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MaKey MaKey Turns Any Surface Into a Keyboard Controller

Ever wanted to play Pac Man with a pencil drawn controller or play the piano with bananas? Yes, you can, thanks to Makey Makey, a simple circuit board that turns almost any object into a touch based computer key. Currently being funded at KickStarter, it is by far one of the coolest DIY project I have ever seen.

Makey Makey plugs into a computer via USB and lets users connect the arrow keys, space bar and left mouse click to physical objects. Just connect one end of a wire to the circuit board using crocodile clips and the other end to any electrically conductive object such as bananas, pencil graphite, paint, silverware and cats. Touching the object simulates a key press which is fed to the computer via the USB port. For sensing closed switches on the input pins, high resistance switching is used so you can close a switch even through highly resistive materials like your skin, leaves, and play-doh.

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Since no additional software is required MaKey MaKey works with all programs and webpages that accepts keyboard and mouse input.

MaKey MaKey has been used to play piano with bananas,

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Pac Man with a pencil drawn controller

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custom-made alphabet soup keyboard and many more.

If you want this, you can pledge $35 and get the kit delivered to you anywhere in the US. International destination costs an additional $10. The kit includes the MaKey MaKey, Alligator Clips, and USB Cable.

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