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Google Japan creates QWERTY keyboard cap you can wear and type with

By Alan Friedman

Published: Oct 06, 2023, 1:23 PM

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Google Japan creates QWERTY keyboard cap you can wear and type with

You might know that the part of your physical keyboard that you tap and has a letter printed on it is called a keyboard cap. Google Japan took the idea of a keyboard cap to create a real cap that not only sits on the top of your head but also can be used to type on your phone. Google calls it the Gboard cap after the name of its virtual QWERTY app. If you want to see how you would look while wearing one, visit this page to use the webcam on your Mac or PC to get a preview.

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If you're checking out the preview, you can toggle the settings in the upper right to English letters. You'll notice that different letters appear when you tilt your head in different angles which is how the cap can be used as a text input device for your phone, tablet, or computer. Google Japan's blog says, "I want to carry around a keyboard that fits my hand, but my hands are full and I can't. We developed it with not only portability in mind but also functionality and form." The "Caps Lock" feature prevents the cap from falling off of your head.

Here's the thing. Google is not building this product and is leaving it up to you to follow the directions on GitHub. Or, you can build it out of cardboard (assuming you feel like translating the Japanese instructions) by following the directions found at this link. Future design possibilities include "a reversible red and white version, a version with a built-in display, a version with a smartphone case, and a solar-powered version."

Follow these directions (they're in Japanese) to build the cap out of cardboard

When you rotate your head to see the letter on the display that you want to input, you tap the top of the cap just as though you're typing a letter on your physical QWERTY. We can see where using this cap to type social media posts could result in a giant-sized headache. Still, it's too bad that Google didn't produce a limited number of these instead of turning it into a DIY project. This would make a great gift for the tech nerd in your life-even if that tech nerd is yourself.

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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.