Austin-based Das Keyboard, a brand of maker of business efficiency products Metadot Corp., announced updates today to the company’s smart-keyboard app lineup that will connect developers to dev tools by using key lighting.

Today’s digital workforce is constantly bombarded with notifications and information from desktops and mobile devices. According to Das Keyboard, this generates a sort of signal fatigue where most updates — email notifications, push pop-ups from websites, alarms — begin to blend together.

To help deal with this, and produce a less cluttered work environment for developers, Das Keyboard has announced updates to its “Q applet” marketplace that adds software designed for information technology professionals and developers. The Qapps allow developers to set triggers that will change the color of their keyboard when certain events occur.

The idea is that these apps will permit developers to turns off all of those annoying notifications and instead have important notices appear ambiently on the keyboard. Is a project done compiling? A key on the keyboard lights up (or blinks) that can be pressed to bring that event up. Time to get up and stretch or grab a glass of water? A set of keys glows or flourishes, adding a subtle reminder that it’s time to take a break.

“IT and software professionals are under enormous pressure to produce more and in less time,” said Daniel Guermeur, founder and creator of Das Keyboard. “As a developer myself, I understand that unwanted interruptions kill productivity. With this update, we’re helping the IT and developer community get ‘in the zone’ and achieve more of what they do best.”

Because the apps use the keyboard — by lighting up keys in different colors, blinking or creating other patterns of light — it’s possible to program simple, at-a-glance indicators that are less obtrusive than pop-ups. A key could blink to notify about an important message or another key could slowly change color to indicate a timer ticking down. The interface is simple and direct, but it’s right in front of the person at all times and is expected to be less distracting than interruptions from alarms and messages.

New apps added to the marketplace will connect developers with more than a dozen new IT-related services, including Asana, Trello, Github, Stack Overflow and Travis CI. Connecting GitHub to the keyboard can alert users about updates and pull requests on favorite repositories. Trello and Asana would bring attention to project progress and deadlines.

Other apps have been added that include indicators of memory usage, processor usage, firewall changes, website outages or even priority emails from the boss.

All Das Keyboard Q applets are free and open source. A full list of Q productivity apps is available on the Das Keyboard app portal.

Developers interested in creating their own Q apps for use with the Das Keyboard can look to the company’s extensive reference guide. The company included a software development kit and an application programmer interface that makes it easy to integrate services with colorful updates on the keyboard itself.

Das Keyboard smart keyboards compatible with the Q app software include the 5Q, an advanced mechanical keyboard with backlit keys; the X50Q, a sleek gaming-ready mechanical keyboard; and the 4Q, a high-end mechanical keyboard designed for productivity.

These keyboards are available for purchase from the Das Keyboard website for prices between $199 and $249. The Qapp software is also available for download for Windows personal computers, macOS and Linux.

Image: Das Keyboard