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By Alex Lloyd-Jones

I spent some time in the library looking for inspiration. While I was there I noticed a problem with the keyboards students we’re using. They were made with dozens and dozens of components, which seemed overly complex. Additionally, keyboards are very unhygienic because bacteria build up in the gaps between keys, which can be hard to clean.

So I got this idea: what if you could make a keyboard out of a single sheet of cardboard? Instead of having dozens and dozens of keys, you could deboss them all onto a sheet of cardboard. This would mean no gaps in-between keys, making it cleaner to clean.

Although this product did not properly work by the project deadline, I’ve been really intrigued by this idea and so I’m continuing to develop it in my spare time.

Also this solution is very suitable as the keyboard would be fully recyclable.

The project uses the electronic components of an existing keyboard including the chip that recognises when a key is pressed and the contacts and connections which were attached to the plastic sheets. These were held in place and still worked when removed from the regular casing. The keyboard worked like a regular keyboard when plugged into a USB port.

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