Google unveils a conveyor belt keyboard designed to bring keys to the typist

Google Japan’s Gboard team has unveiled the Gboard Conveyor Belt Version, a desktop keyboard concept that moves keys past a waiting fingertip on looping belts. The project’s Japanese name, Gboard kurukuru version, means roughly “round and round,” with a play on a word meaning “to approach” or “arrive.”

The design responds to the limits of conventional keyboards for one-handed typing, which can require users to move their hand across the keyboard. Google’s stated idea is that “the keyboard should be the one that moves.” Each of the 4 belts carries 29 keys, for 116 keys in total. Uppercase and lowercase letters have separate keys, so users do not need to press Shift for capitals. Google says this makes the design intuitive.

Google does not plan to sell the device. It has published design files on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 license. The files include KiCad schematics, PCB layouts and firmware; building the device also requires a 3D printer.

Google describes the concept as the 15th proposal in its keyboard series. The project’s GitHub index traces the series to a drum-kit input system released on April 1, 2010. After a pause in 2020, it returned on October 1, 2021, a date chosen to refer to a 101-key keyboard. Whether the conveyor belt design makes typing easier remains to be seen.