Google Japan created one of the weirdest keyboards ever, and we’re dying to try it

After the initial drum keyboard concept in 2010, Google Japan continued to release a new “Gboard Team Suggestion” every year. There are several at this point, each more amusing than the last.

2012 – A one-key Morse code keyboard. The Gboard team claimed to have learned from the drum keyboard that simple is better. Years later, in 2018, Google introduced Morse code input to Gboard on Android.

2013 – A flip-card keyboard that requires the user to press a single button, triggering a flip-card that cycles through each character until the correct one is reached.

2014 – A joystick-controlled finger on a robotic arm, apparently intended to make it easier for people with long or painted nails to type on a touchscreen.

2015 – A party blower keyboard that allegedly uses an infrared sensor to detect how hard you blow and uses that force to determine what character you type.

2016 – A mechanical typing keyboard. Quick typing is a popular form of text entry on Japanese smartphones, allowing users to slide their finger across just twelve keys for quick typing. The problem here seems to be that the physical keyboard is built with keys mounted on joystick gimbals.

2017 – A bubble keyboard that claims to scan a sheet of bubble wrap and translate the burst air cells into characters for typing.

2018 – A handwriting keyboard operated by using your finger to draw characters above the keyboard keys. No more rebinding your unused keyboard keys.

2019 – A spoon keyboard operated by bending a metal soup spoon, with input based on the degree to which you bend it.

2021 – After taking a year off for seemingly obvious reasons, Google Japan has returned with a traditional Japanese teacup keyboard, which it says solves the problem of spilling tea on your keyboard by placing the keys around the outside of the cup itself.

2022 – The Gboard bar version, a keyboard arranged in an alphabetical row, designed to accommodate users who have difficulty remembering where the keys are placed on a traditional keyboard.

2023 – Perhaps the crowning achievement of Google’s Japanese Gboard team, the Gboard hat version is a large hat shaped keycap. The user would rotate it on their skull to select a character to type, then press it to type that character.

2024 – The double-sided version of the Gboard is shaped like a Mobius strip, with keys on both sides of its endless shape. Google Japan had ambitious goals for this keyboard and claimed that the ability to flip it made it perfect for back-end development. Not all jokes are translated, but puns about backend development are as eternal as this keyboard.

2025 – A rotary phone keypad where you select characters to enter by dragging them in a circle around a rotating interface. Honestly, the biggest shock here is that it took them this long.