It’s October, which means Google Japan is yet again showing off a new keyboard concept that could one day take over the world. Of course, it’s all just for show and fun, but the brand has made it a yearly tradition to show off its wacky keyboard concepts in order to promote Google’s GBoard app, and we’re definitely here for it.
This year, the brand took inspiration from rotary phones of the past, creating the Gboard Dial Version (via The Verge). It’s one of the more complex devices that the brand has built, but what we love the most is that Google provides plans, so you can also build one yourself if you have the time and skill.
Google has done it again
Gboard Dial Version is meant to change the way we type by eliminating buttons to push and tap. Instead, users are required to rotate dials in order to input letters. Those that were alive during the 1950s and 60s will surely find this action quite familiar, as most phones during that time relied on rotary input in order to make a call.
For those unfamiliar, the process is quite simple, where you slot your finger into the letter you want to activate, and turn the dial. While traditional phones had just so many numbers, this new Dial Version keyboard has an overwhelming amount of letters, numbers, and functions. There’s even an Enter key that needs to be dialed as well.
Google adds to the experience by having a mouse stand, which will end a video call when the mouse is placed on the stand. This again mimics older rotary phones, which require users to put the handset on the stand in order to hang up the call. If this has you interested, you can head to the GitHub page to build your own.
Or if you’re not really looking to go all in, you can always just download a strange keyboard to your phone in order to experiment with something new. For most of us, though, we’ll probably stick with something more reliable like Gboard in order to type out our messages on our devices.
