For the final fifteen years or so, customized mechanical keyboards have been getting an increasing number of wild. From artisan keycaps to super-specific switches to 3D-printed instances, we’ve seen all of it. Well, we thought we had, till we noticed this. The Finalmouse Centerpiece Keyboard options utterly clear mechanical keycaps and switches, resting on high of a fully-functional LCD display screen. Why? Why the hell not?

The keyboard’s pre-loaded video skins react to the consumer’s typing, very very like a gaming keyboard, however the CG movies beneath can dynamically shift in real-time as they’re constructed within the Unreal recreation engine. New skins (free and paid) might be made accessible by way of a Steam app. The display screen and video run on a CPU and GPU inside to the keyboard itself, with no assets taken from the connected PC. Up to a few movies may be loaded and chosen on the {hardware}.

How does it work? Finalmouse says that the display screen makes use of a “Laminated DisplayCircuit Glass Stack.” What it appears like is a super-thin, clear membrane beneath the switches that home hair-like electrical wiring, establishing the matrix circuit required for the keypresses to register. It’s a outstanding redesign of some pretty fundamental keyboard elements, all sitting on high of the LCD display screen.

The 65-percent board is housed in a personalized CNC-milled case, with controls for the display screen embedded within the aspect. The keys and display screen itself are gasket-mounted, with linear switches based mostly on the BlackInk design. Finalmouse says the board is “completely gamer-proof and able to withstand intense abuse,” although precisely what which means isn’t talked about.

Shockingly, Finalmouse’s video says the keyboard will value $349 when it goes on sale early subsequent 12 months. That’s rather a lot for the standard mechanical keyboard, but it surely’s lower than the value of numerous customized, boutique builds — a GMMK Pro with all the trimmings is available in on the identical worth, for instance. Note that with the intention to get that mesmerizing display screen, you’ll have to surrender just a few of the premiums related to high-end boards, like a devoted knob, wi-fi choices, and swappable switches.

But who cares? If you need to get these upvotes on /r/battlestations, you’ll want the good, most ridiculous keyboard round. And as of 2023, that’ll be the Centerpiece. Until somebody finds a strategy to allow you to actually sort on water, I suppose.