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Multitouch Keyboard coming to MacBooks (or MacBook mini)
Apple seems to be considering replacing the keyboard (say of a MacBook) with a touch sensitive surface. This would be great for browsing coverflow, zooming in on google maps, gesturing etc but many touch typists are probably screaming NO! In this patent application Apple (courtesy of an ex-Fingerworks director, Wayne Westerman) are trying incorporate tactility on a touch surface keyboard. This idea seems to be the natural next step to the FingerWorks MacNtouch keyboard, which was a drop in replacement for the 12′ or 15′ G4 keyboard. The other natural extension of this idea would be to include a display under the touch surface… the mind boggles. It seems a bit more advanced than Apple’s last try at providing tactile feedback for touchpads. My prediction for a new subnote MacBook would be just a screen with a tactile-feedback keyboard on the bottom half of the display.
So what sort of tactile feedback is possible? The problem is that ideally for touching and gesturing on a multitouch surface you want a nice smooth surface on which your fingers can glide over unimpeded… for a keyboard however, you want, well, a keyboard (primarily the keys giving you feedback about their location etc). Here’s how it’s expressed in the patent:
User acceptance of the TouchStream.TM. integrated typing, pointing and gesture input devices manufactured by FingerWorks demonstrated that learning to type on a smooth, un-textured surface is possible, but takes substantial practice. In many ways, typing on such a surface is almost like learning to type all over again. It is believed that mainstream acceptance of typing on touch surfaces will require shortening of the typing re-acclimation period, which, in turn, requires improved keystroke tactility.
These two competing needs are hard to reconcile in a single product – so along comes this patent application which offers a few solutions:
Previous art essentially fudged on these issues and put Braille-like dots onto the smooth touch surface (usually just to identify the position of the ‘home keys’) — how annoying it would be to run your finger over your iPod touch or iPhone’s screen and be constantly be hitting little dots. So, what does this idea from Apple suggest? Well, a number of things — dots which rise out of the surface where the keys are (Braille-like) or even better and to cut a long story short — when you activate the keyboard mode of your new MacBook mini a frame rises through the touch surface (which is made of a soft, but hopefully durable, membrane). The frame distorts the surface of the touch sensitive surface and creates key-like divots for each key which may have a gel-like feel.
Articulating Frame Protrudes at Key Edges During Typing
A frame within the touch surface is raised or lowered depending on what the user is doing. When the user is using the touchpad as a, um, touchpad the frame is lowered and the touch surface is flat and smooth. When the user starts typing or is typing mode the frame is mechanically raised and changes the topography of the touchpad surface.
Apple’s Previous Attempts
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