Dell has added the DX1 Input System from Ergodex to its line up of products. The DX1 features movable programmable keys, offering increased performance advantages for gamers, engineering professionals and artists.
The DX1 consists of a pad on which you place Keys anywhere you want, and then you tell the computer what you want the Keys to do.
DX1 Keys are assigned to match a single keyboard key, such as the letter "a", or to perform a more complex macro containing a series of keystrokes. Keys are also "application" aware, so as the user changes from, say, email to Photoshop, Keys automatically change to the macros for Photoshop.
The keys contain advanced electronics, but have no batteries and no wires, communicating wirelessly with the DX1 pad. Ergodex’ uses an inexhaustible adhesive which the company calls "Molecular Velcro", allowing the keys to adhere tightly on the Pad. A slight twist loosens a Key so it can be moved or micro-positioned for optimal placement.
The DX1 serves several markets: "fast twitch" applications, such as PC gaming and financial securities trading, where speed and reaction time are important along with having complex functionality available on a single keypress; knowledge workers, such as Photoshop or CAD users, who use complex software for several hours a day to turn ideas into new products or services; IT applications, e.g., SAP or Oracle applications, where difficult or hard-to-remember or repetitive operations can be combined on a single key; and health care and assistive technology where, for physical or neurological reasons, use of a standard keyboard is cumbersome, or even painful.
