Typically the gadgets we use today are made of aluminum, polycarbonate, or other synthetic materials that seem to have triggered artist Robbie Tilton to come up with an organic solution for our keyboards.
His alternative – the Natural Keyboard. Cut from an Apple wireless keyboard template, this keyboard is made of a plywood body, smothered with a layer of moss on top.
Robbie says on his blog:
Overall I was very pleased with the result. Visually I think it stands out from the typically technology products you tend see. The textures are also very enjoyable to feel and touch and using it as a keyboard is a sensual experience for the hands. The contrast between something so commonly seen as unnatural – with materials that are natural – offers an interesting contrast. In the future I’d like to continue merging digital fabrication with natural materials to create pieces that are contradicting to peoples preconceived perceptions and that are visually beautiful, tactilely interesting, while retaining the functionality we expect from our modern world.
In case you are worrying on having to water the moss overlay, it’s made of fake moss so there’s no need to get your keyboard wet. There’s no detail if this will get into production but if you want to know more on Robbie’s process, visit his blog here.
