Paranoid about spilling meals or drinks in your laptop or keyboard? You can at all times not eat at your desk, however again right here in actuality, a extra difficult resolution is to construct your self a cup wrapped in a working model of Google’s cellular Gboard keyboard. After all, if the keyboard is already in hand whilst you’re ingesting, how are you going to probably spill on it? Logic: 1, fried electronics: 0.

The Gboard Yunomi (a type of Japanese teacup that’s tall and slender) is believed to be an April Fool’s Day prank cooked up by Google Japan final yr. It was by no means really revealed because of the worldwide pandemic that was effectively beneath manner by the point April 1 rolled round. Google has since stored its April 1 pranks tabled (and hopefully that can proceed into 2022), however Google Japan apparently thought that this creation was too intelligent to maintain a secret, so it was revealed final week in time for the nation’s Grand Kitano Tea Ceremony.

Two kinds of customized PCBs had been created for the cylindrical keyboard, which acts as a form of extra-functional drink okayoozie (minus the insulating capabilities). There are 12 longer strips that the precise keys connect to, and a hexagonal base the place you’ll discover a ATmega32U4-AU microcontroller that makes the entire thing work. Google has no intentions of mass producing and promoting this creation, but it surely has made the firmware, construct directions, and different plans accessible for download on GitHub for anybody who desires to go to the difficulty of constructing their very own.

Given it was created by Google Japan, the Gboard Yunomi options keys with Japanese characters on it, however customizing it to different alphabets needs to be comparatively straightforward. The onerous half is studying to successfully sort on this factor. Even when you’re in a position to roughly protect the QWERTY structure, wrapping your mind round how you can sort with all of the keys positioned vertically will probably be problem. If you’re so fearful about spilling, may I counsel sporting a type of Camelbak hydration packs and sipping your morning espresso or afternoon tea by means of a straw.