Keyboards don’t exactly spring to mind when you think of high-tech innovations, especially now that we have voice and even gesture controls for our gadgets. Still, a new device out of the Georgia Institute of Technology is taking typing in a smart direction.
 
The Georgia Tech researchers have developed an intelligent keyboard that captures information about the force and length of keystrokes. They say these patterns are unique to different typists and could lead to a new type of biometric security, locking out anyone who doesn’t type like you do.
 
The keyboard can also power itself using something called contact electrification. It generates current when your fingertips touch the keys, which are coated with an electrode material. So we’re talking about a wireless keypad that never needs batteries.
 
The researchers published a paper about their intelligent keyboard in the journal ACS Nano. [Jun Chen et al, Personalized Keystroke Dynamics for Self-Powered Human–Machine Interfacing]
 
Maybe the best feature of the keyboard is that it’s basically made from layers of plastic and has no mechanical keys. That means you could drop crumbs or even spill coffee on it without any damage—forget voice recognition, now you’re talking!
 
—Larry Greenemeier
 
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]