Google just designed the endless donut keyboard you never knew you needed

Google Japan has just released a new type of hardware keyboard. It calls it Gboard-Double-Sided, also known as “Infinity Keyboard.” I call it Krispy Kreme because it looks like a donut. The device is essentially an endless loop with locks on both sides. (Also, a joke, designed to promote the actual software-based Gboard you can use on Android and iPhone devices.) But while it’s just a trend that started as April’s Fools back in 2019, it’s actually a keyboard. it works and you can build your own by following open source schematics, 3D printable STL files, and firmware, all available on GitHub.

The Google Japan team wanted to create a keyboard that could be used on both its front and back sides, in any location, and by many people—because why not? The keyboard is two-sided, following the geometry of the Möbius line. There is no clear top or bottom, and there is an upward tilt so that you can use it with your hands in an (almost) visible way. Users can type from 360 degrees around the device, holding it in any way they want. Indeed, from the demo video, it really looks like you can type in any position imaginable, giving yourself instant carpal tunnel syndrome.

The two-dimensional USB-C Gboard specification includes 208 mechanical keys arranged in an ortholinear (meaning the keys are arranged in a grid pattern, unlike the staggered layout commonly found on keyboards) two-dimensional layout. The keys are Cherry MX compatible switches, a popular standard in mechanical keyboards that is loved by keyboard fans for their strong tactile response, durability, and unique clack feel. Its weight, says Google Japan, is “20.8 donuts.” Given that the average weight of a Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Donut (gold standard) is 1.7 ounces, this means that the Gboard Double-Sided version might weigh 2.2 pounds (you’re welcome). The radius is 4 inches, so you can comfortably carry it anywhere—on your head or on one arm—and still have two hands free to carry a cup of coffee and a real donut.

Google Japan culture

The two-sided keyboard is part of Google Japan’s history of experimental input devices, which has created a limited series of four keyboards that have not worked so far. On April 1, 2019, Google Japan launched the Gboard Bending Spoon. Users chose letters by bending a spoon, with a pressure sensor to determine the letter they wanted (you can build your own with the firmware and schematics available here).

The following year, in 2020, the company released the Gboard Bar (note: it’s worth noting the URL). This long stick keyboard features all the keys lined up in one straight row, creating a one-dimensional QWERTY layout, with a total height of nearly 5 feet. “Designed for simplicity and collaboration,” Google Japan joked, encouraging two users to work together by typing at the same time, like this new donut. You can download all the building details here.

Then, on September 30, 2021, Google Japan launched Gboard CAPS, a wearable keyboard that looks like a cap(ish). With this one, you can type with head gestures. It’s probably the most surrealist and (literally) mind-bending of them all, and you can GitHub the hell out of it, too. Enjoy the fun and neck pain afterwards.

If anything, this ongoing keyboard joke shows that there is no one in the world like the Japanese who can create the world’s weirdest, funniest designs. No one else can compete with his imagination, but here I humbly submit the last two words of the next Gboard, Google Japan: it’s a sermon.

Dōmo arigatōgozaimasu!