Hardware Hex Editor

It looks a bit like a tablet, but it's covered with an array of “odometer” dials, each with a hex digit from 0-F. They're grouped into bytes, and then into four byte groups, like most hex editors. Next to each character is a thumbwheel that lets you adjust the character. You connect the device to your computer over USB, and load up a file. The dials adjust to display the current section of the file you're looking at.

On the right hand side is a group of dials with an ASCII representation of the hex data (if this proves impractical, a nice looking OLED display might also be acceptable). “Page up” and “Page down” buttons let you navigate, and a separate set of wheels at the top both indicates and lets you specify the offset into the file. An “insert” button lets you put in a blank character at any point by pressing it and then moving a thumbwheel. A “delete” button works in a similar fashion.

This has no real purpose, except that the sort of person who uses a hex editor would also find this beyond cool.