This keyboard could be really interesting.
It appears to be a type of touchscreen with transparent keys on it.
Are there already similar products available, and does anyone know if they function effectively?
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Not a touchscreen -- a "normal" screen with a keyboard overlay, keypresses detected with Hall-effect sensors. So at least you don't have to worry too much about mashing the display with the keys.
I do wonder how forgiving it is for different head positions, though.
True.
Although the keyboard is now available for pre-order, it seems to have been around for two years. Quite impressive.
Since Iâm being quoted, letâs see that quote in context!
Maxing out their existing keyboard or getting the best from using a keyboard? If you mean the latter, the answer is, as always: use a programmable keyboard. (Shakes tambourine.)
(Emphasis added).
So, programmable keyboards are not a solution for every problem, of course, and I wonder if, @frankb, you have a particular problem in mind that you would like the Flux Keyboard to fix⌠or if, perhaps, those fancy graphic tricks and angel choir pads in the video just make a new toy seem attractive!
I can imagine that the Flux would be a wonderful solution for some uses, but most users will not really have a need to, for instance, hunt-and-peck for obscure symbols much of the time in practice. Any gear lust can be shaken off by a look at the price: $540. That seems very reasonable for what one gets, if it provides what one needs.
In any case, the Flux does not, in fact, appear to be a fully programmable keyboard at all. It seems from its FAQ that the supplied software is for what the keyboard displays, rather than providing layers, different behaviour depending on tapping keys versus holding them and the other tricks of, for example, QMK.
Since this question does not relate specifically to KM, it might be deemed off-topic unless, perhaps, you can knock together a macro or two to reproduce some of the Fluxâs functionality in KM? Now that would be alchemy! 
The FAQs imply a certain level of programmability. Maybe not to the level of QMK, but imagine if a single keypress turned the Flux into a Stream Deck-alike ready to (relevance alert!) fire off your KM macros?
From that (hard to bookmark) FAQ:
Will the keys hit and damage the screen?
No, there is a mechanical end stop built into the frame which prevents keys from hitting the screen.
Not remotely near. I think I have already been too generous with ânot fully programmableâ, but that is not a criticism of the Flux, because its USP is very different from what is expected from a âprogrammable keyboardâ. Apples (no pun intended) versus oranges.
The device will be outputting key codes over USB, so that should be a given. The only possible excitement would stem from the key changing its graphic, the sight of which one would be able to revel in upon subsequent elevation of the activating digit.
Sorry -- I wasn't very clear.
The key caps are a few mms above the display. From directly above the keycap images will look great, but how many people look directly down on their keyboard? You could apply an offset to the display to compensate for a "normal" head position -- but move your head and everything's off again.
The "Adaptive Display" and "Maglev Switches" images show it better than I can explain it -- the first isn't too bad, but in the second you're almost looking through the side of the keys to see "G", "T" and so on.
But the "programmable" bit would, presumably, let you send key codes that aren't interpreted as letters/numbers when you switched to the "Stream Deck" layout -- if it let you send the equivalent of Stream Deck's "R1C1" when pressing what would normally be a "Q", that would be a huge step up from a "normal" keyboard with KM's USB Device Key triggers.
All hypothetical for me, of course, since I'll never be spending that much on a keyboard!
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Production difficulties ?
Yes, apparently there are people who ordered one two years ago. The manufacturer is said to have promised to deliver it towards the end of this year. We'll see.
That's exactly what I'm assuming. If that were the case, it would of course have some advantages over a Stream Deck. With so much experience, Elgato would actually be predestined to build such a keyboard. I'm just imagining all the things you could do with it 
I have also read that a new firmware allows access to the system touch bar. This would mean that apps that can control the touch bar could also program this keyboard. It is unclear whether this affects the entire keyboard screen.
kevinb: I mentioned you because you got me thinking about programmable keyboards. This would be one I could imagine myself using
Thatâs an interesting point about viewing angles. Most people shouldnât be looking at their keyboard at all, but the Flex is aimed at those who will need to do so quite often.
I really do think it is a specialist product that could, potentially, be of great use to a tiny minority of users, but just âblingâ for the vast majority!
I certainly didnât mind, but I wanted to make the point that: (1) programmable keyboards are not the solution to everything (thatâs obvious, I hope!); (2) the Flux is outside the mainstream of âprogrammable keyboardsâ. It is a distinctly different product because it offers solutions for different problems than those which âprogrammable keyboardsâ (as commonly understood) address.
From what I see from the Web site, the Flux offers only a tiny subset of the functionality of (to use the standard example again) QMK. The strength of the Flux is in what it can display. Like @Nige_S, I was reminded of the Stream Deck, but the Flux has unique strengths which would suit certain applications (as the video suggests, the device could be very useful for those who work with multiple character sets).
I think you must mean âimagineâ in the sense of daydreaming, because I canât imagine you paying that sort of money without it being a great solution for a particular need! 
From what I have seen of your dedicated (if, in my view, misguided! ) efforts to make KM do what QMK can, the Flex would, for you, not be a good match. However, you would know better than I what you are looking for. I just donât think the Flex is a âprogrammable keyboardâ in the commonly used sense, so please be aware that it is a different sort of product.
Anyhow, yes, itâs fun to look through the shop window sometimes and you have brought a unique product to our attention. If you buy one, let us know how you get on! 
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Don't worry, I actually know that very well 
Not very often, but every now and then, and for a very good reason. When I write, I never look at the keyboard. But what if, for example, I want to press the shortcut cmd + control + W? Are you telling me that you can do that blind? If so, then I congratulate you. Unfortunately, I can't. 
It's one thing not to be able to type cmd + control + W blindly. And it's another thing to remember what this shortcut does in each application. So, what I would like is this: I press and hold cmd + control, and the keyboard no longer shows âWâ but an icon that I have previously defined and that reminds me what this shortcut does, in every app.
If that worked with every modifier combination and for each letter, I wouldn't have to remember any shortcuts anymore, because I could just see what a shortcut does.
Couldn't you achieve the same thing with palettes? Only if you had a touchscreen. Otherwise, you would have to first look at the palette and then at the keyboard to find the trigger (letter). Not very intuitive.
I have no idea if this keyboard can do that, but it would make sense. And if not, I'm confident that apps like BTT can help.
All of this is, of course, subject to the proviso that this keyboard ever comes onto the market.
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Of course. And now you can be sure that I would not presume otherwise!
On a conventional keyboard with a conventional layoutâno. On mineâyes, and with two of my fingers already in position, and I just have to move my ring finger up to the row above for the W. Such a solution for this might well not suit you, but ergonomic solutions can be found, once the problem has been identified. If a key has to be looked for, it might be in the wrong placeâŚ
That is why one should choose shortcuts carefully and with consistency of purpose. Of course, I cannot recall every shortcut for every application, but for much of the time, the applications choose sensible and conventional combinations, and I try to do the same, and it helps enormously. If a key shortcut has to be looked for, it too might just be something that ought to be changed, and of course KM (weâre on topic!) is one way to make that easy.
I wouldnât want to have to pause to decode a logograph each time, which is how it would feel to me, but not, I fully accept, necessarily to you!
You have explained your reasoning well. However, I had understood from a previous topic that you wanted a solution that would suit the use of a MacBook while travelling, and of course the Flex is too large for that. The good news on the portable use angle is that ultra-low-profile keyboard switches continue to be refined, so it might not be long before very light programmable keyboards with a conventional layout become available (all the ones I have seen so far have been âergonomicâ split keyboards in one way or another, and not your sort of thing!).
Of the various places one might choose to put a small additional screen (optimising the return on investment in hardware and added power consumption), do we feel that under the keyboard would be one of the stronger candidates ?
( Might keep the fingers warm in winter, I guess ? )
It really is a niche product, I believe. The potential market might include the following. The quoted text is from the productâs Web site.
- professional translators who need to hunt-and-peck through different character sets (and who would not find an onscreen grid more efficient);
- if you wish to âview album art right at your fingertipsâ (hey, itâs like a touchscreen in reverse!);
- users who need to âmute and unmute your mic in calls at a single pressâ and who struggle to remember which key does that and who do not like stickers on their keys (niche);
- users who cannot remember much at all (under medical supervisionâno, really, maybe);
- users who require âinformation such as weather and system informationâ and who have a plaster cast around their neck that prevents them from looking in any direction except down, and who cannot touch type and do not like graphics tablets or mobile phones (a hitherto neglected market segment);
- people who require a button with animations to âfeed your pet keyboard catâ (oh thatâs desperate);
- people who want to hunt-and-peck for icons (again, why).
Seriously? Well, I suppose some people use their Stream Deck sort of in that way, and if it suits their preferences or use case, then thatâs great for them.
I get the impression that the Flux could be a wonderful solution, but alas, so far, it appears to be a solution for a set of problems that mostly donât exist, or which are trivial or even self-parodic (âfeed your pet keyboard catâ provokes laughter at, not with the product) or which could be handled in other, more efficient and more economic ways. Yes, the quoted text comes from the Flux Web site. Did I overlook lots of text about practical applications?
The Flux looks like a thoughtfully designed product, and I suspect that there will be a minority of users for whom it will be of practical benefit, but I get the impression that for most, the USP is in the glamour, not the utility. On the other hand, perhaps the imagination of users will reveal unexpected strengths of the product. Maybe lots of potential users already have applications in mind and could help out the marketing team. Anyway, the keyboard is certainly out of the ordinary and I hope that it does well and inspires further innovation.
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Oops. I keep referring to the Flux Keyboard as the âFlexâ. Perhaps that will be the portable version, or Appleâs ultra-thin take on the idea.
Well ... having done that a fair bit, I must confess to feeling a bit unconvinced ...
Best industry practice is to work into one's strongest language.
( Plenty of reading of other scripts, but mostly typing in just one )
Anyway, I wish them luck with getting it into production, and testing the market ... (both sound challenging).
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It has a very high cool factor. If it were shown on a TV show like CSI Miami, sales could take off, just for the cool factor. Maybe I could use it to impress the girls (if I knew any.)
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You have an excellent memory 
, unlike mine. And you're absolutely right. That's why I wish Apple would install a keyboard like that in MacBooks. That would be great â and completely unlikely.
By the way, thank you very much for your links. I find this world of programmable keyboards very interesting... and also a bit crazy. Sorry, I don't mean that personally, of course.
A small minority of finger and brain acrobats who try to redefine every key to use it for something else than it was actually intended for. 
I don't have any experience with such keyboards, but they also explain things that can't work. Something can be triggered when a key is pressed or when it is released. If you mix these two states, nothing good comes of it. When typing quickly, I mean.
Anyway, it gave me a few ideas. I'll try to implement that on normal keyboards.
You've probably had a programmable keyboard for years and are very skilled at coming up with systematic shortcuts that you can remember... even without icons.
My IQ is simply too low for that. I need icons. 
That's funny That too 
Ah, with my non-existent KM knowledge, I tried to do something.
The idea is to trigger something with âspaceâ + letter without anything unexpected happening.
It works... sort of. Not really... a little bit.
Alpahbet delayed Macros.kmmacros|attachment (43.5 KB)
Space Macros.kmmacros|attachment (4.5 KB)
Triggers Macros.kmmacros|attachment (6.4 KB)
The group âAlpahbet delayedâ contains the letters. They are typed with a slight delay. This is necessary.
The âSpaceâ group activates/deactivates two macro groups.
The âTriggerâ group contains the triggers (letters) that trigger something with Space.
If anyone who understands this would like to take a look and improve it, I wouldn't mind at all.
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One I don't think they mention, perhaps because it draws inevitable cost comparison, is as a replacement for keyboard overlays. A contractor working in many different apps, apps which always seem to just different enough to be annoying when it comes to shortcuts, could find by-app auto-switching very convenient.
And it wouldn't need to replace many keyboard covers before it started looking like a cost-effective solution.
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Just flex that Flux!
It comes and goes, Bob. It comes and goes.
Oh, no offence taken. 
Iâm sure itâs nothing to do with IQ, but much more to do with individual preferences and instincts when it comes to user interfaces.
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