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How the Stream Deck rose from the ashes of a legendary keyboard

Not just a spiritual successor — direct DNA.

The keyboard was just a concept, dreamed up by Art Lebedev, a Russian design firm, and it was an ambitious idea at that: called the Optimus Maximus, it would require over 100 built-in screens using display technology that wasn’t readily available at the time. Eight individual screen keys of the squared- off type Art Lebedev originally imagined are seen in 3D, pressed by an invisible force, while displaying spinning Optimus keyboards inside their frames. It held a six-month private beta to collect feedback from its intended users, and it poured a lot of effort into making sure the device integrated nicely with OBS, the industry-standard streaming software.

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