it will sell, but it's not for me. I wish you the best of luck with it though, and I hope it's a success for you as you've clearly put the work in, and I like to see hard work rewarded.

This looks incredibly cool.

This is cool af, any idea on pricing?

I feel like I can't even afford to watch this video.

I've never heard a Hall Effect switch I liked the sound of until now, and of course it's wrapped in a stunning package! Magnificent <3

macOS has this excellent feature where pressing a modifier key in a menu will change the options presented. Will pressing a modifier key automatically change the character displayed on the key? Do I have to program it to be context aware with a modal text editor or would it just know?

It seems like a potentially useful keyboard but I can't imagine paying so much for it if the software doesn't already exist.

The first keyboard I will buy..

This is similar to the product finalmouse showed off a little while ago

What switch does the keyboard feel like the most? The keyboard looks genuinely beautiful but it kind of sounds like a membrane which could be a false flag but makes me skeptical about switch feeling

u/sebsd This looks sick! Is the preorder link/waitlist live?

preorders not yet live. Sign up to be notified at fluxkeyboard.com

Done. (And by e-mail as well.)

I wonder if this could be made as a stand-alone computer?

Holy crap, i have adhd and have a terrible memory especially when it comes to hot keys etc due to it.. this is like my dream as i do media production/3d work and programming.

Any date on pre orders? Will be ordering in an instant, already signed up on the email waitlist

This paragraph doesnā€™t quite make sense to me in the ā€˜What ports do I need?ā€™ section - is a word or two missing?

The keyboard features a USB-C receptacle for removable cable. If your computerā€™s USB ports are unable to provide this, a 5V 3A USB-C charger (sold separately) can be used along with the included USB Y cable.

I assume it needs a USB A/C for data, and another USB C for power?

Also, what sort of screen is behind the keys please; LCD? Iā€™ve recently become an OLED snob for those true blacks, but Iā€™m assuming thatā€™s out of this price range.

Shut up and take my money

No thock

Where is the manufacturer?

Will it ship to Europe ?

idk how so many of you can live without the num pad

I'm definitely getting this

Holy shit, that is beautiful. It's also such an oddity, but it looks like something that's gonna be too expensive lmao.

Let me know when you guys star using this for Ableton Live and start adding more knobs and faders. This could be amazing for music production and replacing several midi controls

Does analog switches mean that the output is variable like controller triggers?

MINE MINE MINE

​

Ok, time to start putting aside the 500 bucks this will end up costing.

Remember that keyboard that has little LCD displays on all the keys? I want this one more than I wanted that one. And I have money now.

What an exciting time to be alive!

I'm not sure exactly how the magnets/modules work, but is there any possibility of an ortholinear layout?

I have never felt such a strong desire to purchase something that I can't afford, an Ortho module would make it an absolute no brainer.

Steeleries Alex pro had magnetic switches. Best I've ever felt.

I'm very impressed, visually appealing and finally another keyboard with hall effect and rapid trigger. The more I read the most impossibly good it sounds it's hard to believe it's real.

This is absolutely amazing! Definitely will try to get my hands on one, do you take kidneys as a downpaymemt? ;)

The numpad is a must for me when using Blender, will this be available with a numpad also?

make keyboard that when you press harder it does a capital letter

The fact that it has hal sensor trigger got me thinking, could it be set to progressive press like on controller?

cant wait for chyrosran to get his hands on one of these puppies

This looks really cool, but I've gotta ask. What do the keys bottom out on?

I play rhythm games and fear that if I had this keyboard I would just destroy the screen from bottoming out.

there is a mechanical stop in the frame so it doesnt hit the screen at all.

the rapid trigger for rhythm is a real advantage

Im assuming yā€™all are familiar with the Optimus keyboard? This brought me way back.

editing version of the centerpiece lmfao

I don't know if anyone else has asked this, and since there's a ton of comments I'm gonna be lazy and not scroll, but do you plan on offering keysets with different profile keys in the future? I can't tell based on the video if the keys are flat or not, but if you had a spherical indentation on the top of each key (basically just DSA) I would literally never have to buy another keyboard again aside from this one. Just a thought that since it's easy to swap out the frame of switches that machining different profiles of caps could be relatively easy and make for an even MORE customizable experience for the end user. I love the way this looks regardless though!

Okay well that is baller

This looks insane. Very cool!

My wife after I got my lulu with LCD screen: I will only want a new keyboard unless it has a screen that is really big.

Welp guess I'm pre-ordering :S

I love this. Assuming your price targets are correct I'm 100% in for one!

Will there be proper linux support?

Is there a way to adjust travel distance? Normally I would put o-rings in but it looks like that's not an option here.

the knob effects go crazy!!!

Will this have a rapid-trigger esque effect where the switches de-actuate as soon as you lift off the key?

Can you mute that typing sound?

yeah reddit video sort of boosts the audio, the sound IRL is pretty soft

any chance of a ten-key or 100% version?

Oh look at you

Already Subscribed, can't wait to preorder it! Super Excited!

This is brilliant, I love that the UI is tastefully designed.

This would also make 40 percent keyboards work for almost everyone!

For me, it'll all boil down to the software. If the software is clunky, buggy, constantly runs multiple processes in the background, requires you to sign up, or hogs computer resources I'll be staying very far away from it.

Programs like Razer Synapse, Corsair iCue, and even Asus Armoury Crate are all unusable and an instant deterrent for me.

My pc runs like shit because I need razer and Icie to power the lights and they never update the software

Hey guys stop saying the price is justified your gunna make him raise itšŸ˜­šŸ˜­šŸ˜­šŸ˜­šŸ˜­

holy shit I want this

FUCK. that is so cool.

RSI incoming!

why`?

I thought this shit was fake for the longest

Looks incredible, but after years of using a split space bar I would never go back.

bro this is the keyboard of the future. if u made a buisness with these youd be rich in no time.

OP, this is phenomenal engineering! What a brilliant and novel idea.

I got a question, is the LCD image/video powered by the users PC video output or is the rendering done onboard?

rendering done onboard only USB 2.0 required and enough power

Hmmm

Can the keyboard layout be changed say to something like an olkb layout?

I legit donā€™t care how anyone types but if youā€™re showing off a keyboard cant you find someone who types with all of their fingers?

This is so cool but sadly not for me. Seeing all the fingerprints left on that I would have an aneurysm and clean it literally every time I use it.

So, basically the Elgato StresmDeck on steroids?

The scene with the cherry blosoms is trippy!

Are the only keycap options flat? Any plans to create different profile keycaps?

Keys aside. I am wondering how those knobs actually work. Is the magnet strong enough to withstand twisting them without being careful.

amazing ingenuity

If this is everything it seems - and you've done a great job of showing that to be the case - it is the single most exciting peripheral I have ever seen.

I feel like linear fans are just trying their best to get back to membrane keyboards without buying membrane keyboards

How much would shipping be to singapore?

about 10 USD for slow shipping 40 USD for express

Thank you for your quick reply! And slow shipping includes tracking?

How about Finland

end game of all end game?

Looks really cool, but I'd like it more if it was OLED instead of LCD. I'd want it to be properly black or at least very dark and with white letters so it doesn't light up the entire room at night.

Also, I'd go with thinner keycaps, so the OLED is closer to the top surface of the keycap.

I. Need. This

Would love to see a latency test on these

GIVE ME NUMPAD VERS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keyboards cool, dude's typing style is atrocious

looks like a better version of the finalmid keyboard

Beautiful

Watch out, if these guys are based in Sydney then they might be the same people behind Sonder, a failed e-ink keyboard startup that apparently took preorders but never delivered.

not the same, location very much a coincidence

I definitely need one

Thisā€¦this is it!

When you open up pre-orders, will you only have a certain amount of them? Like say 10,000 in total? Or are you planning on continuous supply? I really want to get one of these but worried it may be a limited run that sells out before I wake up. Since you are located in Sydney though that may not be a problem as I would guess you'd launch via Aussie time. I'm up in Queensland and usually launches happen at like 1am - 4am in the morning, it's horrible.

Probably 8am AEST on a day yet to be confirmed, certain price tiers will be limited but no limit overall

Itā€™s $400 for those curious

I want so bad

Any plans for a grid/columnar version? Apart from preferring columnar keyboards, I see potential for a musical controller here if you do a grid that's say, 16 wide, the analogue sensing would be a big factor here too.

I want it

I will be copping this day 1, is the price gonna be <$1000 or do you not know yet

Umm, what typing technique is that..

Cool advertisement.

Maybe a bad take, but this looks and sounds fucking awful

If you could take off the keys and turn this into a drawing pad that would be amazing.

The ugly Windows logo ruins it for me.

This keyboard looks amazing!

I've got a couple questions but will probably be buried in the take my money hype.

The video shows one usb-c cable going into the board, the spec sheets says includes a data and a power cable. How many cables will the final version need to be connect to for full functionality?

If one cable like the demo video and the claimed 3-4w of power consumption, then it needs to be able to run a 60hz 300 nits HD IPS display, an arm processor, a usb-c hub and potential keypad/macropad docking and the keyboard itself at said 3-4w of power. Other keyboards already seem to have issues with just basic (i guess inefficient) basic leds.

Do you plan on having a finalized version before the GB end date?

Will there be independent 3rd party reviews before the GB end date?

Will there be a limit to the units for the GB?

What other experience in manufacturing and product design does the Flux team have under their belt?

I just wish there was a full size version. I have tried a few TKL keyboards and I realise how much I use the number pad, I always find myself hunching more at my shoulders when typing on smaller keyboards too.

Sounds like shit. At least it looks good...

Why not go all the way and make it wireless? issues with magnets / sensors?

So it's a fully transparent glass keyboard with an iPad below that reads inputs?

Is that the ELI5?

Love the idea, but don't do TKL.

Will 100% buy if they ever make a split version as their site FAQ states they aspire to do

How long does it take to boot?

Where do i order?

I am getting one for sure!!!!

Sounds so bad

But does it have an any key?

Iā€™ll take useless hardware for $500,Trebek.

Woahā€¦

Shut up and take my money!

Will there be options for different layouts? Mostly just interested in split spacebar but would be nice for others as well!

it looks and sounds like crap

Looks cool but I 100% won't get it because it doesn't work with Linux.

Fuck it Iā€™m in the waitlist and Iā€™m getting it the day it releases

I will buy this if there is an ortho 1u version.

I won't go back to a row-stagered keyboard.

I love it. SOLD!

When will you open the prepurchase?

Is it just me or is he not typing 113 wpm using only his left hand and right index finger.

What can we expect in the way of a warranty and/or replacement parts for the display in the event that it decides to stop working properly? That's really my main concern regarding this thing.

2 year warranty, user repairable beyond that with spare parts available directly from us

I'm absolutely ready to place my pre-order.

Awesome!

This is hands down the coolest keyboard I have ever seen. This is truly something I didnā€™t know I wanted

/u/sabsd - how will cleaning the board work? I imagine these will get just as dirty as regular mechanical keyboards (read: pretty filthy)

Check out the cleaning demo at the bottom of the website

Sweet! Can the keyboard module be washed/rinsed in water?

Regardless of the adjustable actuation point, I would prefer the travel distance to be like that of a scissor switch rather than that of a mechanical switch.

Me trying to build a keyboard with $30

[deleted]

they've already quadrupled their goal. Good luck to them fulfilling all those orders.

https://www.reddit.com/r/flux_keyboard/

Hall effect gets me going everytime oml

sorry i canceled

wait for general sale

tho i gotta admitā€¦ it does sound kinda horrible

Cool

Iā€™ve always found Hall effects to be my favourite.

But it looks incredible... can we have the Mac function keys on it? CMD/OPTION...

!remindme 1 year

We still don't know if it is mac compatible? (to change the opt keys

Yes Mac compatible with opt key

Thank you!!!!! Too happy! Canā€™t wait to see that!

Will this be programmable in any way with real code not just the software util y'all provide?

There will be API for extensions made in JS

Will this only he available in kickstarter?

So since the "key"board is part touchscreen, would burn in be a potential issue should a user stick with a certain thing being shown on the screen at all times?

Those are OLEDs this is an LCD. Wrong tech