I think it would be cool to have a piezo electric keyboard. The amount of force that you apply to the key would determine characteristics about the letter. Soft touch, small letter, harder touch, capital letter. You could also set parameters such that the font size would increase or change color depending on how hard you hit the key. One step further would be to associate a sound (like a piano or something) to the key, so you could also make music as you type.-- scooter64, Feb 14 2002 Piezoelectric definition http://chemistry.ab...rks_SKD&terms=piezoFor you bliss. Don't be so shocked! [bristolz, Feb 14 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004] TouchStream Keyboards http://fingerworks.com/Baked. not with piezoelectricity though, rather capacative fields. I have one. it is wonderful. using the gesture editor you can map 'pressure' to any action. [johnmeacham, Oct 04 2004] What's this obsession with piezo-electricity everyone seems to have? There are other ways of making things touch sensitive.-- pottedstu, Feb 14 2002 Maybe Kurzweill could eventually displace Keytronic and MS as the pre-eminent computer keyboard maker? Nah. I think that a keyboard with velocity sensitivity and aftertouch would be a cool toy, but really hard to master. Probably end up with all kinds of weird uNiNtEnDeD character attributes that would drive ya' nuts.-- bristolz, Feb 14 2002 Hmmm. Link works for me. Basically, it says:
Something, a material (often a crystalline material) that if you were to bend it, it generates a small amount of electricity. The reverse is true as well, if you send a little electric charge to it, it bends. There are all kinds of uses for stuff with this property however, I don't think computer keyboards is one of them.
(is that better, bliss?)-- bristolz, Feb 14 2002 I learned to type on an old, dirty manual typewriter that really needed cleaning. I hit the keys pretty hard, and can't really help it...ALL MY TYPING WOULD END UP IN 40 POINT BOLD CAPITALS...-- StarChaser, Feb 14 2002 i think this would be better for games then typing. you could press the button to walk forward and if you press it harder you run, or varies how high you jump (with a limet of course). but for typeing i dont think it would be usefull...-- i-Mer, Feb 15 2002 IIRC, manual typewriter keys needed to be hit very evenly, or the page came out looking mottled - and that was just the weight of ink, not changes in font.
Might be fun, sa long as it could be turned off.-- hello_c, Feb 19 2002 The original Streetfighter arcade machines had pressure-sensitive buttons. These let you select from a soft, medium or hard kick or punch depending on how hard you pressed the kick or punch button. However, these were later replaced by a more conventional cluster of 3 kick and 3 punch buttons, I think for reliability and ease of manufacture/cabinet reuse.-- pottedstu, Feb 19 2002 For the increasing population of laptop techno musicians this would be very handy. As a techno musician myslef I have experience in assigning parameters to velocity and aftertouch (in MIDI). It DOES NOT MATTER if you do not have accurate control over the parameter as long as you chose the paramter carefully. It makes for more natural/organic sounds. Applying this logic to, say, darkness/boldness of a typed character may result in a mottled look but that is what some of us would prefer... it allows for expression.-- sqgl, May 27 2002 I WOULD NOT WANT SOMEONE TO ACCIDENTALLY MISCONSTRUE MY TONE AND THINK I WAS YELLING OR ANGRY JUST BECAUSE OF THE WAY MY TEXT LOOKS.-- hexadecimal, Jul 11 2002 The Sony Playstayion 2® brand video game controllers incorporate analog pressure sensitive buttons. I have not noticed any effect in gameplay in the few games I've tried, however.-- supercat, Jan 03 2003 many games dont use the pressure sensitivity features of the PS2 controllers. The feature is turned off by default and is enabled by the game. I think some early PS2 racing games enabled them by default, but Sony asked them to not do so, as it would unneedingly wear the pressure sensors out. I dont understand tho how disabling makes it last longer, not without moving parts inside the controller.-- ironfroggy, Jan 03 2003 //I dont understand tho how disabling makes it last longer, not without moving parts inside the controller.//
I would conjecture that the controller works by having a squishy button push a carbon 'pill' against some PC board contacts; the board then measures the current through the contacts.
If this is indeed the design, the problem comes if/when players feel inclined to push the squishy button harder than its elastic limit will allow. If this happens, the button will get slightly permanently deformed. Over time, the button may get deformed to the point that it is difficult to press it effectively. Further, the surface of the carbon pill may degrade from the excess pressure, especially since the PC board against which it is being pressed is not exactly flat (the traces have non-trivial thickness).
I suspect the game design issue is that a game design which requires normal and light presses will work well and not excessively wear the controller. A game which requires normal and extra-heavy presses may, however, cause damage quickly.-- supercat, Jan 03 2003 random, halfbakery