Friday, August 07, 2009

How to put 13 keys inside 4 cm X 1.5 cm area ??

This might sound bit silly. But if somebody asks you to arrange set of keys on an area of size 4X1.5 cm in a very feasible manner, How would you do it ?? I started thinking of all the varieties of keyboards. here are some sizes and pictures of some of them.
This Keypad has 17 keys in a area of size 9.5X6.5. So If we calculate the area of a unit key, that will be 3.63 (cubic centimeters per key). But the good thing is this keypad is extremely easy to use. I can type super fast even without looking at the keys.

Then a general calculator. Normal size of a general calculator will be either same as that of a Keypad or less. We'll amuse that it is of size 8X5. So the area of a unit key will be 1.53.
And this is the most probable answer for my question. It's super cool. I know there are plenty of keys inside this tiny area. BUT who are you going to press those?. The area is around 2X2 cm in size. And have 16 keys on it. I don't see any use of all the keys if you don't have a pin. So the unit area for a key is 0.25.
The Other keypad that everybody users now a days is the mobile keypad. This is taken from the N95. it has 12 keys in a area of 4.5x2.5. So the area of a one key can be calculated as 0.93. This key pad is far better sample of a compact design.

But still why people do not think out of the box?? All the above samples demonstrate the very traditional way of arranging keys. The following image is the answer that i was looking for. I was really amazed by the design. You can use is as easily as the very first once. You dont need to look at it once you get used to it. And its not a pin head operating pad.
And if you count the number of keys there that is 13. And the area taken by a single key is 0.46.

So from next time when you asked to think out of the box, don't recall the history. Think of something new, and it will make you a real designer & a revolutionary person like Albert Einstein.

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