When the Luminae glass keyboard project concluded its campaign on Kickstarter in early 2012, it was pretty much just a glimmer in its creator’s eye, more an idea than a product. That didn’t stop it from nearly tripling its funding goal. Move ahead to CES 2013 and the Luminae from TransluSense is very much a real thing, and it’s a thing of beauty.
A light pipe, infrared LEDs, and visible LEDs feed signals into the artfully curved glass. Three cameras look upward from below and see when your fingers break the light pattern. That’s how it recognizes what you’re doing on the glass. A smaller trackpad version will also be available.
So what’s the purpose of a glass keyboard, especially one that costs $500? For starters, you’ll never have to shake, toothpick, or vacuum crumbs out from under your keys ever again. Ultimately, the real answer is that it just plain looks awesome.