Illustrated Kristina with an IBM Model M keyboard floating between her hands.

Keebin’ With Kristina: The One With The Typewriter Orchestra

Have you ever wished you had more control over what goes into a kit keyboard build? Like, a whole lot more control? Well, that’s the idea behind the Akruvia 12×4 Playground by [iketsj].

Image by [iketsj] via YouTube

This is a 48-key ortholinear keyboard, but other than that, it’s a complete blank slate. The kit includes the PCB, diodes, RGB LEDs, and Kailh Choc V1 hot swap sockets, which is really the only choice you don’t have in the matter.

All the rest is up to you, thanks to a generous prototyping area that wraps around three sides of the keys. Bring your own microcontroller and anything else that sounds useful, like displays, rotary encoders, gesture sensors, pointing devices, you name it.
You could even magnetically link a macro pad to one side, as [iketsj] teases in the intro video. [iketsj] has made the kit available through links on their website, and you’ll find a product guide there as well.

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