While the rest of the world continues to squabble, there sits Google Japan like some precocious little kid yet to be diagnosed, and dreaming up some of the strangest concept devices we’ve ever seen. There was the Yunomi cup keyboard, and… whatever this monstrosity is. It hasn’t yet given up on the funky, if entirely impractical, ideas — this time creating the Gboard Dial Version that works exactly how you think it does.
Google’s feeling (key)board
You best believe the Gboard Dial Version is fully functional, mimicking rotary phones of old. It swaps out every pressable key on a regular QWERTY keyboard for a spinning dial instead. If this is your first time hearing about one of those, you put your finger on the letter you want, spin it until it fights back, and let go. Rinse, repeat.
The Gboard Dial Version isn’t using a proper spring-loaded dial to receive those inputs like a proper old rotary phone would. Instead, Google Japan adapts a more elegant (and easier-to-craft) solution that uses modern sensors to translate each rotation into USB signals that’ll then be picked up by your PC. It’s slow, but it works.
There’s even an accompanying old-style rotary phone receiver accessory on the side, too, complete with an old-fashioned coiled cord to complete the 80s aesthetic. Like how calls would end when the phone is placed down, the Dial Version will turn your camera off on video calls by placing your mouse in the receiver.
Not even Google Japan is crazy enough to sell one of these. But it isn’t letting all that hard work go to waste. It fully embraces the advent of 3D printers, having released all the data needed to make one yourself. Circuit board designs, CAD files, firmware, and instructions on how it all fits together — all available to download on GitHub.
