Ergonomic keyboards designed to make typing more comfortable (and reduce long-term injuries) come in many shapes and sizes, but it’s safe to assume that Reddit contributor dapperrogue’s functional Pineapple keyboard, modelled after a hand grenade, is a design you’re not going to see Logitech or Microsoft adopting anytime soon.
The Mk 2 grenade used by U.S. armed forces in World War II and other conflicts was nicknamed the pineapple because its bumpy outer surface made it look like the tropical fruit — but that’s where the similarities end. According to Hackaday, while building a custom Dactyl Manuform split keyboard, dapperrogue came to the epiphany that keyboards don’t necessarily need to be laid out in a flat grid, and so started to experiment with unorthodox designs that prioritise form over function.
The Pineapple is technically fully functional, but no one is going to want to try to write the next great American novel with it. It’s wrapped in six columns of four keys that are each attached to their own individual mechanical switches. There’s a secret 25th key as well, but accessing it requires users to — you guessed it — pull the grenade’s pin which causes the safety lever on top to activate a secret switch whenever it’s pressed.
The Pineapple’s frame is 3D printed, and all of the requisite files needed to create your own have posted to GitHub for download. You’ll need more than a 3D printer and some keyboard hardware, however. Hidden inside the grenade is also an Arduino Pro Micro running the QMK keyboard firmware. Because there are only 25 keys to work with, one less than the English alphabet, each button has instead been programmed to type out an explosive sound effect like “Boom!” or “Kaboom!” But it can be easily programmed as a novel macro keyboard for first-person shooters, or as the most satisfying way to quickly end a long Zoom call.