IR Keyboards.

Submitted 3 years ago

What is the difference between a SmartTV that ate a RasPi Compute Card and a Tele-schooling Terminal? A dishwasher-safe IR keyboard.
It works like this: most RasPis do not have Bluetooth receivers - that chip is part of the networking package, which is unnecessary and inefficient to include in a smartTV, because they're going to be getting their data via Ethernet cable or cable TV connection - Wi-Fi doesn't even stand a chance of keeping up with 4-k movies; we already know that trying to do 1080p movies via Wi-Fi is more than bad enough! But all TVs have receivers for IR remote controls, and RasPis are easy to reprogram to accept keyboard inputs that way, and use them for doing onscreen homework. While it would be possible to just plug in a long-tailed USB keyboard, sometimes the geometries for that are not convenient - especially on SmartTVs that only got 2 USB ports, so you have to use a port multiplier if you want a webcam and a USB device for storing user data, too. This is when you want a mobile keyboard that can send its data in via that underutilized IR channel.
The reason for the IR keyboards to be top-rack dishwasher safe is that people will use them most during disease outbreaks when hand-washing is very important. We're already seeing ads reminding people that their smartphones are like third hands - washing your hands doesn't do much good if you immediately go recontaminate them by grabbing a dirty phone. While they now make gadgets that use high-intensity UV light to sterilize phones, these things are not scaled to wrap around full-sized keyboards. There is a logical reason for that: smartphones are made of glass and brushed aluminum, both of which are not much affected by UV-C light, but keyboards are usually make of plastic - which loses its UV inhibitors and breaks down under treatment like that! While it would be possible to make aluminum keyboards that could safely be disinfected that way, it'd be a lot cheaper to make dishwasher-safe plastic keyboards that are meant to be cleaned in soap and hot water, just like your hands are. Given that they already make sealed ebook readers meant for poolside use and cell phones that use induction charging rather than having USB ports, it's probably only a matter of time before they bring out dishwasher-safe tablets and smartphones, too - but those are not computer peripherals, so you probably aren't interested in that market.
It would be better if the dishwasher-safe IR keyboards ran on embedded photovoltaic panels, rather than being dependent on users remembering to put them on induction charging stands regularly - solar power is more than enough for blipping a few characters a second across a room, and keyboard users are a lot less used to tracking battery charge states and recharging when needed than phone and tablet users promptly learn to be. I've heard of solar-powered Bluetooth Keyboards, we've had dishwasher-safe wired USB keyboards for years, and IR keyboards already exist as a niche product, so making keyboards with all of those features at once shouldn't be too hard - the question was just "who would want one?" COVID-19 has brought us the answer to that.