Keyboard Builders' Digest / Projects
Generative kAiBoard
Pamungkas Sumasta's kAiBoard is an internet-connected device powered by ChatGPT with built-in virtual assistant, redefining user interaction.
Published August 24, 2023
The Generative_kAiBoard by Pamungkas Sumasta aka sumasta/sumastavr packs cutting-edge technology into a keyboard. Honestly, the result is jawdropping and intimidating at the same time: gesture detection, NFC tag reader, AI-generated text, virtual assistant. I love the project but I'm not sure I love were we are heading with this in general.
Introducing the "Generative KAiboard": a revolutionary fusion of cutting-edge technology and design. This keyboard redefines the boundaries of user interaction, boasting a plethora of advanced features, elegant design, AI-powered intelligence and virtual assistance that transcend traditional input devices – sumastavr.
No doubt it transcends conventional interfaces: featuring a mono speaker for audio feedback and alerts, the KAiBoard is your personal assistant talking to you.
The board's centerpiece is a 5-inch LCD display with a capacitive touch screen, offering a dynamic hub of information and interaction for producing AI-generated text and feeding it into a host computer on a flip of a switch.
By default upon powering-on it works just as your standard keyboard. However, it has internet access (the network interface is handled by a separate network IC (W5300)) and you can send prompts to the ChatGPT server. Both your typing and the answer from ChatGPT is buffered on the screen and you can stream it into your connected device.
Specs
- 70 keys, MX
- monoblock split ortho, 15 degrees angle
- 8x8 multizone time-of-flight sensor (presence, gesture and intrusion detection)
- 5-inch capacitive LCD display
- PoE (Power-over-Ethernet) design
- "type counter"
- speaker
- W5300 shield and Nucleo board for modularity
- Virtual assistant via HeyGen
- Arduino-based firmware
I'm genuinely taken aback by ChatGPT […]. While both ChatGPT and humans generate text, humans mainly use keyboards to transfer their thoughts from the analog world to the digital realm. To me, it's only a matter of time before the keyboard and ChatGPT merge into one, and that time is now – sumasta.
Resources
Thankfully, the kAiBoard is not just open-source but also a well-documented project!
- https://github.com/sumastavr/Generative_kAiBoard
- https://maker.wiznet.io/sumasta/contest/generative-kaiboard-beyond-typing-with-generative-ai/
- https://www.sumasta.tech/
Published on Thu 24th Aug 2023. Featured in KBD #132 (source).
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