About this project
This campaign is finished, but
"It's even nerdier than me!" -Mike Butcher the Jedi of Techcrunch, about the Octodon.
"A very interesting solution". - Deval Patrick, Senator of the Galactic Republic, ex-Governor of Massachusetts.
"This is really awesome!" - Max Lobovsky, Admiral of FormLabs.
"More comfortable than SWYPE”, - Anderson Nnewihe, PhD, Representative of Samsung planet system.
"Wow, tactile pads as a whole keyboard!" - Eric Andersen, Representative of IBM Global planet system.
The Octodon keyboard is a physical keyboard initially designed for handhelds to extend our control over mobile devices. Octodon has 8 input elements on its back side, one for each finger, and 2 – on the front side for thumbs. It turns any smartphone or tablet into a device for hard typing, sophisticated gaming, or even robotic control. It is cool for any application, which requires rich, fast and precise eyes-free control.
Compact and slim, it easily connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth. Special magnetic sticker can be firmly attached to the back side of your smartphone or your smartphone's case. Then you can quickly attach the phone to one of Octodon's magnetic zones and use Octodon both in portrait or landscape orientations. To be truly mobile you do not need any desktop.
Powerful, easy to learn and master, precise, adjustable, universal and open.
The Force is strong with this one.
Octodon is a pocket-sized transformable mobile gadget. Being unfolded it features a comfortable grip while typing and editing texts on your smartphone. You do not need a desk to place your mobile keyboard anymore. Now your keyboard is in your hands.You type one character with a slight movement of one finger.
Involving all your fingers into the typing process makes Octodon the most powerful and the fastest typing device among mobile physical keyboards in this galaxy. An impressive typing speed of 80WPM was already achieved by our pilots with early prototypes. And we could only imagine what future aces can get of fully functional and operational one.
And not only typing becomes easier. You can use the power of Octodon's input controls for text editing and formatting. It can be done by switching between different input modes with your left thumb.
With edit mode you can effortlessly navigate through the text, copy and paste.
Basic editing with Octodon keyboard prototype:
Whatever species of Galaxy you are, you will be able to start typing on the Octodon right out of the box. Octodon features an amazing "matte glass" style interface – it seems you see your own fingers moving on the back side.... It is easy to learn and master, and readily connected to your smartphone. Touch-typing comes to you naturally in several hours of using Octodon. No special training required – you do not need to memorize the layout or so on… it comes by itself. And when it came, you can switch off screen hints and use the whole screen for typing.
We all have unique hands of different size. But with our patented magnetic joysticks you can reposition Octodon input elements individually, up to your hands - for the best fit. Whether you have big or small fingers - it's good for both. Octodon is the only keyboard that perfectly fits YOUR hand.
Simply adjust the keyboard up to you.
Your eyes can deceive you; don't trust them.
But your fingers with the Octodon can feel a perfect tactile feedback so you can work on your smartphone without visual control.Octodon can be used with a screen reader, if needed. You will never need to write in email an excuse for typos - you will not have them with the Octodon.
Octodon is an open hardware platform. It means open communication protocols, open software and open hardware. In addition to typing and text editing, you can use Octodon for gaming, or robotics control.
All Octodon's joysticks are replaceable. You can set up your own configuration of input elements, assigning your custom commands and macros on them. You can even purchase additional joysticks to build your own input device from the scratch.
Advanced users can even construct their own custom input elements adding new functionality to Octodon, never been used in smartphone keyboard before. Give rein to your imagination and experiment!
Octodon works in all applications on iOS8 and Android. It is easily attached and connected via Bluetooth, so you can use it with many devices. You can even connect it to your space ship control deck, your PC or smartTV - to work more naturally and comfortable. Enjoy effortless typing on many devices and may the force be with you.
There's no need for physical captions on the Octodon buttons, so all layouts are just the matter of software. With numerous input elements it is possible to support almost every language. We'll provide you a tool which can be used to alter a layout or construct your own.
COMPATIBILITY
HARDWARE
Octodon is a Bluetooth Smart device.
It's compatible with Bluetooth Smart Ready devices running Android 4.3 or later, or Apple Smart Ready devices running iOS 8 or later ( iPhone 6 Plus, 6, 5s, 5c, 5 & 4s, iPad Air, Mini, 3rd & 4th gen).
You can find a list of devices with Bluetooth Smart Ready support here
SOFTWARE
To display on-screen hints when typing in any application your mobile OS must support third-party keyboard applications. It's essential for Android OS, and available in iOS from version 8.
We are developing software for Android and iOS, but if we hit our extended goals, we will be able to add desktop support - Windows, MacOS, and Linux.
We'll do our best to develop software for other mobile platforms with 3rd party keyboard support.
If you want to get Octodon, but your device doesn't meet requirements above, please, let us know, so we could shape the future development.
Thank you!
OCTODON IN THE NEWS
Kendall Press - Innovation Happens Everywhere
BetaBoston - MIT International Innovation Symposium showcases impressive European startups
Building Global Innovators MIT-Portugal - Octodon
First Reviews Of The Octodon Keyboard We've already presented Octodon at many events all over the galaxy not so far away. You could see it at CES'15, at MIT, at Pirate Summit in Germany, at Building Global Innovators events in Portugal, at Skolkovo Startup Village in Russia or elsewhere... Many people had a chance to try Octodon for some time. We recorded some of their reviews to share with you.
TIMELINE
PROJECT STORY
We started this project to create a handheld touch-typing device which is fast and efficient, easy to learn and still pocket-sized. In other words - to bring the efficiency of full-size keyboard to pocket devices.
We believe than in the era of mobile and wearable electronics one shouldn't search for a desk surface to set up a keyboard to get stuff done.
First prototypes were designed to be attached to a smartphone, ready to be used in seconds. We made them as clip-cases. We understood that these cases had to be really slim, and we achieved amazing results with just 4mm of additional thickness without sacrificing typing comfort.
We also designed some prototypes for tablets, most interesting of which was made as a leather case with two flexible covers.
With those prototypes we proved the concept and developed solutions to keep Octodon thin while not in use, and handy while typing. We developed our unique mechanical input elements powered by small magnets, which allow to operate them comfortably with any finger. And an exciting achievement was to make them freely positioned to fit any hand. At start - connected by wires, and later - completely wireless, communicating through the contacts on the device surface.
While clip-cases prototypes are great, there are too many phones. People change them quickly, and we are not ready for this race yet. So we decided to take the best from our research and create a universal device, which can be used with almost every smartphone.
For it we developed a new sophisticated transform mechanism which provides an unprecedented gripping comfort together with slim profile.
We are excited about this new concept, and we hope you will enjoy it too.
We did everything to build the best pocket typing device.To make it easy to start we designed special user interface, and developed training games.
To go further, to finalize the design, to setup manufacturing, support , it's critically to know how many people share our vision. How many people are ready to be first Octodon pilots.
Support us to witness the power of the fully armed and operational Octodon!
Feel free to share your dreams and ideas with us, because it's the way we shape our future development.
THE CREW
Octodon multidisciplinary crew is capable to meet all the challenges.
We've already done a huge stuff and now we need your help.
Back the project and welcome to the Mobile Rebellion!
THANK YOU!
We are grateful to Andrey Sosnovskikh, Alexandr Banschikov and BigBagFilms studio for their work on our video.
To Andy Jennings, Alexandra Babayko, Ilya Kuleshov for their voice recordings.
We are grateful to the composers and performers for the music:
"Crossing the line. Part 2" by Victor Argonov, http://argonov.ru/crossing.html
"Awaken"
Performed by Blue Stahli,
Courtesy of Position Music
Risks and challenges
No project is without risks and challenges, but we will do our best to minimize them. We have done all the necessary preliminary work before launching Kickstarter, but still some troubles can occur.
Manufacturing: We’ve created several working prototypes and even reached fantastic typing speed on them, but manufacturing is still a challenging task, because we want to make a high-quality and reliable device that meets our users’ interests.
Delivery date: delays with shipping may occur because of logistics or customs. We’ll do our best to prevent this collaborating with world-known logistic companies and exploring customs rules.
We know that many hardware projects are late with rewards. Our goal is reached not when Octodon project is funded on Kickstarter, but when every backer holds his reward in his hands. We will keep all our backers fully informed about the project state.
Learn about accountability on KickstarterQuestions about this project? Check out the FAQ
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Funding period
- (45 days)