Google Creates A Keycap Hat You Can Type With On The Go

Images via Google Japan

Google Japan has been introducing new QWER-ky form factors that make you reconsider what a keyboard should entail. Last year, it debuted a bar-shaped physical Gboard that could double as a bug trap. The year before that, there was a keyboard teacup—a key-cup?—designed to prevent spills.

This time, the team has set out to solve the dilemma of wanting a portable keyboard but not wanting to carry it around. Its solution? A literal key-cap you can incorporate into your daily style that simultaneously comes to the rescue whenever inspiration strikes.

The Gboard Hat is built with a six-axis inertial sensor, which can detect your intended key by the angle in which it’s positioned. You cycle through characters by moving it leftward or rightward on your head, before pushing to confirm, which triggers a satisfying click sound expected of keyboards.

The accessory is Bluetooth-enabled to be connected to any device, is powered by a 3.7V 120mAh battery, and can be charged with a USB-C adaptor. Incidentally, the Gboard mobile app is available for both Android and iOS devices, with the latest iPhone models—the iPhone 15 lineup—being USB-C-compatible, as well.

Image via Google Japan

Its nature as a hat means the wearable keyboard provides well-needed shade on sunny days. In a video introducing the device, Google foresees it being useful for when you’ve overslept for work and don’t have time to fix your hair. It also imagines magicians adopting the device to communicate with their assistants without detection.

While the designers acknowledge that the hat’s technology isn’t sophisticated enough to transport you to the metaverse, they note that it could help you go incognito at a masquerade ball, thanks to its oversized form.

Still, customization options are aplenty with this hat. You could give it a Caps Lock plugin, attached to a chin strap to keep the keycap secure and portable. A mesh module helps to prevent the cap from getting deformed over long-term use or wear. The Gboard team is also contemplating reversible colored variants, ones with built-in displays, and even solar-powered options.

Image via Google Japan

“I used to get so angry and frustrated when I made a typo that I would even get a headache,” one user reflects in the video. “But since I started using this keyboard, I can keep a cool head and type accurately.”

If you haven’t guessed it by now, the Gboard Hat is a gag innovation that won’t go on sale. Seeing as how it only has a single button, you’d be better off handwriting your ideas during those eureka moments, anyway.

Image via Google Japan

However, if you still consider the odd invention to be your type, the good news is that you can DIY it at home as Google has open-sourced the design and shared it on GitHub. There are two iterations you can follow; the first, a mechanical version, is its intended typable form, while the second is crafted from cardboard and is purely ornamental.

Image via Google Japan

[via Ars Technica and New York Post, images via Google Japan]