Back in the mid 80s I imagined keyboards with a 32x32 LCD display on each key, a new breed of keyboards not limited to be simple input devices but full fledged IO devices: PVKs (Programmable Visual Keyboards). PVKs where meant to provide visual feedback on the system state by changing the mini displays dynamically, for example, conveying the active font family and style or the available commands through icons, animating keys and naturally portraying any keyboard layout. I designed the PVK electronics and mechanics but the idea remained on paper due to its prohibitive manufacturing cost. Some 10 years later I got in touch with several LCD manufacturers in order to understand if the device had become economically feasible, well, not really, one manufacturer suggested making the whole keyboard a touch screen, my reply was that yes that was an alternative but one of the main objectives of the project was maintaining the keyboard mechanical feel most of us are accustomed to.

Around 2000 Art Lebedev released the wonderfully designed mechanical keyboard Optimus Maximus keyboard and in the late 2000 the touch based concept Optimus Tactus keyboard.

By the way, the name of my one man company is KeyVisions (founded in 1996/01/17), it's genesis stems from the KeyVision project ;)