AtomKeybOR - an interesting programming keyboard

from hackster.io

The logical OR is an important programming concept, becoming true if one input or the other is true. This device, however has little to do with an OR gate’s operation, but instead with the shape of its symbol, a curved surface that just so happens to match up nicely with the natural curve of a person’s fingers.

Jason Lopez of AtomSoftTech created the AtomKeybOR around this symbolic representation, popping in five key switches that are configured for different programming tasks.

Although it could certainly be reconfigured to do other tasks, the current shortcuts for this keyboard are: copy, paste, select line, select all, and ESC. Of course, one might be tempted to add a hotkey for Stack Overflow as a copy/paste source, but while creatively shaped, this looks like quite a useful tool rather than a nicely executed joke.

To create this functional art piece, Lopez used a Wazer water jet cutter to cut a glass keyboard plate on the top, and presumably more traditional cutting tools for the wooden base.

Screws and standoffs hold the plate and base together. Running the show is an ATSAMD21G18 microcontroller, allowing easy breadboard testing of the setup via his DipDuino-SAMD21 dev board. A custom PCB that accommodates for the buttons in a nice angular form-factor is used in the final (so far) version.