While flexible keyboards are not something new, not even the wireless kind, the Qii keyboard is surely something people have not seen before.
Moving from physical keyboards to software ones on touchscreen displays might have been a sign of evolution for some people. However, nobody can deny that typing on a fully fledged keyboard is a lot faster and convenient than jostling the fingers on a tiny touchscreen keyboard. Carrying a bluetooth keyboard around may prove cumbersome, and even the silicone ones take a lot of room in the pockets or in a bag. The Qii wireless flexible keyboard intends to change all this, as it both highly functional and ergonomic.
In the above picture you can see the Qii keyboard rolled out. The white part acts as a storage for the keyboard, and the astonishing part is that it doubles as a touch pad that enables users to scroll Web pages, zoom in and out, and so on. The first image also reveals the numpad and the function keys. I am not sure how the function keys could be used on smarphone, but if the developers of Qii allowed users to assign tasks according to their wishes, it would be great.
Qii features an anti-fingerprint coating that will keep grease away. That’s not all, however. This amazing keyboard is resistant to liquids and dirt, so it can be used in many environments. As seen in the above picture and in the clip at the end of this post, spilling some coffee on Qii is not a problem, since the liquid, either hot or cold, will not affect its functionality. People need to wash it and wipe it dry, and then it can be used again.
Physical shocks won’t damage Qii, either. The electronic components are printed on the transparent film that forms Qii’s body. Hitting it with a hammer may seem a bit extreme, but the developers of this keyboard wanted to show that nothing can affect it.
The Qii keyboard was featured for a brief period of time on Indiegogo, where the developers wanted to raise the funds for mass producing this device. I used the past tense since the Indiegogo website no longer features their page, which might seem a bit peculiar. I wonder if the developers are heading to Kickstarter, as they could have a greater audience there. Abandoning the project altogether would be a real shame, since Qii has a lot of potential and a lot of people could make use of it.
If you liked this post, please check the iPhone 5 QWERTY keyboard attachment and Logitech’s washable keyboard.
