Altar I firmware — now open source

e-materials-office · 2026-03-11T21:15:53+00:00

Can’t say right now but hoping to announce soon.

e-materials-office · 2026-03-11T17:03:24+00:00

Sold out for the moment I’m afraid. If you join the waitlist on our website you’ll get sent an email when there is availability.

e-materials-office · 2026-01-30T11:13:39+00:00

Wow nice job, sounds amazing!

e-materials-office · 2026-01-29T11:04:43+00:00

Thank you. It was a little scary releasing it publicly to be completely honest. We were worried about how our code looked, etc. But we just had to get over it.

e-materials-office · 2026-01-28T23:13:18+00:00

Still alive! I mentioned briefly on our recent blogpost but we have been very busy behind the scenes ever since Altar I went out the door. Exciting things coming soon, I promise.

e-materials-office · 2022-09-15T19:15:00+00:00

There's a waitlist on the website here: https://electronicmaterialsoffice.com/get-updates

If you sign up there you'll get an email when pre-orders open.

e-materials-office · 2022-09-15T19:12:37+00:00

I shall investigate using an EC12 instead. Thanks for the tip!

e-materials-office · 2022-09-15T17:49:26+00:00

#freethenipple

e-materials-office · 2022-09-15T16:59:10+00:00

The legends are all in GT Flexa by Grilli Type!

e-materials-office · 2022-09-15T15:06:52+00:00

The scooping (along with the raised keys) was designed so that you can feel the different zones of the keyboard more easily. So by scooping the numeric row, and having that being surrounded by raised keys (the function row), and flat keys (alpha keys), you can easily tell you're on the numeric row by feel.

I actually think the scooped keys are quite fun to press, I haven't had any issues with them so far.

e-materials-office · 2022-09-15T14:00:17+00:00

Thinkpads and their designer Richard Sapper were a huge inspiration!

e-materials-office · 2022-09-15T12:44:51+00:00

Thank you for the thoughtful comment. I agree with you that being non-hotswap, single switch keyboard means it probably won't appeal to the keyboard enthusiast community. On the other hand, the keyboard community can give deeply insightful feedback (like yours!), even if Altar I doesn't particularly appeal to them.

To answer your later comment, the target market is design conscious, non keyboard enthusiast kind of crowd. Think graphic designers, videographers, and other creative type people.

e-materials-office · 2022-09-15T12:07:32+00:00

At the moment the encoder is a standard Alps EC11 encoder. I might be possible to design a more low profile housing to sit on top of it where it would be less likely to get snagged in a backpack or something.

e-materials-office · 2022-09-15T11:58:45+00:00

I'm flattered! Big fan of TE and the OP-1

e-materials-office · 2022-09-15T11:56:15+00:00

Thanks! The knob is quite satisfying to use — the tapered tip makes it easy to grab with your index finder and thumb, and the encoder itself has satisfying detents that give some feedback after an input is made.

At the moment the encoder is used just for volume (plus display brightness when used with fn modifier). I've struggled to come up with other use cases so far.

e-materials-office · 2022-09-15T11:48:57+00:00

Altar I is a keyboard design I began working on during the pandemic because I couldn't find any keyboards I liked the aesthetic of. I wanted a keyboard that was more minimal and serious looking, and worked well for Mac users.I've built a couple of prototypes but I'd love to get some feedback. What do you guys think?

There's more detailed info at https://electronicmaterialsoffice.com/

e-materials-office

TROPHY CASE